Yggdrasil is attested in thePoetic Edda compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in theProse Edda compiled in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immenseash tree that is central to the cosmos and considered very holy. Thegods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at theirtraditional governing assemblies. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the wellUrðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the springHvergelmir, and another to the wellMímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragonNíðhöggr, the squirrelRatatoskr, the hawkVeðrfölnir, and the stagsDáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór.
The generally accepted meaning of Old NorseYggdrasill is "Odin's horse", meaning "gallows". This interpretation comes about becausedrasill means "horse" andYgg(r) is one ofOdin's many names. ThePoetic Edda poemHávamál describes how Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from a tree, making this tree Odin's gallows. This tree may have been Yggdrasil. "The horse of the hanged" is akenning for gallows and therefore Odin's gallows may have developed into the expression "Odin's horse", which then became the name of the tree.[1]
Nevertheless, scholarly opinions regarding the precise meaning of the nameYggdrasill vary, particularly on the issue of whetherYggdrasill is the name of the tree itself or if only the full termaskr Yggdrasil (where Old Norseaskr means "ash tree") refers specifically to the tree. According to this interpretation,askr Yggdrasils would mean theworld tree upon which "the horse [Odin's horse] of the highest god [Odin] is bound". Both of these etymologies rely on a presumed but unattested*Yggsdrasill.[1]
A third interpretation, presented by F. Detter, is that the nameYggdrasill refers to the wordyggr ("terror"), yet not in reference to the Odinic name, and soYggdrasill would then mean "tree of terror, gallows". F. R. Schröder has proposed a fourth etymology according to whichyggdrasill means "yew pillar", derivingyggia from*igwja (meaning "yew-tree"), anddrasill from*dher- (meaning "support").[1]
Anatoly Liberman argues that the nameYggdrasill originally referred to Odin's literal horse (later known mainly asSleipnir). He explains the missing 's' by suggesting that the original compound didn't mean 'Odin's horse' but 'Odin-horse'. The horse shared in the God's essence. This led to thekenningaskr Yggdrasills, literally: 'the ash tree of Odin-horse', but by the conventions of Old Norse poetry: 'the warrior of Odin-horse', i.e. 'Odin'.Yggdrasill fell out of use as the name of Odin's horse, leaving the formulaaskr Yggdrasills obscure. It was reinterpreted to refer to the world tree, of which Liberman believes the Norse had some conception before the name 'Yggdrasill' was attached to it. Finally,askr Yggdrasills was simplified toaskr Yggdrasill, i.e. from 'the ash tree of Yggdrasill' to 'the ash tree (called) Yggdrasill'.[2]
"Norns" (1832) fromDie Helden und Götter des Nordens, oder das Buch der Sagen
In the second stanza of thePoetic Edda poemVöluspá, thevölva (a shamanic seeress) reciting the poem to the god Odin says that she remembers far back to "early times", being raised byjötnar, recallsnine worlds and nineídiðiur (rendered in a variety of ways by translators—Dronke, for example, provides "nine wood-ogresses"), and when Yggdrasil was a seed ("glorious tree of good measure, under the ground").[3] In stanza 19, the völva says:
An ash I know there stands, Yggdrasill is its name, a tall tree, showered with shiningloam. From there come the dews that drop in the valleys. It stands forever green over Urðr's well.[4]
In stanza 20, the völva says that from the lake under the tree come three "maidens deep in knowledge" namedUrðr,Verðandi, andSkuld. The maidens "incised the slip of wood", "laid down laws" and "chose lives" for the children of humanity and the destinies (ørlǫg) of men.[5] In stanza 27, the völva details that she is aware that "Heimdallr's hearing is couched beneath the bright-nurtured holy tree."[6] In stanza 45, Yggdrasil receives a final mention in the poem. The völva describes, as a part of the onset of Ragnarök, that Heimdallr blowsGjallarhorn, that Odin speaks withMímir's head, and then:
Yggdrasill shivers, the ash, as it stands. The old tree groans, and the giant slips free.[7]
Odin sacrificing himself upon Yggdrasil (1895) byLorenz Frølich
In stanza 138 of the poemHávamál, Odin describes how he once sacrificed himself to himself by hanging on a tree. The stanza reads:
I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run.[8]
In the stanza that follows, Odin describes how he had no food nor drink there, that he peered downward, and that "I took up therunes, screaming I took them, then I fell back from there."[8] Odin later used "the knowledge of the sacred runes" as a magical tool to give to humanity to increase humans' skill in magic and poetry.[9]
While Yggdrasil is not mentioned by name in the poem and other trees exist in Norse mythology, the tree is near universally accepted as Yggdrasil by scholars, and if the tree is Yggdrasil, then the nameYggdrasil directly relates to this story.[10]
In the poemGrímnismál, Odin (disguised asGrímnir) provides the youngAgnar with cosmological lore. Yggdrasil is first mentioned in the poem in stanza 29, where Odin says that, because the "bridge of the Æsir burns" and the "sacred waters boil,"Thor must wade through the riversKörmt and Örmt and two rivers namedKerlaugar to go "sit as judge at the ash of Yggdrasill". In the stanza that follows, alist of names of horses are given that the Æsir ride to "sit as judges" at Yggdrasil.[11]
