Norn

¹

[ nawrn ]

noun

1. an extinct Norse dialect, spoken until early modern times in the Shetland and Orkney Islands and in parts of northern Scotland.

Norn

²

[ nawrn ]

noun

, Scandinavian Mythology.

1. any of three goddesses of fate, the goddess of the past Urd, the goddess of the present Verdandi, and the goddess of the future Skuld.

Norn

¹

/ nɔːn /

noun

1. the medieval Norse language of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and parts of N Scotland. It was extinct by 1750

Norn

²

/ nɔːn /

noun

1. Norse myth any of the three virgin goddesses of fate, who predestine the lives of the gods and men

Word History and Origins

Origin of Norn¹

< Old Norse norrœnn, earlier northrœnn Norwegian, literally, northern

Word History and Origins

Origin of Norn¹

C17: from Old Norse norŕœna Norwegian, from northr north

Origin of Norn²

C18: Old Norse

Example Sentences

A luckless Norn in times of old decreed, that in the water I should wade.

From Project Gutenberg

The Norn scene is as purely theatrical as anything he wrote; the atmosphere is, so to speak, artificially weird.

From Project Gutenberg

Gud and Rosta, and the youngest norn, Skuld, always ride to sway the battle and choose the slain.

From Project Gutenberg

But there are indeed many other Norns, for when a man is born there is a Norn to determine his fate.

From Project Gutenberg

The first Norn unwound from her waist a golden rope and tied one end of it to a branch of the fir tree.

From Project Gutenberg