Editing Yggdrasil (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Om Yggdrasil by Frølich.jpg|thumb|Yggdrasil (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]]]]

The generally accepted meaning of Old Norse ''{{lang|non|Yggdrasill}}'' is "Odin's horse", meaning "[[gallows]]". This interpretation comes about because ''{{lang|non|drasill}}'' means "horse" and ''{{lang|non|Ygg(r)}}'' is one of [[List of names of Odin#Yggr|Odin's many names]]. The ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''{{lang|non|[[Hávamál]]}}'' describes how Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from a tree, making this tree Odin's gallows. This tree may have been Yggdrasil. "The horse of the hanged" is a [[kenning]] for gallows and therefore Odin's gallows may have developed into the expression "Odin's horse", which then became the name of the tree.{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=375}}

Nevertheless, scholarly opinions regarding the precise meaning of the name ''{{lang|non|Yggdrasill}}'' vary, particularly on the issue of whether ''{{lang|non|Yggdrasill}}'' is the name of the tree itself or if only the full term ''{{lang|non|askr Yggdrasil}}'' (where Old Norse ''{{lang|non|askr}}'' means "ash tree") refers specifically to the tree. According to this interpretation, ''{{lang|non|askr Yggdrasils}}'' would mean the [[world tree]] upon which "the horse [Odin's horse] of the highest god [Odin] is bound". Both of these etymologies rely on a presumed but unattested ''*Yggsdrasill''.{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=375}}

A third interpretation, presented by F. Detter, is that the name ''{{lang|non|Yggdrasill}}'' refers to the word ''{{lang|non|yggr}}'' ("terror"), yet not in reference to the Odinic name, and so ''{{lang|non|Yggdrasill}}'' would then mean "tree of terror, gallows". F. R. Schröder has proposed a fourth etymology according to which ''{{lang|non|yggdrasill}}'' means "yew pillar", deriving ''{{lang|non|yggia}}'' from ''*igwja'' (meaning "[[Taxus baccata|yew-tree]]"), and ''{{lang|non|drasill}}'' from ''*dher-'' (meaning "support").{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=375}}

[[Anatoly Liberman]] argues that the name ''Yggdrasill'' originally referred to Odin's literal horse (later known mainly as [[Sleipnir]]). He explains the missing 's' by suggesting that the original compound didn't mean 'Odin's horse' but 'Odin-horse'. The horse shared in the God's essence. This led to the [[kenning]] ''askr Yggdrasills'', literally: 'the ash tree of Odin-horse', but by the conventions of Old Norse poetry: 'the warrior of Odin-horse', i.e. 'Odin'. ''Yggdrasill'' fell out of use as the name of Odin's horse, leaving the formula ''askr Yggdrasills'' obscure. It was reinterpreted to refer to the world tree, of which Liberman believes the Norse had some conception before the name 'Yggdrasill' was attached to it. Finally, ''askr Yggdrasills'' was simplified to ''askr Yggdrasill'', i.e. from 'the ash tree of Yggdrasill' to 'the ash tree (called) Yggdrasill'.{{Sfn|Liberman|2016}}