命運女神諾恩 博爾赫斯

∞《想像中的動物》，1969

The Book of Imaginary Beings

博爾赫斯和瑪格麗特·格雷羅 合著

諾恩

在中古挪威神話中，諾恩是命運女神。斯諾里·斯特爾森在十三世紀初構建了原本散亂的北歐神話的秩序，他告訴我們諾恩有三位，分別是烏爾德（過去）、威珊蒂（現在）和斯考德（未來）。這三位諾恩女神掌握著世界的命運，而每個人誕生之時三位命運女神就會出現，發布對於他一生的預言。值得推敲的是，諾恩三女神的名字有可能是基於神學原理的斟酌或補充，因為古代日耳曼部落尚不具備進行這種抽象思考的能力。斯諾里在世界之樹「伊格德拉西爾」底下的一口噴泉邊上，向世人推出了這三個姑娘。她們無情地紡織我們的生命。

時光（她們是時光的女兒）似乎早將她們遺忘，然而在1606年前後，威廉·莎士比亞寫作了悲劇《麥克白》，她們在該劇第一幕現身。她們化身三個女巫，預測了班柯和麥克白早被安排好的命運。莎士比亞稱她們為命運三姊妹（第一幕，第三場）：

手攜手，三姊妹，

滄海高山彈指地，

朝飛暮返任遊戲

……

[ 此三行選自朱生豪譯《麥克白》]

盎格魯-撒克遜人信奉的命運女神維爾德是一位沉靜的女神，主宰著眾神和凡人的命運。

The Norns

Translated by

Norman Thomas di Giovanni

In medieval Norse mythology the Norns are the Fates. Snorri Sturluson, who at the beginning of the thirteenth century brought order to the scattered Northern myths, tells us that the Norns are three and that their names are Urth (the past),Verthandi (the present), and Skuld (the future). These three heavenly Norns ruled the fate of the world, while at the birth of every man three individual Norns were present, casting the weird of his life. It may be suspected that the names of the Norns are a refinement or addition of a theological nature; ancient Germanic tribes were incapable of such ab-stract thinking. Snorri shows us three maidens by a fountain at the base of the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Inexorably, they weave our fate.

Time (of which they are made) seemed to have quite for- gotten them, but around William Shakespeare wrote the tragedy of Macbeth , in whose first scene they appear.They are the three witches who predict what fate holds in store for Banquo andMacbeth. Shakespeare calls them the weird sisters (I, iii):

The weird sisters, hand in hand,

Posters of the seas and land,

Thus do go about, about . . .

Wyrdamong the Anglo-Saxons was the silent goddess who presided over the destiny of gods and men.

GIF

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