NORNS (0. Norse, Nornir)  , in Northern mythology, the female divinities of fate, somewhat similar to the Gr . Moipac and the Roman Parcae . Like them they are generally represented as three in number, and they are said to spin, or weave, the destiny of men . Their dwelling is beside the " Spring of fate," beneath the " world-tree," Yggdrasil's ash, which they water with draughts from the spring . In some cases the Norns are not easily to be distinguished from the Valkyries (q.v.) . Some-times again they appear as prophetesses (volur) at the birth of children, whose destiny they foretell . The most famous of these stories is contained in the Theittr of Nornagesti, and has a curious resemblance to the Greek legend of Althaea and Meleager . Similar beings seem to have been known among other Teutonic peoples in early times . (See TEUTONIC PEOPLES, § 7) . (H, M .