Norns

Origin

The Norns were born to the Olympian god Zeus and Titaness Themis, a female Tiatan who Zeus had an affair with and got her backing in overthrowing the male Titans of Olympus. After the Titans were defeated by Zeus, Titaness Themis's daughters were made responsible for creating the destinies of all mortal men and women. In order to use their powers on mortals the Norns would use a spinning wheel and thread. The Norn Clotho would spin the thread, representing birth and Lachesis would weave the thread, symbolizing life. When it was time for a mortal to die, the most feared sister of all, Atropos, would use her scissors to cut the thread from the spinning wheel, causing the mortal represented by the particular thread to die immediately. The Norns predicted that the daughter of Zeus and Metis would rise to be more powerful than Zeus one day.

Eventually the Asgardian Gods started seeking advice from The Norns and asking for prophecies which concerned the future of Asgard. The Asgardian Gods looked up to the Norns so much that they presented them with the area of Nornheim. It is in Nornheim that The Norns became known by that name, as they were known as The Fates by the Olympians.

Involvement in Greek/Roman Mythology

At about 1250 BC The Norns traveled down from Olympus to witness Prince Meleager of Calydon being born. Two of the Norns, Clotho and Lachesis, foretold that Prince Meleager would be a noble and courageous man. However, Antropos predicted Meleager's death by the time a log from a neighboring fire was completely burnt out. Meleager's mother Althaea took the log out of the fire and hid it so she could protect her son's life. Meleager managed to grow into a fine adult just as Clotho and Lachesis foretold, becoming one of Hercules' Argonauts. Meleager became a paranoid man and after a long life of adventures with Hercules had all of his uncles executed so as to protect his throne. His angry mother Althaea was angered by these acts and took the wood that she had previously hid and burnt it into ashes. Meleager died as soon as the log was destroyed.

Apollo was able to save the life of his friend King Admetus of Pherae by luring The Norns into getting drunk off of wine. While they were in their drunken states, Apollo convinced them to let some other mortal die in Admetus' place. Alcestis, wife of Admetus, offered herself to The Norns due to her great love for her husband, but Hercules did not let this arrangement follow through as he wrestled Thanatos, god of death, when he came to take her away.

The Norns have involved themselves in the affairs of the Olympians at times. The mother Earth, Gaea, became enraged at Zeus's treatment of her children the Titans. She birthed multiple giants who journed up Mt. Olympus to conquer the gods. The Norns killed two of the giants with bronze clubs and in response Gaea created Typhon, the most powerful of the giants. Typhon was able to overpower Zeus, but The Norns gave Typhon mortal food, weakening Typhon and allowing Zeus to defeat him.

Major Story Arcs (Marvel)

In Incredible Hercules#116, The Norns were sought out by the gods Zeus, Ares and Athena due to a fight between Hercules and Kyknos. The Norns revealed to the gods that Kyknos would die at Hercules' hand unless Hercules was killed before then. Ares favored Kyknos and tried to kill Herculos, but Athena prevented Ares from doing so and Kyknos died as was fated.

Later on in Bizarre Adventures #32, it was revealed that Odin had Thor pay The Norns a visit once each year at the root of Yggdrasil due to failing to save the life of the Viking Runolf, who The Norns had previously fated to die. In a separate arc of Journey into Mystery and Thor: Son of Asgard, Thor was told by The Norns that he must stare death in the face before he was able to wield the mighty Mjolnir. There prediction was proven correct when Thor met Hela for the very first time.

The Norns were consulted once again in a Raven Banner graphic novel when Greyval Grimson asked them for advice that would help him retrieve the Raven Banner. The Norns revealed to Greyval that his lover Sygnet was being held captive by trolls and also told him his own magic boar, Gullinbursti. Greyval left The Norns riding on Gullinbursti's back.

The Norns reappeared in Tales to Asonish #33 when they manifested in front of an American man who defected to Japan during WWII. The Norns tried to tell him that justice could not be escaped but he mocked them and went to Japan. The man died when the U.S. Air Force dropped the bomb on Hiroshima on Augest 6, 1945.

In Thor #197 The Norns devise a test for Thor by using their servant Kartag. This test would determine whether or not Asgard was worthy enough to be saved from the dreaded Mangog. Thor completed the test and was allowed to use Kartag to help him in battle as well as take some water from the Twilight Well. With these gifts from The Norns Thor was able to defeat Mangog and save Asgard.  The Norns appeared again while Thor was fighting Pluto for Odin's soul. As the battle was continuing The Norns turned to Heimdall, who was supposed to find a Young God for Odin. However, Pluto tried to kill Thor by using his axe and The Norns used their power to destroy the axe for Thor so that the Asgardian god would die by their own prophecy. The Norns favored Thor and during the season of Thor's birth they reminisced over his life and hailed him as a worthy god.

