Norse mythology · 3 chapters

The Nine Worlds and Yggdrasil

The great ash tree holds all of existence together, and something gnaws at its roots

At the center of all existence stands Yggdrasil, the great ash tree whose branches spread across the sky and whose three roots reach into Asgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim. In the branches sits a great eagle, and between its eyes sits the hawk Veðrfölnir. At the roots gnaws the dragon Níðhöggr. The squirrel Ratatoskr runs between them, carrying insults. Four stags, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Duraþrór, nibble the upper branches. Three Norns, Urd (What Was), Verdandi (What Is), Skuld (What Shall Be), sit at the well beneath one root, weaving the threads of fate and watering the tree daily to keep it from rotting. The nine worlds hang in its structure: Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim, Helheim.

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