Editing Yggdrasil (section)

==Attestations==

===''Poetic Edda''===
In the ''Poetic Edda'', the tree is mentioned in the three poems ''[[Völuspá]]'', ''[[Hávamál]]'' and  ''[[Grímnismál]]''.

====''Völuspá''====
[[File:Norns (1832) from Die Helden und Götter des Nordens, oder Das Buch der sagen.jpg|thumb|"[[Norns]]" (1832) from ''{{lang|de|Die Helden und Götter des Nordens, oder das Buch der Sagen}}'']]
In the second stanza of the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', the [[völva]] (a shamanic seeress) reciting the poem to the god Odin says that she remembers far back to "early times", being raised by [[Jötunn|jötnar]], recalls [[norse cosmology|nine worlds]] and nine ''ídiðiur'' (rendered in a variety of ways by translators—Dronke, for example, provides "nine wood-ogresses"), and when Yggdrasil was a seed ("glorious tree of good measure, under the ground").{{sfn|Dronke|1997|p=7}} In stanza 19, the völva says:

{{blockquote|<poem>
An ash I know there stands,
Yggdrasill is its name,
a tall tree, showered
with shining [[loam]].
From there come the dews
that drop in the valleys.
It stands forever green over
[[Urðarbrunnr|Urðr's well]].{{sfn|Dronke|1997|p=11–12}}
</poem>}}

In stanza 20, the völva says that from the lake under the tree come three "maidens deep in knowledge" named [[Urðr]], [[Verðandi]], and [[Skuld]]. The maidens "incised the slip of wood", "laid down laws" and "chose lives" for the children of humanity and the destinies (''{{lang|non|[[wyrd|ørlǫg]]}}'') of men.{{sfn|Dronke|1997|p=12}} In stanza 27, the völva details that she is aware that "[[Heimdallr]]'s hearing is couched beneath the bright-nurtured holy tree."{{sfn|Dronke|1997|p=14}} In stanza 45, Yggdrasil receives a final mention in the poem. The völva describes, as a part of the onset of Ragnarök, that Heimdallr blows [[Gjallarhorn]], that Odin speaks with [[Mímir]]'s head, and then:

{{blockquote|<poem>
Yggdrasill shivers,
the ash, as it stands.
The old tree groans,
and the giant slips free.{{sfn|Dronke|1997|p=19}}
</poem>}}

====''Hávamál''====
[[File:The Sacrifice of Odin by Frølich (vector).svg|thumb|Odin sacrificing himself upon Yggdrasil (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]]]]
In stanza 138 of the poem ''[[Hávamál]]'', Odin describes how he once sacrificed himself to himself by hanging on a tree. The stanza reads:

{{blockquote|<poem>
I know that I hung on a windy tree
[[numbers in Norse mythology|nine]] long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=34}}
</poem>}}

In the stanza that follows, Odin describes how he had no food nor drink there, that he peered downward, and that "I took up the [[runes]], screaming I took them, then I fell back from there."{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=34}} Odin later used "the knowledge of the sacred runes" as a magical tool to give to humanity to increase humans' skill in magic and poetry.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=494 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref>

While Yggdrasil is not mentioned by name in the poem and other trees exist in Norse mythology, the tree is near universally accepted as Yggdrasil by scholars, and if the tree is Yggdrasil, then the name ''Yggdrasil'' directly relates to this story.{{sfn|Lindow|2001|p=321}}

====''Grímnismál''====
In the poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'', Odin (disguised as ''[[List of names of Odin|Grímnir]]'') provides the young [[Agnarr Geirröðsson|Agnar]] with cosmological lore. Yggdrasil is first mentioned in the poem in stanza 29, where Odin says that, because the "[[Bifröst|bridge of the Æsir]] burns" and the "[[sacred waters]] boil," [[Thor]] must wade through the rivers [[Körmt and Örmt]] and two rivers named [[Kerlaugar]] to go "sit as judge at the ash of Yggdrasill". In the stanza that follows, a [[Horses of the Æsir|list of names of horses]] are given that the Æsir ride to "sit as judges" at Yggdrasil.{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=56}}

In stanza 31, Odin says that the ash Yggdrasil has three roots that grow in three directions. He details that beneath the first lives [[Hel (being)|Hel]], under the second live frost jötnar, and beneath the third lives humanity. Stanza 32 details that a squirrel named [[Ratatoskr]] must run across Yggdrasil and bring "the eagle's word" from above to Níðhöggr below. Stanza 33 describes that four [[Red deer|hart]]s named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór consume "the highest boughs" of Yggdrasil.{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=56}}

