Editing Yggdrasil (section)

==Theories==
===Shamanic origins===
[[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] comments that the existence of nine worlds around Yggdrasil is mentioned more than once in Old Norse sources, but the identity of the worlds is never stated outright, though it can be deduced from various sources. Davidson comments that "no doubt the identity of the nine varied from time to time as the emphasis changed or new imagery arrived". Davidson says that it is unclear where the nine worlds are located in relation to the tree; they could either exist one above the other or perhaps be grouped around the tree, but there are references to worlds existing beneath the tree, while the gods are pictured as in the sky, a rainbow bridge ([[Bifröst]]) connecting the tree with other worlds. Davidson opines that "those who have tried to produce a convincing diagram of the [[Scandinavia]]n cosmos from what we are told in the sources have only added to the confusion".{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=69}}

Davidson notes parallels between Yggdrasil and [[shamanism|shamanic]] lore in northern Eurasia:
<blockquote>The conception of the tree rising through a number of worlds is found in northern Eurasia and forms part of the shamanic lore shared by many peoples of this region. This seems to be a very ancient conception, perhaps based on the [[Pole Star]], the centre of the heavens, and the image of the central tree in Scandinavia may have been influenced by it.... Among [[Siberia]]n shamans, a central tree may be used as a ladder to ascend the heavens.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=69}}</blockquote>

Davidson says that the notion of an eagle atop a tree and the world serpent coiled around the roots of the tree has parallels in other cosmologies from [[Asia]]. She goes on to say that Norse cosmology may have been influenced by these Asiatic cosmologies from a northern location. Davidson adds, on the other hand, that it is attested that the [[Germanic people]]s worshiped their deities in open forest clearings and that a [[sky deity|sky god]] was particularly connected with the [[oak]] tree, and therefore "a central tree was a natural symbol for them also".{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=69}}

===Mímameiðr, Hoddmímis holt, and Ragnarök===
[[File:Líf and Lífthrasir by Lorenz Frølich.svg|thumb|Lífþrasir and Líf after emerging from Hoddmímis holt (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]]]]
Connections have been proposed between the wood [[Hoddmímis holt]] ([[Old Norse]] "Hoard-[[Mímir]]'s"{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=154}} [[Woodland|holt]]) and the tree [[Mímameiðr]] ("Mímir's tree"), generally thought to refer to the world tree Yggdrasil, and the spring [[Mímisbrunnr]].{{sfn|Simek|2007|p=154}} John Lindow concurs that ''Mímameiðr'' may be another name for Yggdrasil and that if the Hoard-Mímir of the name ''Hoddmímis holt'' is the same figure as [[Mímir]] (associated with the spring named after him, Mímisbrunnr), then the Mímir's holt—Yggdrasil—and Mímir's spring may be within the same proximity.{{sfn|Lindow|2001|p=179}}

Carolyne Larrington notes that it is nowhere expressly stated what will happen to Yggdrasil during the events of [[Ragnarök]]. Larrington points to a connection between the primordial figure of [[Mímir]] and Yggdrasil in the poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', and theorizes that "it is possible that Hoddmimir is another name for Mimir, and that the [[Líf and Lífþrasir|two survivors]] hide in Yggdrasill."{{sfn|Larrington|1999|p=269}}

[[Rudolf Simek]] theorizes that the survival of [[Líf and Lífþrasir]] through Ragnarök by hiding in Hoddmímis holt is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology". Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of humanity from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarǫk as well." Simek says that in [[Germanic peoples|Germanic regions]], the concept of humanity originating from trees is ancient. Simek additionally points out legendary parallels in a [[Bavaria]]n legend of a [[shepherd]] who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure of [[Örvar-Oddr]], "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (''Ǫrvar-Odds saga'' 24–27)".{{sfnm|1a1=Simek|1y=2007|1p=189|2a1=Schröder|2y=1931}}

===Warden trees, Irminsul, and sacred trees===
[[File:Mysselhoj da 070407.jpg|thumb|A tree grows atop ''Mysselhøj'', <br />a [[Nordic Bronze Age]] [[burial mound]] in [[Roskilde]], [[Denmark]]]]
Continuing as late as the 19th century, [[Vörðr|warden trees]] were venerated in areas of Germany and Scandinavia, considered to be guardians and bringers of luck, and offerings were sometimes made to them. A massive [[birch]] tree standing atop a [[tumulus|burial mound]] and located beside a farm in western [[Norway]] is recorded as having had ale poured over its roots during festivals. The tree was felled in 1874.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=170}}

Davidson comments that "the position of the tree in the centre as a source of luck and protection for gods and men is confirmed" by these rituals to Warden Trees. Davidson notes that the gods are described as meeting beneath Yggdrasil to hold their [[thing (assembly)|things]], and the related [[Irminsul]], which may have been a pillar, was also symbolic of the center of the world. Davidson details that it would be difficult to ascertain whether a tree or pillar came first, and that this is likely to depend on whether the holy location was in a thickly wooded area or not. Davidson notes that there is no mention of a [[Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology|sacred tree]] at [[Þingvellir]] in [[Iceland]], but that [[Adam of Bremen]] describes a [[Sacred tree at Uppsala|huge tree standing next to the Temple at Uppsala]] in [[Sweden]], which remained green throughout summer and winter, and that no one knew what type it was. Davidson comments that while it is uncertain if Adam's informant actually witnessed the tree, the existence of sacred trees in pre-Christian Germanic Europe is further evidenced by records of their destruction by early Christian missionaries, such as [[Thor's Oak]] by [[Saint Boniface]].{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=170}}

[[Ken Dowden]] comments that behind Irminsul, Thor's Oak in Geismar, and the sacred tree at [[Uppsala]] "looms a mythic prototype, an Yggdrasil, the world-ash of the [[Norsemen]]".{{sfn|Dowden|2000|p=72}}