Wyrd

Wyrd is a word which originates in the Anglo-Saxon verb weorþan, to become, and itself derives from an Indo-European root verb meaning to turn. Its most specific definition points it firmly at that which has become, i.e. the past. Nestled within the bower of this is a meaning which has strong associations with magical transformation, and this concept is also interwoven with a well-nourished idea of predestination.

Wyrd was paralleled in early Nordic cultures where the word was rendered as urd (not entirely coincidentally, Urd is also the name of one of the three Norns or Norse mythological spinners of destiny).

In Anglo-Saxon times, wyrd was often a consequence of symbel, a ritualistic drinking of alcohol to excess in which story-telling by means of narrative verse was a central feature.