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INTRODUCTION

The Nordic creation myths (Young, 1966) have been documented by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician who lived around 1179-1241 AD. He was the author of the Younger Edda, which is comprised of a narrative of Norse Mythology (Gylfaginning), a book of poetic language (Sk<ldskaparm<l), and a list of verb forms (H<ttal). He was also the author of a history of early medieval Scandinavian history (Helmskringla). In these writings one finds the creation myth of the World Ash Tree (Yggdrasil). The world tree is a visual metaphor of the tallest tree known to the Nordic world (Fraxinus). Ash trees are among the largest trees in the world. It is the Yew tree that stands high above others and shelters all of the other worlds. The story of those worlds and how they relate to Nordic mythological figures is the story of the Well of the Wyrd (Bates, 1988; Thorsson, 1988).

  Old Norse Account of the Yggdrasil

Ask veit eg standa,
heitir Yggdrasill,
hár baðmur, ausinn
hvíta auri;
þaðan koma döggvar
þær er í dala falla,
stendur æ yfir grænn
Urðarbrunni.		 An ash I know stands,
Its name is Yggdrasil,
An immense tree, covered over
By the white sand.
Thence come the dew
That falls in the valleys,
It stands ever-green
Above the well of Urdal.

 

THE NINE WORLDS

When the ice of the last ice age began to melt, it revealed a barren and rugged land with flowing rivers, forests, and plains. New animal life, reindeer, aurochs, wolves, bears, and foxes, migrated to the north. Those who hunted them on the tundra were able to retreat to their tribal homes in the lush valleys below. However, they could not retreat from the Frost Giants, the bitter storms that came down from the high mountains. Nor were they able to avoid the wild beasts that lurked in the forests or the strange sea monsters that wrecked their ships. For help, they turned to their own gods. They sought help from their All Father, Odin, the first of the Aesir gods whose realm was made up of nine worlds. The Aesir gods and goddesses lived in a realm known as Asgardr, the realm of the mind, of myne (memory) and hugh (intellect). This home of the Nordic spirits contained many halls and houses and Valhalla was the main hall. It was where Odin rules with his consort and equal, Freyja, the All Mother. Odin had a special place (Hildskjalf) in this realm from which he could see all of the worlds (Idavollr) beneath him. There were others gods or Aesir living in this realm. There were the spirits of the dead warriors who resided in Valhall. There were twp temples, one for the gods (Gladshimr) and one for the goddesses (Vingólf).

 

 The Realm of Asgardr
the realm of the mind with its memory (myne) and intellect (hugh)
 Odin  The All Father
 Freyja  The All Mother
 Gladshimr  The Temple of the Gods
 Vingólf  The Temple of the Goddesses
 Hildskjalf  A special place where Odin could see the whole world (Idavollr) beneath him
 Idavollr The mythical plain of Ida, the field of continuity, renewing, and rejuvenation. It is located in the middle of the Realm of Asgardr.
 Beifrost The icy fiery rainbow bridge guarded by Heimdallr. It connects the world of humans (Midgard) to the world of the gods (Asgardr)
 Lojossalheimr This is the world of the light elves and it contains substrata of halls of white light. This is where the brightness of the human intellect (hugh) is derived.

In the center of the Ash tree, one finds the Midgardr or Midgard. It is where the humans live. It is the center of the Quaternity with worlds to the north, south, east, and west.

 

 Asgard  World of the Aesir
 Alfham World of the Light Alfs. This is the home of intellect. It contains many abodes (halls) with various strata of light.
 Midgard  The Middle World, the World of the Humans. Symbolically, it represents the ego, consciousness, and the lower self. The Midgard provides stability between the Asgard and the Lojossalhimr. It is surrounded by impassable waters. The M idle Earth is a fictitious land created by J. R. R. Tolkien and is based on the Midgard.
 Muspell Tthe World of the Giants. This is where one finds the fiery sparks of life and all forms of positive energy. It is the balance between the heat of Muspell and the cold of Niflheim that allows humans to live in the Midgard.
 Jutenheim World of the Jutens. This is the realm of constant change and evolution. The winds of the east bring with it destruction and sudden that that may either result in good or evil. There are two kinds of Giants: rocks and frost. They menace the humans in Midgard and the gods in Asgard. The chief city in Jutenheim is Utgard. It is ruled by King Thrym (Uproar).
Vanaheim The world of the Vanir. Here one finds the gods and goddesses of fertility. Here reside the seasons, the harvests, fruition, growth, and the cycles of life.
 Niflheimn  The World of Mist and Ice. It is the origin of all waters and is enveloped in ice. It is the land of Mists.
 Svartheimr The world of the Dark Alfs. This is the world that represents the formative aspects of being. Human beings take form and shape in this realm. Everything that is formed in this realm is manifested in the Midgard.
 Hel The world of the Dead. This is the underworld. Souls come here to undergo rebirth to another level of reincarnation. The goddess Hel is the daughter of Loki. One cannot escape her powers without outside help and this is why ancestral worship is so important. The grandmothers and the grandfathers in one's lineage assist a reborn soul in his or her escape from Hel.

