"scriptures: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. In both Norse and Biblical writings, the trees provide guidance, life, and a connection with the divine. An additional parallel with Norse mythology is Tolkien's depiction of the Sun (the Goddess Sunna) as female and the Moon (the God Máni) as male. In all Germanic languages which have kept a male and female grammatical gender (German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, and Icelandic) ""sun"" is a female and ""moon"" is a male noun. Norse mythology also includes a tale wherein men are created from an ash tree (Ask) and women from an elm"
"frequently mentioned in some texts. According to the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"" and the ""Prose Edda"", the first human couple consisted of Ask and Embla; driftwood found by a trio of gods and imbued with life in the form of three gifts. After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, this process is mirrored in the survival of two humans from a wood; Líf and Lífþrasir. From this two humankind are foretold to repopulate the new, green earth. Numerous heroes appear in Norse mythology and are celebrated in a variety of poems, songs, and narratives. Within the Prose and Poetic Edda, notable humans"
"successful, but the moon (Mah) captured his seed before the animal died, from which all animal life then grew. From Gayomard's corpse grew a tree, the seeds of which were the origin of all plant life, and from the branches of which grew Mashya and Mashyana. They promised to aid Ohrmuzd in his battle with Ahriman, and gave birth to fifteen sets of twins which scattered around the Earth and became the races of mankind. Indo-European connections to Ask and Embla have been proposed. In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla were the first man and woman, created from trees and"
"likely derives from ""*Ambilō"". A stanza preceding the account of the creation of Ask and Embla in ""Völuspá"" provides a catalog of dwarfs, and stanza 10 has been considered as describing the creation of human forms from the earth. This may potentially mean that dwarfs formed humans, and that the three gods gave them life. Carolyne Larrington theorizes that humans are metaphorically designated as trees in Old Norse works (examples include ""trees of jewellery"" for women and ""trees of battle"" for men) due to the origin of humankind stemming from trees; Ask and Embla. Ask and Embla have been the"
"in Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient. Simek additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure of Örvar-Oddr, ""who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (""Ǫrvar-Odds saga"" 24–27)"". Líf and Lífþrasir In Norse mythology, Líf (identical with the Old Norse noun meaning ""life, the life of the body"") and Lífþrasir (Old Norse"
"Ask and Embla In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla (from )—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, three gods, one of whom is Odin, find Ask and Embla and bestow upon them various corporeal and spiritual gifts. A number of theories have been proposed to explain the two figures, and there are occasional references to them in popular culture. Old Norse literally"
"Mímameiðr In Norse mythology, Mímameiðr (Old Norse ""Mimi's tree"") is a tree whose branches stretch over every land, is unharmed by fire or metal, bears fruit that assists pregnant women, and upon whose highest bough roosts the cock Víðópnir. Mímameiðr is solely attested in the Old Norse poem ""Fjölsvinnsmál"". Due to parallels between descriptions of the two, scholars theorize that ""Mímameiðr"" may be another name for the world tree Yggdrasil, and also Hoddmímis holt, a wood within which Líf and Lífthrasir are foretold to take refuge during the events of Ragnarök. ""Mímameiðr"" is sometimes modernly anglicized as Mimameid or Mimameith."
