Seiðr Loom

Norn

Urðr

The first-named of the three Norns, who gives her name to the well beneath Yggdrasil where the gods hold court; her name means 'fate' or 'what has happened'.

Die Nornen Urd, Werdanda, Skuld, unter der Welteiche Yggdrasil by Ludwig Burger
Die Nornen Urd, Werdanda, Skuld, unter der Welteiche Yggdrasil by Ludwig Burger, Ludwig Burger. (1882). Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Urðr is the first of the three Norns named in Völuspá, where she, Verðandi and Skuld carve on wood, make laws and allot the lives of men Völuspá 20. Snorri gives the same three names and says they "determine the period of men's lives" Gylfaginning 15.

She is better known through her well than through any deed. Yggdrasil stands green "by Urth's well" Völuspá 19, and in Snorri's account the gods ride over Bifröst each day to hold court beside it, while the Norns water the tree from it Gylfaginning 15 Gylfaginning 16. The speaker of Hávamál says he was "by the wells of Urth" before speaking his counsel Hávamál 111. See Urðr's well.

In some poems the name works almost as a common noun for fate. Groa's charm sets "the bolts of Urth" around her son as guards Svipdagsmál 7, and Svipdag says that "with the words of Urth shall no man war" Svipdagsmál 63.

Her name means roughly "what has come about". Because Verðandi sounds like "becoming" and Skuld like "what shall be", the three are often explained as Past, Present and Future. That is a modern reading of the names. Neither Völuspá nor Snorri says it, and the sources give Urðr no separate personality or story.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

Urth is one named, Verthandi the next,— On the wood they scored,— and Skuld the third.
Völuspá 20 Urðr heads the list of the three maidens who allot the fates of men.
Green by Urth's well does it ever grow.
Völuspá 19 The world-ash stands green over the well that bears her name.
out of that hall come three maids, who are called thus: Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld; these maids determine the period of men's lives
Gylfaginning 15 Snorri follows Völuspá and makes the three the Norns who set the length of each life.
With the words of Urth shall no man war, Though unearned her gifts be given.
Svipdagsmál 63 Here Urðr is simply fate, whose decisions cannot be fought.

Related

The Norns nornir The female powers who fix the lives and deaths of gods and men: three named Norns by the well under Yggdrasil, and many lesser norns who come to every birth. Verðandi The second of the three Norns at Urðr's well; she is named in only two passages, and her name means 'becoming' or 'what is happening'. Skuld The third and youngest Norn at Urðr's well, and also a valkyrie: the only figure the Eddas place in both groups. Urðarbrunnr The holy well beneath Yggdrasil where the Norns live and the gods hold their daily court; its white water keeps the world-tree green. Yggdrasil Yggdrasill The world-ash at the centre of the Norse cosmos: its roots reach the realms of gods, giants and the dead, and the gods hold court beneath it every day. Svipdagr and Menglöð Svipdagr ok Menglöð The young man who wakes his dead mother for protective charms, then talks his way past the giant guard Fjölsviðr to the maiden Menglöð, who has waited for him.