These worlds are connected by rainbows of fire and ice. They are the ribbons of light that allow the gods to visit their worlds.

 

 THE WELL OF THE WYRD

One has to view the world tree as the Axis Mundi of the Nordic cosmology. The top of the tree is where the gods and goddesses lived. When one looks up into the night sky, one sees the North Star (Polaris). All of the other stars circle around it. It remains motionless within the traveling stars and planets that make up the night sky. At the time when the Nordic myths were created, Polaris was the Pole Star. Every 26,000 years, a new Pole Star appears. It was Thurban around 50,000 BC and it will be Vega in 14,000 AD. Nevertheless, Polaris was the star that comprises the Nordic myths. Symbolically, this is the star on the top of the Christmas tree. It is the home of the gods. When one places an angel on top of a Christmas tree, one has captured the significance of this real of the Aesir.

At the other end of the axis mundi is the bottom of the cosmic world tree. It consists of tree huge roots that represent the past (Wyrd), the present (Verdandi) and the future (Skuld). They are represented as three sisters who guard the wells. In the Zauberflote (the Magic Flute) by Mozart, these are the dritte Dame die Nächte (the three ladies of the night). In Nordic literature, they are called the Norns, the sisters of the Wyrd.

 Wyrd  That which has become
 Vernandi  That which is being
 Skuld  That which will become.

What is important about the Well of Wyrd is that it figures prominently in the casting of the Runes (Thorsson, 1988). The Well of the Wyrd represents the past. One lives by the past. The present is determined by thoughts, beliefs, and actions done in the past. The future is planned in accordance with one's record of accomplishments created in the past (Gundarson, 1993) . Hence, these sisters are called the Sisters of the Wyrd, the sisters of the past. When one casts the runes, they are cast into the Well of the Wyrd. For in the past one finds all of the cosmic knowledge from the beginning of time. It is by delving into the past that these roots of the Yggdrasil are able to keep the World Tree replenished.

The Well of the Wyrd is controlled by the world of the Vanir, the gods and goddesses of fertility. The second of the three roots goes into the Well of Mimir in the land of the giants, Jotunheimr or the Frost Giants. The third root goes into the Well of Helvegamar, the underground spring of Nilfheim where the terrible serpent (Nidhoggr) is coiled around the state of the treat constantly eating at the roots of the Yggdrasil. This is part of the Underworld presided over by the goddess Hel. Loki was one of the three springs who resided over life and death. Hel is her daughter and controls the Wellof Helvegamar. The roots of the Yggdrasil produced a magic fluid (aurr), a kind of lunar blood that lies at the base of all elixir myths. Hence, the Yggdrasil is seen as a universal mother, the source of unborn souls. The first man (Askr) was born from the Ash tree (Asc) and the first woman (Embla) was created from the Elm tree. It was Odin who game them both the breath of life.

 

 Roots of the Yggdrasil  Sources  Home or Destination
 Wyrd  River of Past  Well of Wyrd Vanaheim
 Vernandi  River of Present  Well of Mimir Jutenheim
 Skuld  River of Future  Well of Helvelgamar Niflheim

CASTING THE RUNES

The Runes are alphabetic symbols that are that were used by Nordic and Germanic tribes in Northern Europe around the 3 BCE. These pictographs were used to represent the forces and objects of nature (Thorsson, 1989). It is sometimes called the FUTHARK after the first 6 letters of the alphabet . What is important about these Runes is that they were used to symbolize the cosmology of the World Tree. Each of the symbols in this alphabet had a special meaning. These will be discussed within the context of the Ash World Tree.

Rune Symbol Place in Cosmic Tree Nordic Meaning Comments

The Iwaz rune is a complex symbol representing the World Tree. Iwaz (Yew Tree)


A representation of Heaven, Hell and Earth with the Quaternity surrounding Earth The vertical axis represents the axis mundi. At the top is the world of the spirits, Aesir. At the bottom is Hel. In the center is the Midgard.

