Yggdrasil

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Depiction of the world ash Yggdrasil with the various animals that live in and with it, in an Icelandic manuscript from the 17th century.

Yggdrasil , Old Norse Yggdrasill , also: world ash , is the name of an ash tree in Norse mythology that embodies the entire cosmos as a world tree . Other names for this tree were probably Mimameid or Lärad .

Yggdrasil in the Edda

After the gods have killed the ancient giant Ymir , according to myth, they create all existing things from his corpse. The world ash Yggdrasil is the first tree to grow. It is the largest and most magnificent tree in the world. Its branches spread across all nine worlds and stretch across the sky. An eagle with no name sits in the branches, between its eyes is a hawk called Vedrfölnir .

Yggdrasil has three big roots, one of which grows to Jötunheim , the land of giants , where Mimir's well is also located. The other root leads to the Hvergelmir spring in Niflheim , where the dragon Nidhöggr gnaws at it. The third root is found near Asgard . The squirrel Ratatöskr climbs back and forth between the treetop and roots and spreads bad gossip from eagles to kites. Four deer named Dain, Dwalin, Dunneir and Durathror eat the shoots of the world ash . The two snakes Goin and Moin , descended from Grafwitnir (grave wolf), gnaw at the roots of Yggdrasil.

The gods judge under the branches of the tree. At the foot of Yggdrasil is also the Urdbrunnen , where the three Norns Urd (what has become), Werdandi (what is to be) and Skuld (what is to come) have their seat, who determine the fate of the people. When Yggdrasil begins to tremble (or wither), the end of the world is approaching Ragnarok .

The structure of the three levels of Yggdrasil

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

In the Eddic literatures, certain mythical places are assigned to one of the worlds. At no point, however, is it listed what the nine worlds that Yggdrasil embodies are called. Overall, more world names are mentioned than nine. The division into three levels below and the naming of the nine worlds is therefore a purely modern reception that is no longer represented in research, but is still very well received outside of it.

1. Upper world

  • Asgard (Asenheim): home of the gods of sex Asen .
    • Hlidskialf : High seat of the all-father Odin
    • Folkwang (Field of the People) and Walhall (Hall of the Fallen): Place of the heroes who died in battle.
    • Vingólf (roughly the friendly house): Seat of the Aesi goddesses.
    • Bifröst : the rainbow bridge connecting Asgard and Midgard.
  • Wanenheim (Wanenwelt): Home of the Wanen family of gods .
  • Albenheim (world of light albums): Home of the albums (light albums).

2. Earth

3. Underworld

symbolism

Three Norns under Yggdrasil water the roots of the tree with water from the primeval well. The nameless eagle sits on top of the tree and the squirrel Ratatöskr runs along the trunk (from "The Heroes and Legends of the North or The Book of Legends" by Amalia Schoppe , 1832).

Yggdrasil, the world ash, is the embodiment of creation as a whole: spatially, temporally and in terms of content. It is the world tree because it stands in the center of the world and connects all worlds with one another. As a world axis (axis mundi) it connects the three levels of heaven, middle world and underworld. As a heavenly support, it supports the vault of heaven. The Edda also calls it the measuring tree . The world only extends as far as its branches and roots extend, and creation only exists as long as it exists: a symbol of space-time . Yggdrasil is also a symbol of life in itself and of passing away and becoming, the renewal of life . The animals on the tree take from its life force, the three Norns sprinkle it with the holy water of the primeval fountain and give it new life force again and again. Since Yggdrasil's life is always renewed or because Yggdrasil is evergreen, the world ash is also a symbol of immortality . Through Odin's self-sacrifice, Yggdrasil becomes a sacrificial tree . Since Odin hangs himself on the tree in order to acquire the secret knowledge at the roots of Yggdrasil, one can also see a knowledge tree in Yggdrasil , through which one can get to the secret knowledge.

cult

Nothing is known about the role of the world ash Yggdrasil in the cult . In view of the numerous Germanic tree cults , it is likely that certain physical trees represented the mythical world tree among the Germanic peoples. But they don't necessarily have to be an ash tree. The Donariche , the Irminsul or the sacred tree in Uppsala , Sweden , reported by Adam von Bremen in the 11th century, could have been cultic equivalents of Yggdrasil. They are to be viewed in conjunction with Yggdrasil. Such a cult site in Romove has been handed down from the Baltic Prussians .

