Mythological fresco by Gustav Heidenreich in the "Fatherland Hall" of the New Museum, Berlin, illustrating the Edda.  The three Norns stand for the belief in fate.  On the left, Urd sits at a well (the stream of time) with the prophesying swans.  As the Norn of the past, she inscribes on a shield runes that give information about completed destiny.  In the center, Verdandi, the Norn of the present, is spinning the thread of life or destiny.  Skuld stands for the future.  She waters the ash tree Yggdrasil and thereby cares for the continuation of history.  Yggdrasil is the world tree whose roots reach into the underworld and whose branches reach into the heaven of the gods.  Various animals live in it.  Stags eat its branches, and the dragon Nidhöggr gnaws on its roots.  (Museum text)
file: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jdsteakley" title="User:Jdsteakley">James Steakley</a>; artwork: Gustav Heidenreich
artwork: 1852
photo at the Neues Museum Berlin