Anime Profile: Oh My Goddess!

Ah! My Goddess is a 5 video OVA which has the story revolve around two people, Belldandy, a goddess, and Morisato Keíchi, a freshman at Nekomi Institute of Technology. They meet each other when Keíchi tries to order out for food and discovers that all the restaurants are either closed or will not deliver. After a while he gets extremely frustrated and accidentally calls up the Relief Goddess Office. What happens next is a little strange.

A goddess (Belldandy) is sent to Earth to meet with Keíchi (this is putting it bluntly- he was more than a little shocked to see a girl pop out of a mirror). She offers him one wish and, not believing her, he wishes he had a girlfriend just like Belldandy to stay with him forever. Well, you know what happens next.

Belldandy grants his wish and a wish contract is made (which is enforced by the omnipotent "Ultimate Force") stating that she has to stay with him forever. Unfortunately, Keíchi lives in a men's dorm which does not permit any women inside, so he and Belldandy are literally tossed out by his sempai. They head out house hunting but turn up nothing, so they head to an old temple where they permanently settle down.

After this point, the story gets more entertaining and more characters are introduced, including Keíchi's younger sister and Belldandy's sisters. Ah! My Goddess! gets more romantic and funnier as the story goes on, which is the reason why I consider this to be one of best anime that I have ever seen.

The three sisters, Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld are all part of the Nordic legend known as the Fates. The Fates were part a group of Valkyries.

In the legend, the keeper of magic and judge of men's fate was Urthr. The Nordic used the "th" and a "d" to represent the same sound. So, Urthr and Urdrth would be on the same line. Like Urd in the anime, she was older and commanded lightning.

The other side is Skuld. The name never needed to be changed in the legend or in the anime. Skuld was the Fate responsible to create Men and to give them knowledge on the battlefield. She also helped with the crafts of war. Skuld commanded water and rain. Skuld would create the Thread of Men (explained below).

Verthanthi was the Fate of the Present. She would watch over the men on the battlefield and direct the Valkyries accordingly. On rare instances, she would hold the Thread of Men too long, giving someone longevity. The keeper of the sun's warmth and song made Verthanthi the more liked Fate. The translation to Japanese was difficult. A pure "R" sound gets blurred into a "L" sound ("fried rice" would sound like "flied lice"). The "V" sound was replaced the less harsh "B" sound, and the "th" was again replaced with "D". So, the translation went like this:
Ve(l)thanthi --> (B)elthanthi --> Bel(d)an(d)i --> Beldandi --> Belldandy

Most Nordic Legends can be found in Oh! My Goddess. The World Ash Tree of Knowledge that shades the Fate is known as Yggdrasil. In the anime, Yggdrasil is the all-powerful computer in Heaven.