Meaning: (in) Need (of help),
Crisis
Symbolises: Fate, compulsion
Mythology: The Three Norns, Urd
(Crone), Vardande (Mother), Skuld (Maiden)
Fylgja: Urd – Owl, Vardande –
Spider, Skuld – Carrion Crow
Class: None
Tree: Alder, Willow, Elm
Plant: Dandelion, Nettle, Rasberry
Old Norwegian Rune Rhyme:
Need makes for a difficult situation;
The naked freeze in the frost.
The nod rune suggests need or hunger. It
is not a comfortable rune as the rhyme
suggests. It is not a sign of disaster, but
an indicator of problems which must be faced
up to and resolved. The big danger is
complacency and procrastination of putting
off what should be dealt with. The English
saying "Necessity is the mother of
invention" and the Scandinavians more
picturesque saying "The frost teaches a
naked woman how to weave" both tell us
that if something must be done a way will be
found. This can of course be ignored which
is where the second line of the rhyme shows.
If you don't learn to weave you will die
from cold. The nod rune represents the Three
Norns, their role is to water the roots of
Yggdrasil and weave the web of wyrd (fate)
that governs each persons life from their
birth to their death. The web can be thought
of as being created as we lead our lives.
All of the treads of the possible futures we
create by our decisions being pulled
together in to the present. The present also
effects the future as our decisions will
only allow certain possibilities, some
choices would only occur if others had been
made. You could not shoot someone unless you
had picked up the gun. The process of making
the decisions and working with your own web
of wyrd to gain all from this life, is what
makes us fully human. Giving up and letting
fatalism rule or trying to block the path
will only lead to disaster. |