"sources, including the Eddas, write about a ""vetgrønster vida"", which means ""evergreen tree"". An ash sheds its leaves in the winter, while yew trees retain their needles. The first man, Ask, was formed from the ""ash tree"". Elsewhere in Europe, snakes were said to be repelled by ash leaves or a circle drawn by an ash branch. Irish folklore claims that shadows from an ash tree would damage crops. In Cheshire, ash was said to be used to cure warts and rickets. In Sussex, the ash tree and the elm tree were known as ""widowmakers"" because large boughs would often"
"a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century when key texts were"
"Búri Búri (or Buri) was the first god in Norse mythology. He is the father of Borr and grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap during the time of Ymir. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson's ""Prose Edda"". Búri is mentioned nowhere in the ""Poetic Edda"" and only once in the skaldic corpus. In ""Skáldskaparmál"" Snorri Sturluson quotes the following verse by the 12th century skald Þórvaldr blönduskáld. The length of the u in the name is not explicitly marked in the manuscripts but"
"often used in an ASCII context or as an anglicization of ""Búri"". In the mainland Scandinavian languages ""Bure"" is used as a familiar form. Búri Búri (or Buri) was the first god in Norse mythology. He is the father of Borr and grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap during the time of Ymir. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson's ""Prose Edda"". Búri is mentioned nowhere in the ""Poetic Edda"" and only once in the skaldic corpus. In ""Skáldskaparmál"" Snorri Sturluson quotes the following"
"noting that it is normally encountered by travelers from worlds that worship the Norse mythoi, but travelers from other Prime Material worlds can encounter the tree. It is a long-standing conduit from the Outer Planes to alternate prime worlds that was created by a group of deities and worshippers in the Prime Material plane. Yggdrasil is the ""World Ash"" that links several outer planes to the Prime Material plane, in the Norse mythos. It runs from Gladsheim, home of most of the Norse mythos, to Nifflheim, the center layer of the three Glooms of Hades and the dwelling place of"
"Lóðurr Lóðurr (also Lodurr) is a god in Norse mythology. In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"" he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him with Loki, Vé, Vili and Freyr, but consensus has not been reached on any one theory. The name's meaning is unknown. It has been speculatively linked to various Old Norse words, such as ""lóð"", ""fruit, land"", ""ljóðar"", ""people"" and ""laða"", ""to attract"". The Gothic words ""liudan"", ""to grow"" and ""laudi"", ""shape"", as well as the German word"
"the possible fertility-related meanings of Lóðurr's name but otherwise has little direct evidence to support it. Lóðurr Lóðurr (also Lodurr) is a god in Norse mythology. In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"" he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him with Loki, Vé, Vili and Freyr, but consensus has not been reached on any one theory. The name's meaning is unknown. It has been speculatively linked to various Old Norse words, such as ""lóð"", ""fruit, land"", ""ljóðar"", ""people"" and ""laða"", ""to"
"everyone who read the lines would have thought of Ragnarök and the allusion that the father found fitting as an expression of his grief. Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir at the end of Ragnarök is ""a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology"". Simek says that Hoddmímis holt ""should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (Askr, Embla)"
"the scar he made"". Davidson points out a potential connection between the descriptor ""apaldr"" (Old Norse ""apple tree"") and the birth of King Völsung, which is described earlier in the ""Völsunga saga"" as having occurred after Völsung's father Rerir sits atop a burial mound and prays for a son, after which the goddess Frigg has an apple sent to Rerir. Rerir shares the apple with his wife, resulting in his wife's long pregnancy. Davidson states that this mound is presumably the family burial mound, and proposes a link between the tree, fruit, mound, and the birth of a child. Davidson"
"Barnstokkr In Norse mythology, Barnstokkr (Old Norse, literally ""child-trunk"") is a tree that stands in the center of King Völsung's hall. Barnstokkr is attested in chapters 2 and 3 of the ""Völsunga saga"", written in the 13th century from earlier tradition, partially based on events from the 5th century and the 6th century, where, during a banquet, a one-eyed stranger appears and thrusts a sword into the tree which only Sigmund is able to pull free. Scholarly theories have been put forth about the implications of Barnstokkr and its relation to other trees in Germanic paganism. Barnstokkr is introduced in"
"of the gods, by the Bifröst, the rainbow bridge, guarded by Heimdallr. In Norse mythology, ""Miðgarðr"" became applied to the wall around the world that the gods constructed from the eyebrows of the giant Ymir as a defense against the Jotuns who lived in Jotunheim, east of ""Manheimr"", the ""home of men"", a word used to refer to the entire world. The gods slew the giant Ymir, the first created being, and put his body into the central void of the universe, creating the world out of his body: his flesh constituting the land, his blood the oceans, his bones"
