"The blue water, smitten by many oars, might be seen foaming far and wide" wrote a medieval monk who watched a Viking fleet set sail. Above: Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the ...

the Norns were a group of goddesses who spun and shaped each person’s destiny like a strand of thread in a great cosmic tapestry. The criss-crossing of strings in the sky guided one’s fate and life ...