The Norns are the threefold personification of Urd/Wyrd. They are also known as the Wyrdae. They are commonly depicted as three women weaving or spinning, although this may simply be the influence of classical mythology and the Greek and Roman Fates. Other ancient Germanic names for the Norns, such as the "Schreiberinnen" ("Writing Women"), along with references in the Eddas, indicate that originally the Norns/Wyrdae were conceived as carving runes into staves of wood, rather than spinning or weaving.

The names of the Norns are Urd, Verdandi and Skuld. These are often mistakenly translated as "Past, Present and Future". This is an oversimplification. A more accurate interpretation of the names of the three Norns is "All-That-Is", "All-That-Is-Becoming", and "Necessary-Consequences/Debt". The distinction is small, but important to an appreciation of the Norse/Germanic worldview.

Note: Below is the Bellow translation of the section of The Poetic Edda that deals with the Norns.

An ash I know
With water white
Thence come the dews
Green by Urthar's well

Thence come the maidens
Three from the dwelling
Urth is one named,
-- on the wood is scored, --
Laws they made there,
To the sons of men,

Yggdrasil its name
is the great tree wet;
that fall in the dales,
does it ever grow.

mighty in wisdom
down 'neath the tree;
Verthandi the next
and Skuld the third.
and life allotted
and set their fates.

trans. 1926 Henry Adams Bellows The Poetic Edda

Cute, furry little AL critters that are the main focus of the Creatures series.

The norns in Creatures 2 are notorious for refusing to eat food (although they'll happily attempt to 'eat weather'), running into walls continuously, and jumping in the oceans (they can't swim).

Creatures 3 norns tend to be more intelligent; none of the breeds sold by Creature Labs have an eating problem, and some people complain that they're unnaturally smart. Rumours of hard-coding their behaviour are false, though, afaik.

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