Everyone, including the immortal gods, feared these goddesses of fate. The Fates were very important, but it is still unknown to who their parents were. The Fates are children of Nyx. However, there is some speculation that they may be the daughters of Zeus and Themis, but this is debatable. The Fates were described by the Greeks most often as ugly hags, cold and merciless in their work of supervising the fates of everyone. They are compared and contrasted with the Norns of Norse myth.