In stanza 31, Odin says that the ash Yggdrasil has three roots that grow in three directions. He details that beneath the first livesHel, under the second live frost jötnar, and beneath the third lives humanity. Stanza 32 details that a squirrel namedRatatoskr must run across Yggdrasil and bring "the eagle's word" from above to Níðhöggr below. Stanza 33 describes that fourharts named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór consume "the highest boughs" of Yggdrasil.[11]
In stanza 34, Odin says that more serpents lie beneath Yggdrasil "than any fool can imagine" and lists them as Góinn and Móinn (possibly meaning Old Norse "land animal"[12]), which he describes as sons of Grafvitnir (Old Norse, possibly "ditch wolf"[13]), Grábakr (Old Norse "Greyback"[12]), Grafvölluðr (Old Norse, possibly "the one digging under the plain" or possibly amended as "the one ruling in the ditch"[13]), Ófnir (Old Norse "the winding one, the twisting one"[14]), and Sváfnir (Old Norse, possibly "the one who puts to sleep = death"[15]), who Odin adds that he thinks will forever gnaw on the tree's branches.[11]
In stanza 35, Odin says that Yggdrasil "suffers agony more than men know", as a hart bites it from above, it decays on its sides, and Níðhöggr bites it from beneath.[16] In stanza 44, Odin provides a list of things that are what he refers to as the "noblest" of their kind. Within the list, Odin mentions Yggdrasil first, and states that it is the "noblest of trees".[17]
The title page of Olive Bray's 1908 translation of thePoetic Edda byW. G. CollingwoodThe norns Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld beneath the world tree Yggdrasil (1882) byLudwig Burger
Yggdrasil is mentioned in two books in theProse Edda;Gylfaginning andSkáldskaparmál. InGylfaginning, Yggdrasil is introduced in chapter 15. In chapter 15,Gangleri (described as kingGylfi in disguise) asks where is the chief or holiest place of the gods.High replies "It is the ash Yggdrasil. There the gods must hold their courts each day". Gangleri asks what there is to tell about Yggdrasil.Just-As-High says that Yggdrasil is the biggest and best of all trees, that its branches extend out over all of the world and reach out over the sky. Three of the roots of the tree support it, and these three roots also extend extremely far: one "is among theÆsir, the second among the frost jötnar, and the third overNiflheim. The root over Niflheim is gnawed at by the wyrmNíðhöggr, and beneath this root is the springHvergelmir. Beneath the root that reaches the frost jötnar is the wellMímisbrunnr, "which has wisdom and intelligence contained in it, and the master of the well is calledMimir". Just-As-High provides details regarding Mímisbrunnr and then describes that the third root of the well "extends to heaven" and that beneath the root is the "very holy" wellUrðarbrunnr. At Urðarbrunnr the gods hold their court, and every day the Æsir ride to Urðarbrunnr up over the bridgeBifröst. Later in the chapter, a stanza fromGrímnismál mentioning Yggdrasil is quoted in support.[18]
In chapter 16, Gangleri asks "what other particularly notable things are there to tell about the ash?" High says there is quite a lot to tell about. High continues that an eagle sits on the branches of Yggdrasil and that it has much knowledge. Between the eyes of the eagle sits a hawk calledVeðrfölnir. A squirrel calledRatatoskr scurries up and down the ash Yggdrasil carrying "malicious messages" between the eagle and Níðhöggr. Four stags named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, and Duraþrór run between the branches of Yggdrasil and consume its foliage. In the spring Hvergelmir are so many snakes along with Níðhöggr "that no tongue can enumerate them". Two stanzas fromGrímnismál are then cited in support. High continues that the norns that live by the holy well Urðarbrunnr each day take water from the well and mud from around it and pour it over Yggdrasil so that the branches of the ash do not rot away or decay. High provides more information about Urðarbrunnr, cites a stanza fromVöluspá in support, and adds thatdew falls from Yggdrasil to the earth, explaining that "this is what people callhoneydew, and from it bees feed".[19]
In chapter 41, the stanza fromGrímnismál is quoted that mentions that Yggdrasil is the foremost of trees.[20] In chapter 54, as part of the events ofRagnarök, High describes that Odin will ride to the well Mímisbrunnr and consult Mímir on behalf of himself and his people. After this, "the ash Yggdrasil will shake and nothing will be unafraid in heaven or on earth", and then the Æsir andEinherjar will don their war gear and advance to the field ofVígríðr. Further into the chapter, the stanza inVöluspá that details this sequence is cited.[21]
In theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál, Yggdrasil receives a single mention, though not by name. In chapter 64, names forkings anddukes are given. "Illustrious one" is provided as an example, appearing in a Christianity-influenced work by theskaldHallvarðr Háreksblesi: "There is not under the pole of the earth [Yggdrasil] an illustrious one closer to the lord ofmonks [God] than you."[22]
