Wyrd is an Anglo-Saxon term for fate or personal destiny. Heathens believe that wyrd is a force that connects everything in the universe, therefore all their actions could have far-reaching consequences (similar to the concept of karma).
Wyrd is an Old English noun from the verb weorþan, meaning “to come to pass, to become”. Wyrd has cognates in Old Saxon wurd, Old High German wurt, Old Norse urðr, Dutch worden (to become) and German werden.
The term wyrd developed into the modern term weird. In Elizabethan times, this meant “having the power to control fate”, such as the Weird Sisters, the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
In Norse mythology, the Wyrd Sisters refers to the three Norns, or Fates, the Goddesses of Destiny. There is Urðr (Wyrd) (“that which has come to pass”), Verðandi (“what is in the process of happening”) and Skuld (Should) (“that which should necessarily be”). Together the three Norns weave Fate or ørlǫg, the layers of the past.
Wyrd has also been included in some modern-day Rune sets as the “Blank Rune”, the rune of Fate. Seeing the wyrd rune in a casting could suggest that an important choice is about to be made, which could change your life forever.
Wyrd does not refer to the “inexorable fate” of the ancient Greeks. Wyrd is not an end point, but something continually happening around us at all times. Our past affects us continually. Who we are, where we are, and what we are doing today is dependent on actions we have taken in the past and actions others have taken in the past. Every choice we make in the present builds upon choices we have previously made.
“Through wyrd may force us into circumstances we would never have freely chosen for ourselves, we always have some choice about how we react in those situations. And how we choose to react will always make a difference, if not to the world at large, then at least to our own ørlög.” (What is Wyrd)
Wyrd Wiki
Wyrd: The Role of Fate
What is Wyrd
© West Coast Pagan
West Coast Pagan 