In stanza 34, Odin says that more serpents lie beneath Yggdrasil "than any fool can imagine" and lists them as Góinn and Móinn (possibly meaning Old Norse "land animal"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=115}}), which he describes as sons of Grafvitnir (Old Norse, possibly "ditch wolf"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=116}}), Grábakr (Old Norse "Greyback"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=115}}), Grafvölluðr (Old Norse, possibly "the one digging under the plain" or possibly amended as "the one ruling in the ditch"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=116}}), Ófnir (Old Norse "the winding one, the twisting one"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=252}}), and Sváfnir (Old Norse, possibly "the one who puts to sleep = death"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=305}}), who Odin adds that he thinks will forever gnaw on the tree's branches.{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=56}}

In stanza 35, Odin says that Yggdrasil "suffers agony more than men know", as a hart bites it from above, it decays on its sides, and Níðhöggr bites it from beneath.{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=57}} In stanza 44, Odin provides a list of things that are what he refers to as the "noblest" of their kind. Within the list, Odin mentions Yggdrasil first, and states that it is the "noblest of trees".{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=58}}

===''Prose Edda''===
[[File:The Tree of Yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|The title page of Olive Bray's 1908 translation of the ''Poetic Edda'' by [[W. G. Collingwood]]]]
[[File:Die Nornen Urd, Werdanda, Skuld, unter der Welteiche Yggdrasil by Ludwig Burger.jpg|thumb|The norns Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld beneath the world tree Yggdrasil (1882) by [[Ludwig Burger]]]]
Yggdrasil is mentioned in two books in the ''[[Prose Edda]]''; ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' and ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]''. In ''Gylfaginning'', Yggdrasil is introduced in chapter 15. In chapter 15, [[Gylfi|Gangleri]] (described as king [[Gylfi]] in disguise) asks where is the chief or holiest place of the gods. [[High, Just-As-High, and Third|High]] replies "It is the ash Yggdrasil. There the gods must hold their courts each day". Gangleri asks what there is to tell about Yggdrasil. [[High, Just-As-High, and Third|Just-As-High]] says that Yggdrasil is the biggest and best of all trees, that its branches extend out over all of the world and reach out over the sky. Three of the roots of the tree support it, and these three roots also extend extremely far: one "is among the [[Æsir]], the second among the frost jötnar, and the third over [[Niflheim]]. The root over Niflheim is gnawed at by the wyrm [[Níðhöggr]], and beneath this root is the spring [[Hvergelmir]]. Beneath the root that reaches the frost jötnar is the well [[Mímisbrunnr]], "which has wisdom and intelligence contained in it, and the master of the well is called [[Mímir|Mimir]]". Just-As-High provides details regarding Mímisbrunnr and then describes that the third root of the well "extends to heaven" and that beneath the root is the "very holy" well [[Urðarbrunnr]]. At Urðarbrunnr the gods hold their court, and every day the Æsir ride to Urðarbrunnr up over the bridge [[Bifröst]]. Later in the chapter, a stanza from ''Grímnismál'' mentioning Yggdrasil is quoted in support.{{sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=17}}

In chapter 16, Gangleri asks "what other particularly notable things are there to tell about the ash?" High says there is quite a lot to tell about. High continues that an eagle sits on the branches of Yggdrasil and that it has much knowledge. Between the eyes of the eagle sits a hawk called [[Veðrfölnir]]. A squirrel called [[Ratatoskr]] scurries up and down the ash Yggdrasil carrying "malicious messages" between the eagle and Níðhöggr. Four stags named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, and Duraþrór run between the branches of Yggdrasil and consume its foliage. In the spring Hvergelmir are so many snakes along with Níðhöggr "that no tongue can enumerate them". Two stanzas from ''Grímnismál'' are then cited in support. High continues that the norns that live by the holy well Urðarbrunnr each day take water from the well and mud from around it and pour it over Yggdrasil so that the branches of the ash do not rot away or decay. High provides more information about Urðarbrunnr, cites a stanza from ''Völuspá'' in support, and adds that [[dew]] falls from Yggdrasil to the earth, explaining that "this is what people call [[Honeydew (secretion)|honeydew]], and from it bees feed".{{sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=18–19}}

In chapter 41, the stanza from ''Grímnismál'' is quoted that mentions that Yggdrasil is the foremost of trees.{{sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=34}} In chapter 54, as part of the events of [[Ragnarök]], High describes that Odin will ride to the well Mímisbrunnr and consult Mímir on behalf of himself and his people. After this, "the ash Yggdrasil will shake and nothing will be unafraid in heaven or on earth", and then the Æsir and [[Einherjar]] will don their war gear and advance to the field of [[Vígríðr]]. Further into the chapter, the stanza in ''Völuspá'' that details this sequence is cited.{{sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=54}}

In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', Yggdrasil receives a single mention, though not by name. In chapter 64, names for [[king]]s and [[duke]]s are given. "Illustrious one" is provided as an example, appearing in a Christianity-influenced work by the [[skald]] [[Hallvarðr Háreksblesi]]: "There is not under the pole of the earth [Yggdrasil] an illustrious one closer to the lord of [[monk]]s [God] than you."{{sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=146}}