Acknowledgements While by definition the things that I post here are my goofy ideas, much of what goes into them comes from what I've read and learned from other fans. My talent, if any, is to collect other people's ideas and observations, mix them with my own, and develop a comprehensive whole based on them (not that its always a right one). So if you see an idea or observation you think is your own, it could be I saw and liked it and I'll freely give you all the credit. I feel a special acknowledgement must be given to Reynard82, Bantoboy, and the others who have posted so many interesting and thoughtful discussions about things OMG on this forum and to the web site Nekomi Kodai for what I've learned there.
To get the ball rolling, I've been doing research on the Norns of Norse folklore since a comment by the Studio Proteus translater got my attention. Basically, he says that Mr. Fujishima had told him that the goddesses' charactors and names were loosely based on Scandinavian mythology and I wondered if I could figure out what those elements were and if they might give me insights into the charactors. This is some of what I found that seems to be tied in.
The Norns are attributed by some sources with having started time. Before their arrival everything was just now. After they started time, Odin (or some earlier supreme being) ordered the sun and moon to transit the heavens so people could keep track of it. (So Urd and Skuld were the best choices to reset the clock.)
While usually seen as spinning the thread of fate, many sources have the Norns writing it in runes on a split branch or the bark of Ygsdril (and in one case on a steel shield). They would also cast the runes to read an individual's future. In some versions they are weaving a cloth out various threads to display a person's life, Urd selects the threads, Verdandi did the weaving, and Skuld ripped it up when the life was over. (Urd's picky about things, like saki, Bell did have that knitting phase, and Skuld is rather destructive) In many versions they don't actually decide one's fate, they just let you know what it is if you care to find out. In others they help you along on the way to your doom (Hello, Macbeth!) But the fact that Belldandy's job is to grant wishes that will change your life, and by extension your fate, puts her solidly in the Norn business. (It could be said she causes people to achieve their fate by giving them their wish.) Her being very accurate when she casts the runes is also in character.
Then there are the swan maidens. Women who can turn into swans and fly about. They're associated with Urda's well and the Norns, Mimir's well, and Odin's wife. But girls with wings are part of the Norn's mythology, the swan maidens being their agents, their daughters, their sisters, or just their servants when they are included with them. Equally connected are the Valkyrie, who while normally associated with Odin, are also sometimes attached to the Norms, with the three Fates either being their older sisters, fellow Valkyrie with a special job, just one of the girls (Skuld is often named as a Valkyrie), or the ones who give them their orders (that guy dies). Lind, by the way, is named as the chief Valkyrie in a few loctions and named as one in several others. Valkyrie and swan maidens are sometimes intermixed, think helmets with swan wings.
Interestingly, Hel, queen of the underworld, is named in some souces as Urda's mother, and Hild - Hel is an possible name shift to avoid controversy.(There's no mention of the other two's mother, although there's one mention that it might have been Urda herself.) Also, one of the main tasks of the Norn's was to maintain Ygdrasil, tending the main root in Asgard with water and clay from Urda's well to keep it healthy. Although not usually mentioned, a couple sources mention Norvi, a very old and obscure god who predates the gods of Asgard, as their father and its interesting that while the Norns will listen to and usually obey Odin in most matters, they are described as being independent of Asgard's gods, and are actually the servants of an older and greater authority than Odin and the Aisir (and possibly related to it). As the heaven and hell of the world of OMG are both depicted as bureauecratic organizations much like Japanese mega-corporations (complete with internal competing divisions) set up to run the universe with Kami-sama and Hild as the CEOs, that still leaves the possibility of a chairman of the board.
While Ygdrasil supports all 9 (or 7) worlds in the universe, it has three main roots that count; one in heaven (Asgard) tended by the Norns and watered by Urda's well, one in the underworld (Hel's domain) where the dragon Neidrig gnaws at the root in an icy spring there (I can't remember its name), and one in midgard (earth and the realm of the giants) watered by Mimir's well, who is sometimes said to have given it to Urda's care (possibly as an inheritance). Interesting?
Anyway, I believe I've discovered how the goddess's domains of past, present and future apply to their charactors. Without going into too much gory detail (I can if anyone wants, but I'll be kind), The Norn's charactoristics are very much a part of our three sister's personalities.
Urd's domain, while commonly refered to as the past, is more accurately desribed as "that which has become", which can be translated into the "past as it affects the present". Simply put, Urd's personality is orientated on all things that have happened. Think about it, She's usually depicted as drinking alone, or sitting somewhere alone, or watching TV alone, all contemplative acts (or in the case of the TV, something you do to passively keep from thinking) It's well established that Urd has a rough past, her love affair ended with her being rejected, her mother sent her away (I believe this was because Hild felt that growing up in the god's realm would be kinder to her half-breed daughter than in the demon's. And she should know), her dual nature has made it hard for her to fit in, all of her accomplishments (magic control, goddess license) have been hard won, etc.(I can go on, but its better saved for later). So she has a strong tendancy to constantly review her past, countered by an equally strong tendency (dual nature) to just do things so she won't think about them too much and subsequently not do them at all.
Her primary job, System Coordinator of Ygdrasil, is a rather solitary one, and depends strongly on knowledge of how the system WAS assembled in the past so as to be able to correct and maintain it. And her interests in potions and magic are traditionally oriented, again more backward looking than foreward and more dependent on accurately recalling previous formulas and spells than creating new magic. So Urd, Norn of the past, has a personality that among many other things, is reflective, contemplative, and tends to think about where things went wrong or are headed, and what, if anything, she can do about them.
(As an aside, I believe her desire to get Belldandy's and Keiichi's relationship heated up partially came from her own failed romance. She didn't want Bell to suffer like she did and thought that being the sort of people they are, once they reached THAT level of committment Bell and K-1 would never part. I think there's another reason but I'll save it for later. Also the reason Urd gives Keiichi such a hard time is that she's jealous of the fact that Belldandy got the sort of guy she wanted, one who's totally committed to her and her alone. So she takes it out on K-1, but never Belldandy.)
Belldandy is called the Norn of the present, or more correctly, "that which is becoming", which can be translated as "what's happening now". She is orientated in the present, possesing a constant childlike wonder at the world around her as, for her, everything that happens always feels as if its for the first time. That's why she can maintain her trust and purity of love and hope, the events of the past that wear others down don't usually damage her. She remembers them and acknowledges their lessons, they just don't affect her personality and outlook on life. She's perpetually optimistic and hoping for the best, although I think there's a hidden sadness behind it that will be discussed later.
She also relates to animals because of this, as they are also beings of the present, living for the most part in the immediate now. Belldandy, goddess of the present, is focused on the world in front of her. She knows of the past and considers the future, but her goal is to make NOW the best it can be for everyone.
Skuld is the Norn of the future, or more literally "that which SHOULD become", or "the future that will happen if the present doesn't change what the past is leading up to". (The future was never totally ordained by the earlier norse versions of fate, it was only at the end of their mythology's developement that it became inescapable.) Skuld is looking to the future, she sees problems that might happen and tries to deal with them. Her machines are all made in response to some need she sees coming, hence the reason she always seeems to have something for any situation and also why they don't always work (the situation wasn't quite what she forsaw or she didn't think of some complication). Likewise her interference with Keiichi and Belldandy was not so much that Belldandy had been taken from her as that K-1 was GOING to take her away permanently and Skuld was going to prevent it. She's focused on what's coming up, so what's happening around her sort of sneaks in and surprises her.
Also, within the story line, Skuld is still a child, so she is still discovering herself and who and what she will become has yet to be seen, certainly a symbol of the future.
13-Feb, 18 view(s)
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