According to the Edda, Yggdrasil is the thing-place of the gods. This is where they gather, deliberate and hold judgment. Since the conditions in the world of the gods often reflect the earthly conditions, one can assume that the Germanic thing took place on or near an embodiment of the world tree. It was probably accompanied by rituals. In Germanic times the religious and the legal were not yet separated from each other. The court trees of the Middle Ages (in Germany oaks and linden trees ) could be an echo of the old days.

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Animal and human sacrifices are reported from the sacred tree in Uppsala. The Irminsul is interpreted as a heavenly support and world axis.

etymology

The name Yggdrasil, Old Norse Yggdrasill , is probably made up of Old Norse yggr "fear", "horror", "terrible" (see list of Odin's surnames ) 'and Old Norse drasill "horse".

Some interpreters suspect that Yggdrasil means "horse of the terrible" and that the world ash itself is referred to as Odin's horse. According to the Hávamál , a being who is mostly identified as Odin hung for nine nights in a self-sacrifice on a tree, which is often equated with the world tree. Even in later times, the Germans, English and the North Germanic peoples said the Galgenbaum Ross and the Hanged Rider .

The Icelandic scholar Eirikr Magnússon said, however, that Yggdrasil was the mount of Odin and not the tree itself. The actual world tree was called askr Yggdrasil , i.e. the tree to which Odin ties his horse.

Another view leads Old Norse yggr back to its actual meaning “horror” and translates the tree name with “tree of terror”, “gallows”. This would in turn express Odin's self-sacrifice on the gallows of the world tree.

In principle, interpretations that go back further are based on comparisons with other Indo-European, religious-cultic ideas. According to this, Yggdrasil means "yew pillar". Old Norse yggia would therefore be derived from Germanic * igwja "yew" and Old Norse drasill from Indo-European * dher- "support".

Historical roots

The historical roots of the Nordic world tree go back at least to Indo-European times, as the world tree belongs to the mythological fund of many Indo-European peoples: Balts (the Austras koks oak ), Indians (the Asvattha fig tree ), Persians ( Simurgh tree ) and Slavs - possibly also the tree of the Hesperides of the Greeks. In these mythologies, a bird of prey is often found at the top and / or a snake at the roots of the tree.

Nowadays there is hardly any opinion that Yggdrasil is a late pagan borrowing from the medieval Christian cross tree . Rather, it is believed that the idea of ​​the Christian cross tree was influenced by pagan ideas.

References to shamanism in Siberia

Odin's self-sacrifice in the world tree Yggdrasil. Book illustration by WG Collingwood , 1908 from the older or poetic Edda

Similar ideas of the world tree can be found in the shamanic cultures of the Eurasian north, as reported by Yggdrasil. Odin's self-sacrifice to Yggdrasil, his close connection to ecstasy and his eight-legged horse Sleipnir are features that are very close to classic Siberian shamanism .

One can therefore be of the opinion that the Nordic world tree comes from a time when it was used by shamans in their practical work. Characteristic of the world trees of Siberian shamanism is - or was - the idea that it represents the world in its entirety. Thus it was also the first of all trees. He stood in the center of creation and connected the three levels of heaven, earth and underworld (and all other worlds that exist) with one another. Mostly he was associated with a mother goddess and martyrdom. If one sees an old mother goddess in the Norn Urd , then Yggdrasil combines all these basic characteristics in itself. Incidentally, the tree species of the world tree was different in the various Eurasian cultures.

Shamans used the world tree in their imagination for their work to "travel" to the otherworldly spirit world, so that they could deal with human affairs there. Shamans were also partly initiated at an equivalent of the World Tree . Odin's self-sacrifice (martyrdom) to Yggdrasil in order to get to the secret knowledge (of the runes) in the depths can be understood as a shamanic initiation rite.

