Urdarbrunnr- Norse LocationLocation · Landmark"Well of Fate"
Also known as: Urðarbrunnr
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Beneath Yggdrasil's first root in Asgard lies a well whose waters turn all they touch to white — even the swans on its surface. Here the three Norns draw water and clay each day to keep the World Tree from decay.
Mythology & Lore
The Well
Beneath Yggdrasil's first root, in Asgard, lies Urðarbrunnr. Its waters are so holy that everything they touch turns white. Two swans live on its surface, and Snorri writes in the Gylfaginning that all swans descend from them.
Around the well lies white clay called aurr. Each day the three Norns draw water from the well, mix it with the clay, and pour the mixture over Yggdrasil's roots. Without this the wood would rot. The World Tree lives because three women tend it.
The Judgment Seats
Grímnismál 29–30 says the gods ride each day over Bifröst to reach their judgment seats at the well. There they hold council. Urðarbrunnr is where the Æsir make their decisions and the Norns shape what follows.
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