Yggdrasil
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In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil (from Old Norse Yggdrasill IPA: [ˈyɡːˌdrasilː]; meaning "Ygg's (Odin's) horse"[1]) is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. 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 well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, and an unnamed eagle, and the wyrm Níðhöggr. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasill, the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr, and the sacred tree at Uppsala.
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[edit] Etymology
Opinions regarding the meaning of the name Yggdrasill vary, particularly on the issue of whether Yggdrasill is the name of the tree itself, or if only the full term askr Yggdrasil refers specifically to the tree. Yggdrasill means "Ygg's horse", "Yggr" is one of Odin's many names, and according to this, askr Yggdrasils would be viewed as the world-tree upon which the "horse of the highest god is bound".[1]
The generally accepted etymology of the name is that Yggdrasill means "Odin's horse", which means "tree", and that the reason behind the name "Odin's horse" lies in the notion of gallows as "the horse of the hanged", and, according to this notion, the tree would then be the gallows in which Odin hanged during his self-sacrifice described in the Poetic Edda poem Hávamál. Both of these etymologies rely on a presumed but unattested *Yggsdrasill.[1]
A third interpretation by F. Detter is that the name Yggdrasill refers to the word Yggr ("terror"), yet not in reference to the Odinic name, and so Yggdrasill would then mean "tree of terror, gallows". F. R. Schröder has proposed a fourth etymology where yggdrasill means "yew pillar", deriving yggia from *igwja (meaning "yew-tree"), and drasill from *dher- (meaning "support").[1]
[edit] Attestations
[edit] Poetic Edda
[edit] Völuspá
In the second stanza of the poem Völuspá, the völva reciting the poem to the god Odin says that she remembers far back to "early times", being raised by jötnar, nine worlds, "nine wood-ogresses" (Old Norse nío ídiðiur) and when Yggdrasil was a seed ("glorious tree of good measure, under the ground").[2] In stanza 19, the völva says:
In stanza 20, the völva says that from the lake under the tree come three "maidens deep in knowledge" named Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld. The maidens "incised the slip of wood", "laid down laws" and "chose lives" for the children of mankind and the destinies (ørlǫg) of men.[4] In stanza 27, the völva details that she is aware that "Heimdallr's hearing is couched beneath the bright-nurtured holy tree".[5] In stanza 45, Yggdrasil receives a final mention in the poem. The völva describes, as a part of the onset of Ragnarök, that Heimdallr blows Gjallarhorn, that the Odin speaks with Mímir's head, and then:
- Yggdrasill shivers,
- the ash, as it stands.
- The old tree groans,
- and the giant slips free.[6]
[edit] Hávamál
In stanza 34 of the poem Hávamál, Odin describes how he once sacrificed himself to himself by hanging on a tree. The stanza reads:
In the stanza that follows, Odin describes how he had no food nor drink there, that he peered downward, and that "I took up the runes, screaming I took them, then I fell back from there."[7] 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, and if the tree is Yggdrasil, then the name Yggdrasil directly relates to this story.[8]
[edit] Grímnismál
In the poem Grímnismál, Odin (disguised as Grímnir) provides the young Agnar 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 rivers Körmt and Örmt and two rivers named Kerlaugar to go "sit as judge at the ash of Yggdrasill". In the stanza that follows, a list of horse names are given that the Æsir ride to "sit as judges" at Yggdrasil.[9]
In stanza 31, Odin says that the ash Yggdrasil has three roots that grows in three directions. He details that beneath the first lives Hel, under the second live frost jötnar, and beneath the third live mankind. Stanza 32 details that a squirrel named Ratatoskr must run across Yggdrasil and bring "the eagle's word" from above to Níðhöggr below. Stanza 33 describes that four harts named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór consume "the highest boughs" of Yggdrasil.[9]
