Yggdrasil is the name of an enormous glistening ash tree (An Oak in some documentation) that cradles the nine realms of the cosmos within its branches and roots, thereby connecting all things. The Sacred Tree is Evergreen and is covered in moist white loam. It supports all of what was and is – Gods, Giants, Man, and Beasts – some of which eat directly from the branches and roots of the Tree. Yggdrasil is also called the World Tree or Tree of Life because it contains all the Worlds and represents the cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth.
Yggdrasil is an important element of Norse Mythology as the eternal ash that contains the Nine Worlds of the Cosmos.
The true principles and meanings of The Tree, as well as all Old Norse beliefs and myths, are profound and complex, yet strikingly beautiful. The full meaning of Yggdrasil cannot be covered in one video, therefore, this serves as an introduction to what can be described as some basic concepts of the World Tree of Norse mythology in culture of Germanic and Norse People.
Norse mythology, primarily that of pre-christian references, is a rich source of history of the proto-Germanic and Old Norse cultures. It reveals the interconnectedness in which the people saw the world of their Gods, humans, and nature, and shows us the depth of their beliefs and cosmological principles.
The Yggdrasil tree is only one small, yet very important, glimpse of the vastness of Norse and Germanic Mythology.
"An ash I know stands
Its Name is Yggdrasil,
A Noble Tree bathed in clear moisture
From there comes the dew that falls in the valleys
Standing Evergreen above Urd’s Well"
POETIC EDDA, TRANSLATION FROM THE POEM, VÖLUSPÁ
Etymology of the Word Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil pronunciation is ig-druh-sil. Scholars debate the origin of the word, with the most common interpretation being Odin’s horse. Yggr, “The Terrible One,” is another name for Odin (he has many names according to academia and scholars), the Chief of the Norse Gods today to some. Drasill means horse. The term Odin’s Horse is symbolic for gallows, which pertains to the Norse World Tree.
The Tree served as Odin’s gallows in the poem, Odin’s Rune Song, of the Poetic Edda, in which Odin hung himself on The Tree for nine days.
Wounded i hung on a wind-swept gallows
For nine long nights, pierced by a spear,
Pledged to Odin, offered myself to myself.
The wisest know not from whence spring
The roots of that ancient tree.
They gave me no bread,
They gave me no mead,
I looked down;
With a loud cry i took up runes;
From Odin’s Rune Song
6:29
