Ratatoskr

Ratatoskr runs up and down the trunk of Yggdrasill. Its name means ‘drill-tooth’. It carries words between the eagle in the branches and Nidhoggr, the dragon beneath the roots. The messages are envious, hateful or hostile. According to Snorri, Ratatoskr carries them to create discord between the two.

Ratatoskr belongs to the world-ash. The eagle has a hawk called Vedfolner between its eyes. Nidhoggr lives under the roots, while the eagle sits above. Ratatoskr links these opposing places by moving continually through the tree. No parentage or separate origin is given for the squirrel. It has no independent myth in which it acts as the central figure. Its role is that of a messenger within the larger mythology of Yggdrasill, carrying words from the eagle to Nidhoggr and back.