Orlog Yesterday and Today: The Shapings of the Norns
By Winifred Hodge Rose, with contributions by Sara Axtell and Daniela Svartheidhrinn Simina
The World of Orlog
Multiple Lenses
Contributors
Part I. Orlog Yesterday: Laying the Layers
1. The History of Orlog
Table 1. Time-Periods of Old Germanic Literature
Primary Meanings of Orlog
Table 2. Etymologies of Orlog
Evolution from ‘uslagjan’
Svartheiðrinn: Orlog as Fateful Inner Struggle
2. Orlog, Layers, and Laws
Comparing Roots of Orlog in Multiple Languages
Inner Law and Outer Law
Sigrun and Helgi II
A Common Denominator
Defining Orlog
3. The Shapings of the Norns
The Roots of Sköp
Table 3. The Roots of ‘Shaping’
Hallfreðr: Sköp Norna as Heathen Troth
Examples of How “Shaping” is Used
Do Runes Play a Role?
Speaking Orlog
4. The Ancient Role of Symbel
Shaping Speech in Symbel
The Fateful Oaths of Hedin, Helgi and Svava
5. What Do the Norns Shape?
Aldr: Lifespan and Life-Soul
Table 4. Examples of Anglo-Saxon Ealdor Words
World and Werold
6. Time, Tense, and the Norns
The Names
Past versus Non-Past
Passing the Strands
7. The Curious Case of the Missing Wyrd-Word
The Missing Word in Gothic
Haliurunnae
Part II. The Work of the Norns
8. Orlog and Wyrd
Personification and De-Personification of Wyrd
Anglo-Saxon Wyrd
Synthesis
Wyrd: A Case Study
9. Causality and Determinism
The Norns as Caretakers of Causality
What if We Were Orlog-less?
Free Will and Determinism
Significance: Making it Personal
10. The Norns as Beings of Fate
Tending Causality, Shaping Fate
Nornir / Valkyrja: Choosing Life / Choosing Death
‘Fate’ versus Causality
Wyrd and Will Together
11. Foresight versus Predestination
Foresight
The Influence of ‘the Future’
Predestination
The Ambiguity of Time
‘Destiny’: A Pull or a Push?
12. Svartheiðrinn: The Nornir Walk Among Us
The Roles of the Nornir
Lesser Nornir
The Valkyrja of Darraðarljoð
Human Deeds
Orlog Influences the Gods
Seeresses, Spákonur, Völur
A Co-Creative Process
Part III. Orlog Manifesting in Human Life
13. Dealing with Orlog: Yesterday
Table 5. Roots of Dreogan / Drýgja / Dree
Odin and Loki ‘Ørlög Drýgðuð
Völund and the Swan Maidens
Dreeing our Wyrd
Or-deal
14. The Role of Luck
Some Differences between Orlog and Luck
Varieties of Luck
Hamingja and Other Luck-Bearing Spirits
Between Fire and Ice
The Insignificance of Random Luck
The Mediating Role of Luck-Spirits
Luck versus Ordeal
15. Legacies
Hamingja as Legacy
Ethical Implications of Predestination
‘Karma’ versus Reputation
16. Orlog at the Time of Death
Orlog as Death, and the Question of ‘Why?’
Heathen Afterlife Beliefs
Does Orlog Influence the Afterlife State?
Does Orlog Stop when Midgard Life Ends?
Alda Vé
Summary of Aldr’s Roles
What Happens to Aldr after Death?
Synopsis and Some Unanswered Questions
Part IV. Orlog Metaphysics, or Some Weird Ideas about Orlog
17. The Evolving Nature of Orlog
Process versus Substance
The Process of Orlog
The Substance of Orlog
Process Creates Substance
Orlog Evolves as Process Creates Substance
18. The Body as Orlog
Orlog as Nourishment
Genetics and Epigenetics
Process and Substance
The Conditioning Effects of Orlog
19. Time and the Time-Body
Bodies in Space and Time
Time as Change
Causality and the Time-Body
Time as Relationship
Time as a Container of Meaning
Time-Body / Aldr-Soul and Werold
20. The Quantum Nature of the Norns’ Work
Gatekeeper of the Quantum Realm
Norns and Three Phenomena of Quantum Physics
Verðandi’s Domain: Collapsing into an Eigenstate
Skuld’s Domain: Quantum Entanglement
Urð’s Domain: Wave-Particle Duality
21. The Work of the Three Wells
Mimir’s Well
Relationship between Mimir’s and Norns’ Wells
There’s Quantum Here Too…
Hvergelmir and the World-Mill
Entropic Inversion and Orlog
Part V. Heathen Perspectives on Orlog Today
22. Orlog and Wyrd: Some Modern Perspectives
A Modern Summary
A Nature-Psyche Approach
A View from Heathen Magic
A Devotional Perspective
A Tale-Teller’s Insights
23. Collective and Group Orlog
An Overview of Collective Orlog
Sara: Personal Orlog Embedded in Group Orlog
24. Sara: Orlog of our Relationship with Land
Weaving Patterns
Primstav
Relating to the Land
Gift for a Gift
Land Consolidation in Norway
Emigration and Becoming Settlers
Development of the U.S. Food System
Reworking the Pattern
References and Resources for this Chapter
25. Beyond Individual Orlog: Deep Suffering and the Role of Frith
Do we Blame the “Wretched Norns”?
Comparing Orlog and Karma
The Role of Heathen Frith
The Orlog of Signy the Volsung
Orlog is Context
26. Oathing in Symbel
The Modern Heathen Symbel or Sumble
Oathing in Symbel
A Modern Heathen Concern
Risking Luck versus Risking Orlog
Oathed Bonds and Group Orlog
Individual Oaths and Group Orlog
27. The Symbel Mysterium
Gathering at the Well of Wyrd
Meeting at Mimir’s Well
Actions of the Two Wells
Our Choice in Symbel
Which Well Fits Well?
Part VI. Orlog Awareness in Practice
28. Ordeal: Dealing with Orlog Today
Orlog is Personal
Working with the Knots
The Formal Ordeal
Heroes of our own Time
29. Sara: Tools for Working with Orlog
The Big, Sticky Velcro Ball of Orlog
Some Tools for Working with Orlog
Runes
Spells or Charms
Ritual and Ceremony
Shild
A Bind Rune to Hold this Work
30. Sara: Healing Orlog Journaling Questions
Verðandi: Feelings and Conditions Unfolding in the Present Moment
Urð: Understanding the Patterns in the Well
Skuld: Healing, Transformation, Coming into Balance
31. Wyrd and Shild: A Ninefold Rite of Life-Renewal
The Symbolism of the Ninefold Rite
Shild and the Actions of the Norns
‘Turning’
Step One: Forming your Intent
Step Two: Paying your Shild
The Shild-Rite
Step Three: Weaving Anew
Sara: Testimonials on Using the Ninefold Rite
32. Unfolding Destiny, Weaving a Werold
Destiny Unfolding from Orlog
Werold
Werold as a Work of Art
Mosaic: An Example
33. Meditations
Svartheiðrinn: Meditating on the Web of Wyrd
Sara: Healing from the Roots of the World
Being Shaped by Orlog
Layers of Time: A Meditation on Aldr and Orlog
34. The Song of the Norns
Expanding the Scope of Sköp Norna
The Meaningfulness of Orlog
What the Norns Ask of Us
The Song of the Norns
Word-Hoard
Book-Hoard
Erratum: I left out one of the references I used for the book. Here is the correct citation:
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1993.