Editing Yggdrasil (section)

====''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>}}