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This article is about the religious motif. For other uses, see World Tree (disambiguation).
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Yggdrasil, the Norse representation of the World Tree.


The World Tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the earth, and, through its roots, the underground. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life.

Specific World Trees include Yggdrasil (or Irminsul) in Norse mythology, the Oak in Slavic and Finnish mythology, and in Hinduism, a banyan tree.

Norse mythology

Norse Mythology's Yggdrasill also shows the tree as a tree on the Earth, a giant taproot in the under world, and boughs in the heavens. The taproot is said to be the shaft of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. The Nidhogg, who lives at the centre of the Earth, is a giant serpent. The serpent is always bickering with the eagle that houses in the top of the tree. Nidhogg lies on Nastrond in Niflheim and eats corpses to sustain itself. It is not the only serpent whose task it is to destroy the World Tree; other serpents include Graback, Grafvolluth, Goin and Moin, eat the trees roots, while telling bad words to a little red squirrel (Ratatosk), who in turn tells them to mankind.

Siberian culture

The World Tree is also represented in the mythologies and folklore of Northern Asia and Siberia. In the mythology of the Samoyeds, the 'world tree' connects different realities (underworld, this world, upper world) together. In their mythology 'world tree' is also the symbol of Mother Earth who is said to give the Samoyed shaman his drum and also help him travel from one world to another.

The symbol of the World Tree is also common in Tengriism, an ancient religion of Mongols and Turkic peoples.

Mesoamerican culture

Main article: Mesoamerican world tree
  • Among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, the concept of "world trees" is a prevalent motif in Mesoamerican mythical cosmologies and iconography. World trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the four-fold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis mundi connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.[1]
  • Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the Maya, Aztec, Izapan, Mixtec, Olmec, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of Mesoamerican chronology. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a ceiba tree, and is known variously as a wacah chan or yax imix che, depending on the Mayan language.[2] The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.[3]
  • Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in Mesoamerican calendars, and the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden, Borgia and Fejérváry-Mayer codices.[4] It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.
  • World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of the underworld).
  • The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way.[5]
  • Izapa Stela 5 contains a possible representation of a World Tree.

Other cultures

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A Lithuanian folk cross, the Christianised World Tree
Although the concept is absent from the Greek mythology, medieval Greek folk traditions and more recent ones claim that the Tree that holds the Earth is being sawed by Kallikantzaroi (commonly translated as goblins).

The World Tree is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters.[6]

Notes

1. ^ Miller and Taube (1993), p.186.
2. ^ Finlay (2003)
3. ^ Miller and Taube, loc. cit.
4. ^ Ibid.
5. ^ Freidel, et al (1993)
6. ^ Straižys and Klimka, chapter 2.

References

Further reading

  • Santillana, Giorgio de & Dechend, Hertha von (1969) Hamlet's Mill. Gambit, Boston
World Tree may refer to any of the following:
  • A World Tree (such as Yggdrasil), a form of axis mundi, found in many mythologies.
  • The main setting of the PBS show: It's a Big Big World.
  • World Tree, an anthropomorphic fantasy role-playing game.

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Motive or motif are terms that turn up in many different forms in literature and other creative works, as well as other fields such as business and law.
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    God of the Sky
  1. God of Thunder
  2. God of the Earth/Underworld
  3. Cultural hero
  4. Great goddess


The sky and thunder gods were heavenly deities, representing the ruling class of society, and in subsequent cultures they were often merged
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tree of life is a mystical concept, a metaphor for common descent, and a motif in various world theologies and philosophies.

Conceptual and mythological "trees of life"

Various forms of trees of life
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Yggdrasil (Old Norse Yggdrasill, IPA: [ˈygˌdrasilː]; the extra -l is a nominative case marker) is the "World Tree", a gigantic ash tree, held to connect all the nine worlds of Norse cosmology.
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Irminsul (Old Saxon "great pillar") is the pillar that is said to connect heaven and earth, represented by oak or wooden pillars venerated by the Saxons.

Irmin

A Germanic god, Irmin, inferred from the name Irminsul and the tribal name Herminones
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Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled.
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Quercus
L.

Species

See List of Quercus species

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus
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Slavic mythology and Slavic religion evolved over more than 3,000 years. It is conjectured that some parts of it are from Neolithic or possibly even Mesolithic times.
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Finnish mythology, that of the Finnish people, has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours, the Balts and the Scandinavians. Their myths are also shared with other Finno-Ugric speakers like the Lapps.
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Hinduism (known as Hindū Dharma in modern Indian languages[1]
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banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree (or on structures like buildings and bridges). "Banyan" often refers specifically to the species Ficus benghalensis
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Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled.
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Yggdrasil (Old Norse Yggdrasill, IPA: [ˈygˌdrasilː]; the extra -l is a nominative case marker) is the "World Tree", a gigantic ash tree, held to connect all the nine worlds of Norse cosmology.
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  • THOR (Tracing Habitability, Organics, and Resources) is a proposal by researchers at Arizona State University to drop a copper ball from orbit onto the surface of Mars in order to study the composition of the first few meters of the surface. http://www.newscientistspace.

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Mjolnir (also spelled Mjölnir, Mjöllnir, Mjollner, Mjølnir, Mjølner, or Mjölner) (IPA pronunciation: [mjolnər]) is the hammer of Thor.

Etymology

"Mjolnir" simply means "mealer" referring to its pulverizing effect.
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Níğhöggr (Malice Striker, often anglicized Nidhogg[1]) is a dragon who eats the roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasill.

Prose Edda

According to the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda
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Niflheimr or Niflheim (the "abode of mist" or "Mist World") is a location in Norse mythology which overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name Niflheimr only appears in two extant sources and they are Gylfaginning and the much debated
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Ratatoskr (drilling tooth, sometimes anglicized Ratatosk) is a red squirrel who runs up and down with messages in the world tree Yggdrasill and spreads gossip.
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group.
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North Asia or Northern Asia is a subregion of Asia. The most common definition of the term is;
  • The Asian part of Russia, namely Asian Siberia; however, by some definitions, not all of Northern Asia is part of Siberia.

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Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, Sibir); is a vast region on the eastern and North-Eastern part of the Russian Federation constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprising a large part of the
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The word mythology (from the Greek μύθολογία mythología, from μυθολογείν mythologein
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Nenets people (autonym: ненёця; Russian name: ненцы) are an indigenous people in Russia. According to the latest census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the
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Mother Earth may refer to:
  • Mother Nature, a common metaphorical expression for the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life
  • Matka Ziemia, a Slavic deity
  • Gaia (mythology), the mythological goddess personifying the earth

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Samoyed may refer to:
  • the Samoyedic peoples in Siberia who speak the Samoyedic languages: the Enets, the Nenets, the Nganasans, and the Selkups.
  • the Samoyedic languages they speak
  • Samoyed (dog), a dog breed

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Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. There are many variations in shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:

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Tengriism (Tengerism, Tengrianism, Tengrianizm) was the ancient belief of the Turkic peoples and Mongols before the vast majority joined the established world religions. It focuses around the sky deity Tengri (also Tangri, Tangra, etc.
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Mongols (Mongolian: Монгол Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups largely located now in Mongolia, China, and Russia.
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Turkic peoples are a group of peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. These peoples share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds.
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