Yggdrasil

In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil was the "World tree", a gigantic tree (often suggested to be an ash, an interpretation generally accepted in the modern Scandinavian mind), thought to hold all of the different worlds, such as Asgard, Midgard, Utgard and Hel.

Yggdrasil

Three roots supported the trunk, with one passing through Asgard, one through Midgard and one through Hel. Beneath the Asgard root lay the sacred Well of Urd, and there dwelt the three Nornor, over whom even the gods had no power, and who, every day, watered the tree from the primeval fountain, so that its boughs remained green; and beneath the Midgard root lay the spring or well of Mimir.

The messenger in the tree (and thus between the worlds) was the squirrel, Ratatosk. In the top of the tree was perched a giant eagle (with a hawk upon its forehead) who blew the winds over the worlds with his mighty wings. The Niflheim roots of Yggdrasil were gnawed at by a dragon, Nidhogg. Heidrun, a goat, lived on top of Yggdrasil and ate its leaves. Four stags fed on the bark of Yggdrasil, including Dvalin.

The Yggdrasil name literally means the "horse of Yggr", that is the horse of Odin, since Yggr (meaning Dreadful) is one of Odin's many names. The name is a reference to the nine nights Odin is said to have spent hanging from the tree in order to learn the wisdom of the ancient runes. In the Havamal this is described:

I hung on that windy tree for nine nights wounded by my own spear.

I hung to that tree, and no one knows where it is rooted.

None gave me food. None gave me drink. Into the abyss I stared

until I spied the runes. I seized them up, and, howling, fell.

In recognition of this, sacrificial hangings became a Viking way of worshipping Odin. The extent of this was revealed in 1950, when the preserved corpse of the so-called "Tollund Man" was found in a peat bog in Jutland. The excellent level of preservation made it possible to deduce that he had been ritually hanged and respectfully consigned to the bog, not more than a hundred yards from where a ritually hanged woman had been found some decades previously.

Many people have discussed the parallels between Odin's self-sacrifice in search of knowledge and the Crucifixion, particularly as Odin, like Jesus, was pierced with a spear before death. However, while possibly influenced by Christianity the myth certainly has pre-Christian origins.

Yggdrasil is also central in the myth of Ragnarok, the end of the world. The only two humans to survive Ragnarok (there are some survivors among the gods), Lif and Lifthrasir, are able to escape by sheltering in the branches of Yggdrasil, where they feed on the dew and are protected by the tree.

"The bellowing fire will not scorch them; it will not even touch them, and their food will be the morning dew. Through the branches they will see a new sun burn as the world ends and starts again."

Irminsul was an oak venerated by the pagan saxons and which was said to connect heaven and earth. The Old Norse form of Irmin was J�rmun and interestingly, just like Ygg, it was one of Odin's names. It appears, then, that Irminsul may have been a material anchor for Yggdrasil among the pagan Saxons.

Yggdrasil in Games

Yggdrasill is a character featured in the Real-Time RPG Tales of Symphonia.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Yggdrasill is the character who split the world in two as part of his plot to resurrect his sister, Martel.

See Tales of Symphonia for more details.

Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil in Games

See also:

Disambiguation