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

Norn

²

/ nɔːn /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Norn¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Norn¹

C18: Old Norse

Origin of Norn²

C17: from Old Norse norŕœna Norwegian, from northr north

Example Sentences

The island was one of the last places in Shetland where the old Norn language, a relic of Norse times, was spoken.

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It’s called the Norn cell, named after the Norse deities who were believed to control human fate.

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“You have the ability to see images of the past, present, and future as you knit. Events left on the threads of the universe. Like the Norns of old.”

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He portrays all three of the Norns, the daughters of Erda who foretell destiny.

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The islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468, and the Norn language - a form of Old Norse spoken on the islands - died out in the mid-19th Century.

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