Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Mythology The great ash tree that holds together earth, heaven, and hell by its roots and branches in Norse mythology.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Scand. myth., the ash-tree which binds together heaven, earth, and hell. Its branches spread over the whole world and reach above the heavens. Its roots run in three directions: one to the Asa gods in heaven, one to the Frost-giants, and the third to the under-world. Under each root is a fountain of wonderful virtues. In the tree, which drops honey, sit an eagle, a squirrel, and four stags. At the root lies the serpent Nithhöggr gnawing it, while the squirrel Ratatöskr runs up and down to sow strife between the eagle at the top and the serpent at the root. Also called
Tree of the Universe .
Wiktionary
- n. The World Tree in Norse mythology. The great ash tree.
- n. The World Tree in Norse mythology. The great ash tree.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (Norse mythology) a huge ash tree whose roots and branches hold the earth and Heaven and Hell together
Etymologies
- Old Norse.
Examples
“For the same reason, the Scandinavian cultures of northern Europe depicted the Universe as a great tree, which they called Yggdrasil, or “World Tree,” another teaching tool for the web of life.”
“That was how it got the name Yggdrasil, the Horse of the Terrible One.”
Operation Luna
“It became popularly known as Yggdrasil, after the world tree of ancient Norse mythology.”
“_Lead by renegade nun CRYSTAL SPIRIT, the Facers plan to launch their own expedition to a habitable extra solar planet called Yggdrasil, which circles Eta Cassiopeia, some twenty light years from our Sun.”
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
“_The World-Ash_, generally called Yggdrasil's Ash, is one of the most interesting survivals of tree-worship.”
“Along the Hume Hwy. east of Eden, a concrete Mountain Ash dubbed Yggdrasil boasts a wide-screen computer enhanced vista: an arrow-straight monorail running from Uluru clean through the Olgas.”
“But where the Norse axis was a sacred ash tree called Yggdrasil, Dorchen's is a poker table.”
“And another note: the reason some submissions were rejected was because they used plant species from exisiting mythological pantheons, such as Yggdrasil or the Christian Tree of Knowledge.”
“Â His own uniform transformed into the garb of Thor, with the Big Z providing the requisite lightning and Hercules’ own enchanted mace retrieved from a storage unit in New Jersey completing the disguise,ÂHercules venturesÂout to find the world tree Yggdrasil, which is Norse for “makes your spellchecker have a conniption fit.””
Review: Incredible Hercules #132 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News
“It is described by the Sibyl in _Völuspa_: "I know an ash called Yggdrasil, a high tree sprinkled with white moisture (thence come the dews that fall in the dales): it stands ever-green by Urd's spring.”
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