From the yew tree Yggdrasil

In research one often finds the opinion that the western Nordic world tree in earlier times was originally not an ash but a yew ( Taxus sp. ). This opinion is mainly based on the description of Adam of Bremen from the 11th century about the sacred tree that stood in the temple district of Uppsala in Sweden:

“There is a very large tree near this temple, which spreads its branches widely and is always green in winter as in summer. Nobody knows what kind is the same. There is also a source [...] "

- Adam of Bremen : Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, IV 26, Scholion 134 (138)

The almost identical description of the mythical world tree in the Edda of Songs suggests that the sacred tree at Uppsala embodied the mythical world tree. So it says about Yggdrasil in the song Edda:

"I know there is an ash tree,
it's called Yggdrasil, a tall tree [...] It
stands evergreen above the Urd fountain."

- Völuspá, verse 19

It is said of the tree Mimameid, which is equated with Yggdrasil:

"Nobody knows from which roots it grows."

- Fjölsvinnsmál , verse 20

All features of both descriptions are the same except for one. The European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) is not an evergreen. (Although there are also evergreen specimens of the ash genus .) The only native evergreen tree species that could still grow in this part of Sweden was the yew - an extremely long-lived conifer. The fact that the mythical world tree was intended as a conifer is supported by the double use of the word barr in the Edda:

"Four deer penetrate the branches [Yggdrasils] and bite off the leaves [ barr ]."

- Snorri Sturluson : Prose-Edda , Gylfaginning 17

"What is the name of the tree [ barr ] that spreads the branches over all countries?"

- Fjölsvinnsmál, verse 19

This is because you can translate Old Norse barr with tree or leaf , but just as well with conifer or needle .

The transformation from yew to ash can be explained, for example, by the fact that both trees on Iceland , where the Eddata texts were written, did not grow and the tree species were confused in ignorance. The northern limit of the range of both trees in Europe is southern Scandinavia.

But there are also arguments against a yew Yggdrasil. The description of the sacred tree in Uppsala, which Adam von Bremen had second or third hand, may have been influenced by mythology. This is indicated by the almost congruent description between cult tree and mythical tree, in particular Adam von Bremen's remark that nobody knows what kind the tree is. Even if the sacred tree in Uppsala had been a conifer, that does not mean that Yggdrasil was also thought of as a conifer. After all, every tree species can represent the mythical world tree. Yggdrasil can just as well represent any earthly tree, provided that Yggdrasil is understood as an early creation myth.

See also

Web links

Commons : Collection of Pictures  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Yggdrasil  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

  • Wolfgang Beck : The World Tree. In: Ulrich Müller and Werner Wunderlich (eds.): Medieval myths 5 - castles, countries, places. Konstanz 2008, ISBN 978-3-89669-636-6 , pp. 965-979
  • Hans-Peter Hasenfratz : The religious world of the Teutons. Ritual, magic, cult, myth , Freiburg i. Br. 1992, ISBN 3-451-04145-6 , pp. 120 f.
  • Wilhelm Heizmann : yew - mythological. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 6. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1986, pp. 526-529
  • Wilhelm Heizmann: Ash - Mythological. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 7. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1989, ISBN 978-3-11-011445-4 , pp. 562-564
  • John Arnott MacCulloch: Eddic. In: Canon John Arnott MacCulloch (ed.). The Mythology Of All Races, 13 vols. New York 1964, Vol. 2
  • Jens Peter Schjødt: World Tree. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 23. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2006, pp. 451–453
  • Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .
  • Franz Rolf Schröder : Ingunar-Freyr. Mohr, Tübingen 1941, pp. 1-15

