What is Yggdrasil, the tree that holds up the Norse nine worlds?
In Norse myth a giant ash tree holds all nine worlds, with a squirrel running messages up and down it between an eagle at the top and a dragon below.
▶ Start the storyYggdrasil is a huge sacred ash tree at the centre of Norse cosmology. Around it exists everything else, including the Nine Worlds, and the gods go to it every day to hold their assemblies. It is known from the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, both compiled in the 13th century.
The tree is supported by three roots, one reaching the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one the spring Hvergelmir and one the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live in it: the dragon Níðhöggr, the hawk Veðrfölnir, four stags, and the squirrel Ratatoskr. One poem says Ratatoskr must run across the tree carrying 'the eagle's word' from above down to Níðhöggr below. At the base of one root live the Norns, who are associated with fate.
Step 1: Urðarbrunnr
A well in the heavens
Step 2: Hvergelmir
A spring
Step 3: Mímisbrunnr
A well
The gods inhabit the heavenly realm of Asgard, and humanity lives in Midgard in the centre of the cosmos. Everything is connected through the tree.
The name itself carries a darker story. The generally accepted meaning of Yggdrasill is 'Odin's horse', meaning 'gallows'. In the poem Hávamál, Odin describes sacrificing himself to himself by hanging on a tree, and scholars near universally accept that this tree is Yggdrasil, even though the poem does not name it. So the world tree may be named after the place where a god hung.
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Recap
The world tree connects the nine worlds, but our sources describe its roots differently, and its name points to Odin's hanging.
💡 A trick to remember it · One tree, nine worlds, three roots, one squirrel running errands.
Surprising fact · Yggdrasil's name most likely means 'Odin's horse', a poetic term for gallows.
Sources (3)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (16 claims) cites at least one of these.