 

 Rune Symbol  Place in Cosmic Tree  Nordic Meaning  Comments
 IWAZ  The Iwaz rune is a complex symbol representing the World Tree.  Iwaz (Yew Tree)
A representation of Heaven, Hell and Earth with the Quaternity surrounding Earth		  The vertical axis represents the axis mundi. At the top is the world of the spirits, Aesir. At the bottom is Hel. In the center is the Midgard.
 GLEBO  Midgard, Earth  Gebo, G
Gebo stands for gift.		  This is a balance amidst the Quaternity of Fire, Ice, Growth, and Evolution.
 ANSUZ The Realm of Asgardr.  Ansuz, A
Ansuz is associated with the Aesir, Odin, and the wind		  The home of Odin and Freyja. The Hall of the Dead, Valhalla.
 WUNJO  The Ream of the Ljossalheim  Wunjo, W
Wunjo is the rune of joy and peace.		 This is the home of the White Alfs. Here is where there are strata of light representing Intellect (Hugh).
 KENZAZ  The Realm of the Svartalheim Kenaz, K
Kenaz represents the torch.		 This is the home of the Dark Alfs.
 HAGALAZ  The Realm of Hel  Hagalaz, H
This rune stands for hail.		  This is the home of the Dead, Hel.

 The Quaternity surrounding the Midgard

 THURISAZ  The Realm of the Jotunheim
EAST		  Thurisaz, TH
The third rune is associated with giants (thurs).		  The world of giants and Etins.
 FEHU  The Realm of the Vanaheim
WEST		  Fehu, F
The rune of Freya and her brother Frey. It stands for fee and gold.		  The world of the Vanir
 URUZ  The Realm of Niflheim
NORTH		  Uruz, U
This rune stands for strength and health. It is associated with a horned animal called the auroch		  The world of ice and mist
 RAIDO  The Realm of Muspellheim
SOUTH		  Raido, R
This is the rune of jouneying, or rides.		  The home of the sun. Where the sun rides.

The Celts also had a system of Runes (Murray, 1988) in which the FUTHARKS are highly symbolic of the various kinds of trees in the forest. They also had a system of divination with the runes, but their value structures differed significantly. Could the runes have been borrowed from the Celts? It appears that the opposite is true. The Celts once dominated the whole of Europe. They were called the Galatians in the Near East and the Gaul in France. If this were a part of their tradition, it would not be limited to the Northwestern areas of Europe, the home of the Vikings.

 THE NORDIC QUATERNITY

Within the Nordic Quaternity, the Midgard formed the very center of the four cardinal directions which are located horizontally from earth (Midgard). There are nine levels or nights that separate the real of the Aesir (the home of the spirits) from Niflheim, the realm which is just above the Underworld, the land of the dead. A soul must travel through these nine levels in order to attain immortality in Valhalla. On the horizontal level of the Quaternity, however, one finds a balance among the four directions.

THE ANIMALS OF THE YGGDRASIL

Four deer run across the branches of the world tree and eat its buds. They represent the four winds. At the very top of the tree one finds a hawk (Veldroinir) perched on the head of a wise eagle. It is the Eagle that flaps its wings and causes the winds to blow. At the root of the tree is a serpent (Nidhoggr) that gnaws at its roots. Ratatosk, a squirrel, runs up and down the tree and exchanges insults between the wise eagle and the serpent. The eagle and serpent motif is very common in creation myths. Their significance as opposites needs to be further explicated. Finally, there are four stags (Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathror) that are constantly eating the leaves of the ash tree. These are the symbolic animals that constitute the cosmology of the Yggdrasil.

TANNENBAUM

The Christmas tree comes right out of the Nordic tradition. It was borrowed from Nordic mythology as were other aspects of European culture. For example, the days of the week show both Roman and Nordic pagan roots.

 

 English  Old English  Germanic  Latin
 Sunday  sunnandaeg  Sonntag  Dies Solis
 Monday  monandaeg  Montag   Dies Lunae
 Tuesday  Tiwesdaeg (Day of Tiwes)  Dienstag  Dies Martis
 Wednesday  Wodnesdaeg (Day of Odin)  Mittwoch  Dies Mercurii
 Thursday   Thunresdaeg (Day of Thor)  Donnerstag   Dies Joves
 Friday   Frigedaeg (Day of Freyja)  Freitag  Dies Veneris
Saturday   Saeternesdaeg (Day of Saturn)  Samstag   Dies Saturni


There are several interesting things to note about this nomenclature. Many of the days fo the week reflect the Nordic cosmology of the Ash Tree.


