Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil grew between the nine worlds, and its roots reached into three worlds while its branches rose above the sky. It was the vast evergreen ash of Eddic mythology, the largest and finest of trees. It joined the worlds. One root reached Niflheim, another reached the realm of the frost giants, and the third reached towards the sky. Three wells fed the tree: Hvergelmir, Mimir’s well and Urd’s well.

An eagle sat in the highest branches, while the squirrel Ratatoskr ran along the trunk. Four stags grazed among the branches. The dragon Nidhogg and several snakes gnawed at the roots. Under Urd’s well, the gods held their tribunal. In one telling, men lived beneath one root, giants beneath another, and Hel beneath the third. The name Yggdrasil meant ‘Odin’s horse’, although other interpretations existed. In creation myth, the tree held the universe in place and linked Asgard with Niflheim.