Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life

In the middle of Asgard, where the gods lived, was Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree of life. It was an eternal green Ash tree; its branches stretched out over all of the nine worlds, and extended up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil was carried by three enormous roots.

The first root from Yggdrasil went to Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root was a well named Urd’s well.
This was where the gods held daily meetings.

The second root from Yggdrasil went down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root was Mimir's well.

The third root from Yggdrasil went down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It was here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasils roots. Nidhug was also known to suck the blood out of the dead bodies.

At the very top of Yggdrasil there lived an eagle. And down by the roots of the tree lived there a dragon named Nidhug. The eagle and the dragon were bitter enemies. They truly despised each other. A squirrel named Ratatosk, was spending a lot of time each day, running up and down the tree. Ratatosk did whatever he could, to keep the hatred between the eagle and Nidhug alive. Every time Nidhug said a curse or an insult about the eagle, Ratatosk would hasten up to the top of the tree, and inform the eagle what Nidhug had said. The eagle was equally rude in his comments about Nidhug. Ratatosk just loved to gossip which was the reason why the eagle and the dragon remained constant foes.

The Norns: The Goddesses of Fate

There was tree Norns who lived at the well Urd. Their names were Urd “past”, Verdani “present” and Skuld “future” The three Norns was the goddesses of fate. They spent most of their time spinning the threads of life, deciding the fate of every human, animal and every god. Whenever a child was born, the Norns spun the fate of the child in their threads. The three Norns would every morning start the day by placing a rooster at the top of Yggdrasil. The bragging of the rooster would work as a wakeup call for all humans and gods. Every day the Norns would also carry water from Urd’s well, and poured it over Yggdrasil. The water from the well was of vital importance to keep the tree green and healthy. The Norns was very respected in Viking times, it was quite common to serve a woman who had just given birth to a child some porridge, they called this porridge for “Norn porridge” The Vikings believed the Norns were always nearby whenever a child was born. The porridge was considered an offering to the Norns. They hoped the porridge would please the Norns and secure good health for the mother and the child.