Skuld- Norse SpiritSpirit"Norn of the Future"

The Well of Urðr

In Völuspá 20, the poet names three maidens who came from the lake beneath Yggdrasill: Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld. They are the Norns. They dwell beside the Well of Urðr at the base of the world-tree, where they score on wooden slips and lay down laws, choosing the lives of the children of men. Snorri in Gylfaginning 15 assigns each Norn a portion of time: Urðr governs what has been, Verðandi what is becoming, and Skuld what shall be. Her name means "debt" in Old Norse, the portion of fate still owed.

The Norns also tend Yggdrasill itself. They draw water from the well and pour it mixed with white clay over the ash's roots so that its branches do not rot. Without their tending, the tree that holds the nine worlds together would wither.

Among the Valkyries

Völuspá 30 lists Skuld among the valkyries who ride to choose the slain on the battlefield. The same figure who scores a person's fate at birth rides out to collect on it at death.

In the later Hrólfs saga kraka, a figure named Skuld appears as a half-elven sorceress and queen who raises an army of the dead against her brother Hrólfr kraki. She marshals draugar and dark sorcery, and Hrólfr's warriors find that the dead men they cut down rise again to fight. The battle ends only when Skuld's magic overwhelms even the greatest champions of the saga.