Editing Verðandi

{{Short description|Norn of the present time}}
{{for|the sports club|IF Verdandi}}
[[Image:Nornir by Lund.jpg|thumb|"Nornir" ({{circa|1884}}) by [[J. L. Lund]], depicting Verðandi with wings.]]
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Verðandi''' ([[Old Norse]], meaning possibly "happening" or "present"<ref name=ORCHARD174>Orchard (1997:174).</ref>), sometimes anglicized as '''Verdandi''' or '''Verthandi''', is one of the [[norns]]. Along with [[Urðr]] ([[Old Norse]] "fate"<ref name=ORCHARD169>Orchard (1997:169).</ref>) and [[Skuld (Norn)|Skuld]] (possibly "debt" or "future"<ref name=ORCHARD151>Orchard (1997:151).</ref>), Verðandi makes up a [[Numbers in Germanic paganism|trio]] of Norns that are described as deciding the fates ([[wyrd]]) of people.

==Etymology==
''Verðandi'' is literally the present participle of the [[Old Norse]] verb "''verða''", "to become", and is commonly translated as "in the making" or "that which is happening/becoming"; it is related to the Dutch word ''worden'' and the German word ''werden'', both meaning "to become".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lindow|first1=John|title=Norns (Norse mythology)|url=https://www.credoreference.com/content/topic/norns_norse_mythology.embed|website=Credo|publisher=Handbook of Norse Mythology (World Mythology)|date=2001}}</ref> "Werdend" is not a commonly used German word in modern times, but intutitively means the things that "are becoming", as -nd is the gerund form.

==Attestation==
[[Image:Nornsweaving.jpg|thumb|"Norns weaving destiny" (1912) by Arthur Rackham.]]

===''Völuspá''===
She appears in the following verse from the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', along with Urðr and Skuld:
{|
|
:''Þaðan koma meyjar''
:''margs vitandi''
:''þrjár, ór þeim sal''
:''er und þolli stendr;''
:''Urð hétu eina,''
:''aðra '''Verðandi''',''
:''skáru á skíði,''
:''Skuld ina þriðju;''
:''þær lög lögðu,''
:''þær líf kuru''
:''alda börnum,''
:''örlög seggja.''
|
:Thence come maidens
:much knowing
:three from the hall
:which under that tree stands;
:Urd hight the one,
:the second '''Verdandi''',
:on a tablet they graved,
:Skuld the third;
:Laws they established,
:life allotted
:to the sons of men,
:destinies pronounced.
|}

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}

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{{Norse paganism topics}}
{{Europe topic|Mythology of}}
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{{Time in religion and mythology}}

[[Category:Norns]]
[[Category:Female supernatural figures in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Textiles in folklore]]
[[Category:Time and fate goddesses]]
[[Category:Gýgjar]]