In stanza 34, Odin says that, beneath Yggdrasil, more serpents lie "than any fool can imagine", and lists them as Góinn and Móinn (possibly meaning Old Norse "land-animal"[10]) which he describes as sons of Grafvitnir (Old Norse, possibly "ditch-wolf"[11]), Grábakr (Old Norse "Greyback"[10]), Grafvölluðr (Old Norse, possibly "the one digging under the plain" or possibly amended as "the one ruling in the ditch"[11]), Ófnir (Old Norse "the winding one, the twisting one"[12]), and Sváfnir (Old Norse, possibly "the one who puts to sleep = death"[13]), who Odin adds that he thinks will forever gnaw on the tree's branches.[9]
In stanza 35, Odin says that Yggdrasil "suffers agony more than men know", as a hard bites it from above, it decays on its sides, and Níðhöggr bites it from beneath.[14] In stanza 44, Odin provides a list of things that are the he refers to as the "noblest" of their type. Within the list, Odin mentions Yggdrasil first, and states that it is the "noblest of trees".[15]
[edit] Prose Edda
In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the Yggdrasil is introduced in chapter 15. In chapter 15, Gangleri (described as king Gylfi in disguise) asks where there chief center 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 the Æsir, the second among the frost jötnar, and the third over Niflheim . The root over Niflheim is gnawed by the wyrm Níðhöggr, and beneath this root is the spring Hvergelmir. Beneath the root that reaches the frost jötnar is the well Mímisbrunnr, "which has wisdom and intelligence contained in it, and the master of the well is called Mimir." Just-As-High provides detail regarding Mímisbrunnr, and then describes that the third root of the well "extends to heaven", and beneath the root is the "very holy" well Urðarbrunnr. At Urðarbrunnr the gods hold their court, and every day the Æsir ride to Urðarbrunnr up over the bridge Bifröst. Later in the chapter, a stanza from Grímnismál mentioning Yggdrasil is quoted in support.[16]
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 it wields much knowledge. Between the eyes of the eagle sits a hawk called Veðrfölnir. A squirrel called Ratatoskr scurries up and down the ash Yggdrasil carrying "malicious messages" between the eagle and Níðhöggr. Four stags named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór run in the branches of Yggdrasil, and consume its foilage. Within the spring Hvergelmir, there are so many snakes with Níðhöggr "that no tongue can enumerate them." In support, two stanzas from Grímnismál are cited. High continues that each day, the norns that live by the holy well Urðarbrunnr 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 from Völuspá in support, and adds that dew falls from Yggdrasil to the earth, explaining that "this is what people call honeydew, and from it bees feed."[17]
In chapter 41, the stanza from Grímnismál is quoted that mentions that Yggdrasil is the foremost of trees.[18] In chapter 54, as part of the events of Ragnarök, 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 and Einherjar will don their war gear and advance to the field of Vígríðr. Further into the chapter, the stanza in Völuspá that details this sequence is cited.[19]
In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Yggdrasil receives a single mention, though not by name. In chapter 64, names for kings and dukes are given. "Illustrious one" is provided as an example, appearing in a Christianity-influenced work by the skald Hallvarðr Háreksblesi: "There is not under the pole of the earth [Yggdrasil] an illustrious one closer to the lord of monks [God] than you."[20]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Simek (2007:375).
- ^ Dronke (1997:7).
- ^ Dronke (1997:11–12).
- ^ Dronke (1997:12).
- ^ Dronke (1997:14).
- ^ Dronke (1997:19).
- ^ a b Larrington (1999:34).
- ^ Lindow (2001:321).
- ^ a b c Larrington (1999:56).
- ^ a b Simek (2007:115).
- ^ a b Simek (2007:116).
- ^ Simek (2007:252).
- ^ Simek (2007:305).
- ^ Larrington (1999:57).
- ^ Larrington (1999:58).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:17).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:18–19).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:34).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:54).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:146).
- ^ Schön (2004:50).
[edit] References
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- Dronke, Ursula (Trans.) (1997). The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198111819
- Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 0192839462
- Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0
- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-4608-7616-3
- Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-89660-41-2
- Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0859915131
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