The Norns came to the aid of Balder, who had begun to wish for his own death and traveled to the desert where he planned to die. The Norns took the shape of a beautiful woman being chased by a sand monster, knowing full well that Balder would come to rescue her. Once he arrived to confront the image of the sand monster The Norns revealed themselves and brought Balder with them to the Well of Wyrd, where they told him what his destiny would be. The Norns gave Balder the Thread of Life, representing his life as it had come to be. They told him that if he really wished to die, he need only snap the thread in two. As Balder was deciding what to do he was pulled into a large tapestry woven with the thread of many lives before him. He saw the lives of everybody he had saved previously as well as the lives of those he was unable to save. Seeing this, he then realized that every choice he made created a consequence and then decided that he would live on.

Balder later became ruler of Asgard and returned back to the very desert where he saw the sand monster previously. The monster appeared o nce more and took the shape of a human. Balder spoke with the monster, who he recognized as being an image from The Norns, and asked if he could obtain water from the Well of Life in order to revive Huginn the raven. The Norns accepted his request and gave him the water, allowing Huggin to return to life.

In New Mutants Special Edition, Karma of the New Mutants was left stranded in a desert by Enchantress. Karma hoped for death but ended up finding a young girl being chased by a gigantic sand monster. Karma rescued the girl and became reunited with her friends. However, the girl disappeared and a thread was tied around one of her fingers. These images could only have been from The Norns.

During Ultimate Silver Surfer: Tarnished Soul, The Norns appeared in front of the Silver Surfer and told him that they were also known as Danaids. The Norns looked at Surfer's past adventures with the likes of those such as Mephisto and Doctor Doom.

In Cable II #79 The Norns confronted Cable and let him know that presidential candidate Randall Shire was in danger of being attacked and killed at Madison Square Garden. They later appeared in front of Cable again after he defeated Aentaros the Undying who was possessing a host body. They told him of a third test that he must complete. In Cable II #81, The Norns were then shown in an alternate future called Harmony, which took place 2,000 years after the present day. They revealed to the ruler of Earth that his empire was in danger of being destroyed by the Ranshi timeline. Yet again The Norns appeared in Cable's present day in Cable II #83. It would be the last time they would manifest in front of him. They revealed their true selves and told Cable that the point of divergence in timelines was about to take place and that he could decide the futures of the Harmony and Ranshi.

In Thor II #85, Thor seeks out The Norns who reveal that their power was granted by Those Who Sit Above in Shadow. Thor became enraged and attempted to change the destiny of Asgard, which was to continue in an endless cycle of death and rebirth at Ragnarok. Thor destroyed the tapestry belonging to The Norns, revealing Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and sucking them all into Yggdrasil. The Norns appeared to die along with Asgard as Ragnarok destroyed it.

Powers & Abilities

If the Norns did originate as the Fates of the Olympian gods, then they possessed the conventional powers of the Olympian Gods in addition to any powers they might have developed through the practice of Asgardian magics. They would have possessed superhuman strength (Class 25 at least), resistance to injury, and a long life enchantment. If they were indeed Asgardians from the beginning, the Norns would possesses the conventional superhuman physical attributes of Asgardian goddess. They would have been extremely long-lived (though not immortal like the Olympian gods), aging at an extra, ordinarily slow rate upon reaching adulthood, possess superhuman physical prowess (Asgardian flesh and bone is about three times denser than similar human tissue, contributing to the gods' superhuman strength and weight), an average female god can lift (press) about 25 tons, immunity to all terrestrial diseases and resistant to conventional injury, and a metabolism that gives them superhuman endurance in all physical activities.

They also have numerous magical skills primarily in controlling and perceiving time. They can freeze time and allow themselves to be seen by anyone of their choosing. They can perceive and view alternate futures even sharper than any known mortal psychic and even endow objects such as thread, paint or a burning log with the attributes of time. They can also disguise their appearance, taking on the form of a Sand Devil, a child, or a beautiful woman.

Super Name:	Norns
Real Name:	None
Aliases:	Fates Moirae Clotho (Olympian alias of the Spinner) Urd (Asgardian alias of the Spinner) Atropos (Olympian alias of the Scissors) Verdandi (Asgardian alias of the Scissors) Lachesis (Olympian alias of the Lots) Skuld (Asgardian alias of the Lots).
Publisher:	Marvel
Gender:	Female
Character Type:	God/Eternal
1st Appearance:	Tales To Astonish #33
Appears in:	50 issues
Birthday:
Died:	Click to search...

Norns

Origin

Involvement in Greek/Roman Mythology

Major Story Arcs (Marvel)

Powers & Abilities

Quick Look: Sega Vintage Collection

Quick Look: PixelJunk 4am

	Hercules: Zero to Hero An 1998 prequel to the Disney film. It features three tales of Hercules' teenaged years and depicts him joining the Prometheus Academy, a high school. ...
	Hercules An 1997 animated adaptation of the character from Greek mythology. The film focuses on Hercules' efforts to become a hero and on a conflict with ...