Hilda Ellis Davidson comments that the existence of nine worlds around Yggdrasil is mentioned more than once in Old Norse sources, but the identity of the worlds is never stated outright, though it can be deduced from various sources. Davidson comments that "no doubt the identity of the nine varied from time to time as the emphasis changed or new imagery arrived". Davidson says that it is unclear where the nine worlds are located in relation to the tree; they could either exist one above the other or perhaps be grouped around the tree, but there are references to worlds existing beneath the tree, while the gods are pictured as in the sky, a rainbow bridge (Bifröst) connecting the tree with other worlds. Davidson opines that "those who have tried to produce a convincing diagram of theScandinavian cosmos from what we are told in the sources have only added to the confusion".[23]
Davidson notes parallels between Yggdrasil andshamanic lore in northern Eurasia:
The conception of the tree rising through a number of worlds is found in northern Eurasia and forms part of the shamanic lore shared by many peoples of this region. This seems to be a very ancient conception, perhaps based on thePole Star, the centre of the heavens, and the image of the central tree in Scandinavia may have been influenced by it.... AmongSiberian shamans, a central tree may be used as a ladder to ascend the heavens.[23]
Davidson says that the notion of an eagle atop a tree and the world serpent coiled around the roots of the tree has parallels in other cosmologies fromAsia. She goes on to say that Norse cosmology may have been influenced by these Asiatic cosmologies from a northern location. Davidson adds, on the other hand, that it is attested that theGermanic peoples worshiped their deities in open forest clearings and that asky god was particularly connected with theoak tree, and therefore "a central tree was a natural symbol for them also".[23]
Lífþrasir and Líf after emerging from Hoddmímis holt (1895) byLorenz Frølich
Connections have been proposed between the woodHoddmímis holt (Old Norse "Hoard-Mímir's"[24]holt) and the treeMímameiðr ("Mímir's tree"), generally thought to refer to the world tree Yggdrasil, and the springMímisbrunnr.[24] John Lindow concurs thatMímameiðr may be another name for Yggdrasil and that if the Hoard-Mímir of the nameHoddmímis holt is the same figure asMímir (associated with the spring named after him, Mímisbrunnr), then the Mímir's holt—Yggdrasil—and Mímir's spring may be within the same proximity.[25]
Carolyne Larrington notes that it is nowhere expressly stated what will happen to Yggdrasil during the events ofRagnarök. Larrington points to a connection between the primordial figure ofMímir and Yggdrasil in the poemVöluspá, and theorizes that "it is possible that Hoddmimir is another name for Mimir, and that thetwo survivors hide in Yggdrasill."[26]
Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival ofLíf and Lífþrasir through Ragnarök by hiding in Hoddmímis holt is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology". Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of humanity from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarök as well." Simek says that inGermanic regions, the concept of humanity originating from trees is ancient. Simek additionally points out legendary parallels in aBavarian legend of ashepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure ofÖrvar-Oddr, "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (Ǫrvar-Odds saga 24–27)".[27]
Continuing as late as the 19th century,warden trees were venerated in areas of Germany and Scandinavia, considered to be guardians and bringers of luck, and offerings were sometimes made to them. A massivebirch tree standing atop aburial mound and located beside a farm in westernNorway is recorded as having had ale poured over its roots during festivals. The tree was felled in 1874.[28]
Davidson comments that "the position of the tree in the centre as a source of luck and protection for gods and men is confirmed" by these rituals to Warden Trees. Davidson notes that the gods are described as meeting beneath Yggdrasil to hold theirthings, and the relatedIrminsul, which may have been a pillar, was also symbolic of the center of the world. Davidson details that it would be difficult to ascertain whether a tree or pillar came first, and that this is likely to depend on whether the holy location was in a thickly wooded area or not. Davidson notes that there is no mention of asacred tree atÞingvellir inIceland, but thatAdam of Bremen describes ahuge tree standing next to the Temple at Uppsala inSweden, which remained green throughout summer and winter, and that no one knew what type it was. Davidson comments that while it is uncertain if Adam's informant actually witnessed the tree, the existence of sacred trees in pre-Christian Germanic Europe is further evidenced by records of their destruction by early Christian missionaries, such asThor's Oak bySaint Boniface.[28]
Ken Dowden comments that behind Irminsul, Thor's Oak in Geismar, and the sacred tree atUppsala "looms a mythic prototype, an Yggdrasil, the world-ash of theNorsemen".[29]
Poems mentioning Yggdrasil includeVårdträdet byViktor Rydberg andYggdrasill by J. Linke.[32]
InOverlord, a Japanese light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama,Yggdrasil is the name of a popularDMMORPG, where the protagonist got trapped after its shutdown.[33]
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