Мифологиялық Urðarbrunnr құдығы

Fictional spring

Urðarbrunnr (Old Norse "Well of Urðr"; either referring to a Germanic concept of fate—urðr—or the norn named Urðr) is a well in Norse mythology. Urðarbrunnr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, the well lies beneath the world tree Yggdrasil, and is associated with a trio of norns (Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld). In the Prose Edda, Urðarbrunnr is cited as one of three wells existing beneath three roots of Yggdrasil that reach into three distant, different lands; the other two wells being Hvergelmir, located beneath a root in Niflheim, and Mímisbrunnr, located beneath a root near the home of the frost jötnar. Scholarly theory and speculation surrounds the well.

In the Prose Edda, Urðarbrunnr is attested in Gylfaginning (chapters 15, 16, and the beginning of chapter 17), and twice in Skáldskaparmál.

In chapter 15 of Gylfaginning, a book of the Prose Edda, the throned figure of Just As High tells Gangleri (described as King Gylfi in disguise) about Yggdrasil and its roots. Just As High describes three roots that support Yggdrasil that stretch a great distance. The third root is located "among the Æsir", "extends to heaven" and, beneath it, is the "very holy" Urðarbrunnr. Just As High details that, every day, the gods ride over the bridge Bifröst to hold court at the well. High provides more information regarding the well in chapter 16. High says that there are many beautiful places in heaven, and "everywhere there is divine protection around it." There, a beautiful hall stands under the ash (Yggdrasil) near the well (Urðarbrunnr), and from this hall come "three maidens" whose names are Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld. The maidens shape the lives of men, and "we call them norns". High goes on to describe that there are other norns, and their nature. Further into chapter 16, High states that norns that dwell by Urðarbrunnr take water from the well and mud that lies around it, and pour it over the Yggdrasil so that its branches do not decay or rot. The water is described as so holy that anything that enters the well will become "as white as the membrane called the skin that lies round the inside of the eggshell." High then quotes stanza 19 of Völuspá, and states that two swans feed from the well, from which all other swans descend. Chapter 17 starts off with Gangleri asking what other "chief centres" exist outside of Urðarbrunnr. Urðarbrunnr is mentioned a second time in section 52 of Skáldskaparmál, this time associated with Christ. The section states that early skalds once referred to Christ in relation to Urðarbrunnr and Rome, and quotes the late 10th century skald Eilífr Goðrúnarson, who states that "thus has the powerful king of Rome increased his realm with lands of heath land divinities [giants; i. e. heathen lands]" and that Christ is said to have his throne south of Urðarbrunnr.

Parallels have been pointed out between the description of Urðarbrunnr at the base of the world tree Yggdrasil and Christian medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen's account of a well at the base of a sacred tree at the Temple at Uppsala, Sweden, found in his 11th century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum.