When the Norns Have Spoken : Time and Fate in Germanic Paganism

This book argues that within Germanic paganism, considered not as mere cult but as a system of beliefs, it is possible to identify a conceptually coherent understanding of fate which detaches that idea from time, and connects it instead with an implicit theses about the nature of truth as written.

Germanic cosmogony, as represented in such precise images as a worldtree, provides a context for an analysis of specific metaphors for the workings of fate as woven or spun by such figures as the Norns - the Norse goddesses of destiny.

Employing both philosophical and mythic-linguistic considerations, this book also offers new insights into the persistence of a residual paganism in the understanding of fate following the Christian conversion.

Anthony Winterboume is an independent scholar.