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09.02.2020

Fate - Wyrd/Urd

In the belief system of the pagan Norse and other Germanic peoples, fate, known as Urðr or Örlög in Old Norse, Wyrd in Old English, Wurd in Old Saxon, Wurt in Old High German, and Proto-Germanic *Wurðiz, played a central role in shaping the course of events in the universe. Much of what occurred, ranging from the overarching flow of time to specific incidents in the lives of individuals, was not attributed to random chance or the conscious intentions of those who acted causally. Instead, these events were believed to be preordained by fate. Almost all beings, including the gods themselves, were subject to the influence of fate. Despite the formidable power possessed by the gods, the force of fate remained even more potent.

The only entities presumed to be exempt from the dictates of fate were the Norns, beings responsible for crafting fate itself. The Norns were often depicted as wise female entities with unparalleled magical abilities. They resided at the base of Yggdrasil, the immense cosmic tree at the center of the Norse universe. Here, they inscribed the fates of all beings into the tree or, in an alternate depiction, wove them with threads, severing the last strand at the end of an individual's life.

Understanding the progression of events in the world, as well as the course of a person's life, required reference to fate. However, fate itself was considered beyond comprehension. Practitioners of the magical art of seidr sometimes had the ability to glimpse what fate held in store, but there was no discernible logic as to why a particular outcome was fated while alternative outcomes were not. Fate held no moral significance, and there were no benevolent or malevolent motives behind it. It was perceived as the capricious creation of the Norns, entirely arbitrary with respect to human desires and the desires of other beings, including the gods. Moreover, both fate and its creators were relentless and unyielding, impervious to any attempts to alter one's destiny. An Old Norse poem, Fáfnismál, cautioned that resisting fate was as futile as rowing a boat against a fierce wind, and the sentiment was echoed in the Old English poem The Wanderer: "Wyrd is wholly inexorable."

Fate - Wyrd/Urd

 

The senselessness of fate was to culminate in Ragnarok, the final destruction of the cosmos at some unknown point in the future. The Vikings believed that Ragnarok would happen because they believed that it was fated to happen; those who could see the shape of fate had prophesied it. At that time, the seers said, the gods would meet the giants, the forces of chaos, in battle – and the gods would lose. They would all die, and the universe whose life depended on theirs would die with them. Nothing would remain but nothingness itself.

Fate’s senselessness and Ragnarok’s inevitability imparted a prominent element of tragedy to the Vikings’ mythology and religion. One Old Norse poet directly stated a sentiment that was widespread in more implicit forms throughout his people’s literature when he wailed, “Evil is the decree of the Norns.”

If the Norse worldview had stopped there, it would have been quite nihilistic. But the Vikings found deep enchantment in the world just as it was for them, including much of what we today would call “nature” and “culture.” Indeed, part of what made fate “evil” is that it would one day utterly destroy all of this beauty and meaning that was native to the god-crafted world.

Fate - Wyrd/Urd

Furthermore, the Vikings believed that one’s fate was hardly more important than what one did with one’s fate – that is, the attitude with which one met whatever fate had in store. There was no honor in merely passively surrendering to fate. Instead, honor was to be found in approaching one’s fate as a battle to fight heroically – even if it was a battle one was ultimately doomed to lose.

The paradigmatic model for this attitude was the way the gods were to approach their own doom at Ragnarok. Rather than mope or curse their fate, they were said to stand and fight until the last. Odin even prepared by amassing an army of the finest human warriors in his hall Valhalla. This glorious host would fight alongside him and his divine companions during the final struggle, and all would go down together in what to Viking tastes was the most sublimely beautiful way to die: in battle, with a cry of ecstasy on one’s lips.

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