Tuesday (Tiwes day) Nordic Goddess Tiwes
Wednesday (from Wotans Day, Germanic for Odin)
Thursday (Thor's day from Nordic god Thor)
Friday (German Freitag from Nordic goddess Freyja)
Saturday (day of Saturn, the original sun)
Sunday (Sun day, the modern sun after 9,500 BC) 

The Christmas tree is a Nordic visual metaphor of their creation myth. It represents their cosmology. Many have assumed it to be of Western Germanic origin, the Rhineland (Hertha, 1944; Foley, 1960). Needless to say, the British have a different account of this. They argue that Saint Boniface, a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, England not only established the Christian churches in France and Germany, but in the 7th century came across a group of pagans who were about to sacrifice a child to the god Thor. To stop the sacrifice and to save the child's life, he felled the tree with one might blow of his fist. In its place grew a tiny fir, a Tree of Life. This, according to medieval legend was the story of the first Christmas tree. The Germans admitted the feats of St. Boniface, but claimed that it was Martin Luther (1483-1546) who decorated the first Christmas tree. Followers of the Druids claim that they were the first to decorate the oak trees with golden apples for their winter solstice festivities. Regardless of which group claims credit for this visual metaphor, it appears that only the Vikings embedded themselves in a creation myth that closely resembles that of the Christmas tree. However, they called their tree, the Ash World Tree.

The star on the top of the Christmas tree represents the world of Asgardr where the gods and goddesses lived. It is at the top of the axis mundi of the world. When one is in the northern hemisphere and looks straight upward, one sees the North Pole star. The star that was there at the time of this creation myth was Polaris. Every 26,000 years a new Pole Star appears. Hence, Polaris is no longer the Pole Star. However, its symbol still lives as the Christmas star.

At the bottom of the Christmas three are the three roots that feed it with nourishment and water. These roots symbolically delve into the Well of the Wyrd, the Well of Mimir, and the Well of Helvelgamar. In modern times, the Christmas tree stand represents these roots.

On the Christmas tree one finds Christmas bulbs which represent the nine worlds of the World Ash Tree. These bulbs are placed vertically with the ones on top representing the Realm of the Gods and the one at the bottom symbolizing the Realm of Hell. In the center is the Midgard, Earth. It is surrounded by worlds in four directions, the Nordic Quaternity.

The ribbons that surround the Christmas tree symbolize the rainbow roads of fire and ice that connect these nine worlds. The icicles that are placed on a tree also symbolize the fact that earth is located between fire and ice, resulting in icicles.

These traditions of the World tree differed from the Tree of Life that one finds in Jewish and Hebraic traditions. They posit a different story, the involution and the evolution of the soul through the 33 levels of ascension and descension. They do not have the 9 levels of reincarnation associated with the World Tree. They do not have a balanced Midgard surrounded by a Quaternity. They do not have their roots delving into the earth in the metaphorical tradition of the Nordic cosmology. What they do have is the arrival of the soul, its passage through life, and its return to the spirit world. What they have is a different kind of visual metaphor, The Tree of Life.

 

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Visual metaphors are far more common than one realizes. The metaphor of the Ash World Tree was selected as a visual metaphor because it comes from a strong Nordic tradition that still lingers in modern times. The Christmas tree is a relic of that tradition. It is a visual metaphor that has been borrowed by Christianity and remodeled into a new symbol of eternal renewal. This is what happens when one borrows cultural symbols. However, it is wrong to claim that it was a visual metaphor invented by Saint Boniface during 7th century. It was a visual metaphor that already existed among the countries of the north. It could be found in the writings of the runes that go back several millennia. Its origins speak of a different time and place.

Anyone who works with visual metaphors must become deeply involved in social and cultural history. One cannot explain such visual symbols without such traditions because the symbols emerged from those traditions. They constitute the heritage of those symbols. The study of mythology reminds one that modern scholars are still engaged in revealing the profundity of these traditions.

 

REFERENCES

Bates, Brian. The Way of Wyrd: Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcer. NY: Berkeley Books. 1988.

Foley, Daniel J. The Christmas Tree. Philadelphia. Chilton Company. 1960.

Gundarson, Keldulf. Teutonic Religion, Fold Belief and Practices of the Northern Tradition. St. Paul, MN: Llewelyn Publications. 1993.

Hertha, Pauli. The Story of the Christmas Tree. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1944.

Murray, Liz and Colin. The Celtic Tree Oracle: A System of Divination. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1988.

Thorsson, Edred. At the Well of Wyrd: A Handbook of Runic Divination. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc. 1988.

Thorsson, Edred. A Book of Troth. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. 1989.

Young, Jean I. The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturloson Tales from Norse Mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1966.