Thence come the maidens, great in wisdom, In Norse mythology, the destinies of all living beings were determined by a trio of goddesses called the Norns. From Urd’s Well, the Norns watered Yggdrasil and foretold the future The most obvious is the story of Odin’s hanging, since Odin “rode” an ash tree as he hung from it.Īnother explanation of the name may be due to the fact that victims sacrificed to Odin were hung on sacred trees, riding the tree, gallows, or horse sacred to him.Īnother explanation is that Odin tied his steed to Yggdrasil. There are many theories that explain the origin of this name. Thus, Yggdrasil can be interpreted as “the ash steed of Odin” or “the ash horse of Odin.” Ygg (translated as “the Terrible”) was another name of Odin’s. Yggdrasil means “Ygg’s horse,” or “Ygg’s Steed”. The complete name of the world tree is Askr Yggdrasil, meaning “the ash of Yggdrasil.” Seeking to drink from the fountain, Odin offered Mimir an eye in exchange for a drink.Īfterwards, Odin hung himself from Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights so he could master the magic runes and magical powers granted by the fountain. Sitting at the southern root of Yggdrasil, Mimir’s fountain contained either sacred water or holy mead that gave great wisdom to anyone who drank from it. Odin hanged himself from Yggdrasil to master the wisdom from Mimir’s fountain The other six worlds are not given exact locations, but all are connected to Yggdrasil. But if Yggdrasil lost access to even one of these water sources, it would then be doomed to die.įinally, the Norse cosmogony says there are nine worlds in total that are connected to the world tree, but Jotunheim, Niflheim, and Asgard are the only ones that are precisely located on Yggdrasil. The water from all three sources kept Yggdrasil eternally green and always renewing. However, if Asgard is situated on a root, then this implies the root is not stuck into the “ground” but rather juts out into Heaven. This raises a curious problem, since it is said that Asgard lies far above in Heaven. On this root lies Jottunheim, the land of giants.įinally, the realm of Asgard is said to reside on the third root of Yggdrasil, with Urd’s Well just underneath it. Just underneath the southern root is Mimir’s fountain. The northern root spreads over the realm of Niflheim, ruled by the goddess Hel, and taps into the spring Hvergelmir. Yggdrasil has three roots that hold Midgard, Jottunheim and AsgardĪ common theme in Norse mythology is that Yggdrasil has three roots, and each of these taps into a sacred water source that gives the tree its eternal life. The many uses of ash wood, such as in spears, bows or building material, created a deep appreciation for it, which over time led to it being considered a sacred tree. The Norse deeply venerated the ash tree, and even believed the gods created the first man, Ask, out of an ash tree and gave it divine spirit. Throughout the majority of Norse mythological sources Yggdrasil has been described as an ash tree, and not an oak or a yew. It is possible that the seed that would become Yggdrasil obtained it’s nourishment from these waters and began to grow into the World Tree of the Norse. Yggdrasil’s origins in the Norse mythological poems are not properly explained however, by reading the Norse creation story, we know that the sacred waters of Mimir, Urd, and Hvergelmir were among the first locations to be created out of the dead giant Ymir. Yggdrasil was the immense ash tree that connected and supported the world in Norse mythology Yggdrasil did not have a creator The roots of Yggdrasil extend into the underworld, and the branches of the tree reach up into the heavens. Each of these nine worlds is inhabited by various beings, including gods, humans, and elves.
It is an immense ash tree that is said to connect the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. Yggdrasil is a giant mythical tree that serves as the center of the Norse cosmology in Norse mythology.
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