Friday 17 June 2011

The Creatures Who Dwell in The Ash Tree Yggdrasil

There is an eagle who sits in the branches of Yggdrasil. It has the knowledge of many things. A hawk called Vedrfolnir (Wind Bleached) sits between its eyes. Ratatosk (Drill Tooth) is the squirrel who runs up and down the mighty ash. His words are of slanderous gossip and provokes the eagle and Nidhogg (the Wyrm). And many a god who has been annoyed by him. Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr and Durathror the four stags wander about in the branches of the ash and devour the tree’s foliage. There are more serpents under the ash than can be counted. Those Norns who live beside the Well of Urd draw water every day from the stream and splash this, mixed with the mud beside the Well over Yggdrasil so that it does not wither and decay. The water is so sacred that all things that come into contact with the spring become white and this is called ‘skin’ likened to the membrane on the inside of an eggshell.

I know an ash,
It is called Yggdrasil,
A high, holy tree,
Splashed and coated with white clay.
From it come the dew
That fall in the valleys.
It will always stand green over Urd’s Well.
(The Sibyl’s Prophecy)

The dew which falls to earth is called by people, honey dew and the bees feed on this. Two birds drink of the Well of Urd. They are swans.



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