The Norns
This is the best concise written description of the Norns that I have found so far:
“Urd is similar to the past tense of the verb verđa, "to become" and thus means something like "Became" or "Happened." It is cognate with Old English wyrd, "fate, destiny" and related words in Old High German and Old Saxon. Verdandi is the present participle of verđa, "Becoming" or "Happening." Skuld is derived from the modal verb skulu, which is cognate with English "shall" and "should," and probably then means "Is-to-be" or "Will-happen." -John Lindow