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Edda, translation by Simrock 1876, Lieder-Edda / Völuspâ, verse 19
  2. ↑ Snorri Sturluson, Prosa-Edda: Gylfaginning, Chapter 16, translation by Arnulf Krause: The Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-15-000782-2
  3. ↑ The Edda, translation by Simrock 1876, Lieder-Edda / Völuspâ, verse 20
  4. ^ The Edda, translation by Simrock 1876, Lieder-Edda / Völuspâ, verse 48
  5. ↑ John Arnott MacCulloch: Eddic. In: The Mythology Of All Races New York 1964, Vol. 2, p. 334
  6. ^ Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman: Shamanism - 2 vol. 2004, ISBN 1-57607-645-8 , vol. 1, p. 263 f. (World tree in shamanic cultures) - Jens Peter Schjødt: World tree. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 23. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2006, pp. 451–453
  7. ↑ a b Jens Peter Schjødt: World Tree. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 23. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2006, p. 453
  8. ^ A b Franz Rolf Schröder: Ingunar-Freyr. Mohr, Tübingen 1941, pp. 1-15.
  9. ↑ John Arnott MacCulloch: Eddic. In: The Mythology Of All Races New York 1964, Vol. 2, p. 333
  10. ↑ Compare Gerhard Köbler: Old Norse Dictionary. 2nd edition, 2003. Online ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepage.uibk.ac.at
  11. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 495.
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Golther: Handbook of Germanic Mythology. Leipzig 1875, reissued, Marix, 2004, p. 632
  13. ↑ Eirikr Magnússon: Odin's Horse Yggdrasil. London, 1895. So also John Arnott MacCulloch: Eddic. In: The Mythology Of All Races New York 1964, Vol. 2, pp. 333 f.
  14. ^ Compare Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 495.
  15. ↑ Represented by F. Detter according to Rudolf Simek: Lexikon der Germanischen Mythologie (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 495.
  16. ↑ Jens Peter Schjødt: World Tree. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 23. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2006, pp. 451–453 - Åke Viktor Ström, Haralds Biezais : Germanic and Baltic religion. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 978-3-17-001157-1 , p. 243. - John Arnott MacCulloch: Eddic. In: The Mythology Of All Races New York 1964, Vol. 2, p. 336
  17. ↑ But Wolfgang Golther: Handbuch der Germanischen Mythologie. Leipzig 1875, reissued Marix, 2004, pp. 420 f., 633 f.
  18. ↑ Jens Peter Schjødt: World Tree. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 23. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2006, pp. 451–453
  19. ↑ The older or poetic Edda. | http://www.archive.org/stream/elderorpoeticedd01brayuoft#page/n5/mode/2up
  20. ↑ Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 7. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1989, ISBN 978-3-11-011445-4 , p. 92.
  21. ↑ a b Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman: Shamanism - 2 vol. 2004, ISBN 1-57607-645-8 , Vol. 1, p. 263.
  22. ^ Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman: Shamanism - 2 vol. 2004, ISBN 1-57607-645-8 , Vol. 1, p. 264.
  23. ↑ Jacques Brosse: Mythology of Trees. 1990, 4th edition. 2003, ISBN 3-491-69039-0 , p. 14.
  24. ↑ The thesis was first represented in 1911 by Leopold Fredrik Läffler . It is advocated by well-known scientists, for example Franz Rolf Schröder or Jan de Vries , who assumed that the yew tree was either the original Germanic or at least the East Nordic world tree. Leopold Fredrik Läffler: Det evigt grönskande trades vid Uppsala hednatämpel. In: Festskrift til HF Feilberg, Svenska landsmålen H. 114. Stockholm etc. 1911, pp. 617–696. - Same thing : Det evigt grönskande trades i den fornordiska mytologies och det fno. ordet barr, fisl. barr. Några ord till försvar. In: Arkiv for nordisk Filologi 30. Lund 1914, pp. 112–123. - Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion, Volume 2: Religion of the North Germanic. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, Leipzig 1937, § 327. Critical for example: Wilhelm Heizmann: Esche - Mythologisches. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 7. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1989, p. 563 with further references. Rejecting for example: Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 496.
  25. ^ Dated around 1075, in the translation by JCM Laurent, Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte , 1893. Online on Wikisource
  26. ^ Gerhard Köbler: Old Norse Dictionary. 2nd edition, 2003. Online ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepage.uibk.ac.at
  27. ^ Wilhelm Heizmann: Ash - Mythological. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 7. 2nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1989, p. 563 with further references.
  28. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 496.
  29. ↑ Compare Trisha Lepp: Trees . In: Mariko Namba, Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Friedman (Eds.): Shamanism - an encyclopedia of world beliefs, practices, and culture . 2 volumes. tape 1 . ABC Clio, Santa Barbara - Denver - Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-1-57607-645-3 , pp. 263 (In shamanistic cultures the world tree is the center of creation.).