The World Tree: The Cosmic Tree That Holds the Universe Together - Norse Mythology

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Yggdrasil, the World Tree: all the animals and monsters who live in it, how it's kept alive, how it fits into the grand structure of the universe, what it is, and what it represents.Let's get into it.Yggdrasil, the name of the World Tree, is a compound word. 'Ygg', means something like 'terrible one', one of Odin's epithets, and 'drasill' is an ancient word for horse; so putting them together, you get 'Odin's Horse' or 'Odin's Steed'. This etymology connects to the myth in which Odin impaled himself with a spear and, thus transfixed, hanged himself from the World Tree for nine days, the result of this torturous experience being his attainment of runic magic. As described in the appendix of the Prose Edda, the interpretation of the name Yggdrasil as 'Odin's Horse' in conjunction with the myth in which Odin hanged himself from the World Tree possibly implies that ancient scandinavians perceived a similarity between how a hanged person writhed and how a person bobbed while riding a horse. The World tree is an ash tree of cosmic size located in the centre of the universe, and its branches, trunk, and roots connect all the realms of creation. Three roots support the World tree: one in Asgard, where the gods dwell, one in Jotunheim, the rugged wilderness of the giants, and one in Niflheim, the realm of ice where Hel has dominion. Each root has a well next to it: the well of Urd, where the three principal Norns are, is located in Asgard; the well of Mimir, where Odin sacrificed his eye in exchange for its mystic knowledge, is located in Jotunheim, and the well Hvergelmir, which is the source of a multitude of rivers, is located in Niflheim. The wellbeing of the World tree is under constant threat, the cause of which is a veritable menagerie of animals and monsters that gnaw at its roots and eat its leaves, as well as the decay of time.