"is repeated after the Ragnarök as well"". Simek says that in Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient, and additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure of Örvar-Oddr, ""who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (""Ǫrvar-Odds saga"" 24–27)"". Theories have been proposed about the relation between Ragnarök and the 9th century Old"
"subject of a number of references and artistic depictions. A sculpture depicting the two stands in the southern Swedish city of Sölvesborg, created in 1948 by Stig Blomberg. Ask and Embla are depicted on two of the sixteen wooden panels found on the Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, by Dagfin Werenskiold. Ask and Embla In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla (from )—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th"
"in Yggdrasill."" Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir through Ragnarök by hiding in Hoddmímis holt is ""a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology."" Simek says that Hoddmímis holt ""should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarǫk as well."" Simek says that in Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees"
"the opposite holds for mankind. In many Bantu myths, the first man was born from a plant: for example, he came from a bamboo stem in Zulu, and from a ""Omumborombonga"" tree in Herero mythology. Other traditions have the first men come out of a cave or a hole in the ground. People that mainly live on cattle farming usually believe that men and cattle appeared on earth together. It can be noted that, as is the case with many mythologies, Bantu mythologies about the creation of man are often limited to describing their own origins, rather than those of"
"Vé, and Odin, are the creators of the first man and woman. The brothers were once walking along a beach and found two trees there. They took the wood and from it created the first human beings; Ask and Embla. One of the three gave them the breath of life, the second gave them movement and intelligence, and the third gave them shape, speech, hearing and sight. Further, the three gods gave them clothing and names. Ask and Embla go on to become the progenitors of all humanity and were given a home within the walls of Midgard. A Proto-Indo-European"
"Líf and Lífþrasir is ""a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology."" Simek says that Hoddmímis holt ""should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarǫk as well."" Simek says that in Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient. Simek additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who"
"to ancient Norse mythology. According to the myth, a goddess named Frigg had a son named Baldr. When he was born, she made all plants unable to hurt him. Yet she overlooked the mistletoe plant, and a god known for his mischief, Loki, tricked another god into killing Baldr with a spear made of mistletoe. The gods eventually brought Baldr back to life, and Frigg declared that mistletoe would bring love rather than death into the world. People then kissed under the mistletoe to obey the goddess, as well as to remember Baldr’s resurrection. Another theory is that the tradition"
"tree based on ""Historia Norwegiæ"", ""Ynglinga saga"", ""Beowulf"" and other Old Norse sources. The names of Swedish kings are shown in bold. Notes: Fornjót In Norse mythology, Fornjót (Old Norse: ""Fornjótr"") was an ancient giant and king of """"Gotland, Kænland and Finnland"""" meaning Gotland, Kvenland and Finland Proper. His children are Ægir (the ruler of the sea), Logi (fire giant) and Kári (god of wind). The name has often been interpreted as ""forn-jótr"" ""ancient giant"", and Karl Simrock (1869) because of this identified Fornjotr with the primeval giant Ymir. But it is also possible, as was suggested by Peter Erasmus"
"left. The large animal and smaller human figures seem to rush by a tree, which could be the mighty ash Yggdrasil, a massive tree central to nine worlds in Norse mythology. Some scholars have suggested that what is shown is the Christianization of the region Härjedalen. However, today the dominant theory, given the radiocarbon dating of the tapestries, is that Ragnarök, a series of events foretold to occur in Norse mythology, is being depicted. Research has established that the figures are made of plant dyed wool, which is interwoven with the linen with a special technique. Today, these unique tapestries"
"arms, and his legs together begat a six-headed being. The gods Odin, Vili and Vé fashioned the Earth (elsewhere personified as a goddess; Jörð) from his flesh, from his blood the ocean, from his bones the mountains, from his hair the trees, from his brains the clouds, from his skull the heavens, and from his eyebrows the middle realm in which mankind lives, Midgard. In addition, one stanza relates that the dwarfs were given life by the gods from Ymir's flesh and blood (or the Earth and sea). In the ""Prose Edda"", a narrative is provided that draws from, adds"
"of the potential connection between the Old Norse goddess name ""Ilmr"" and the Old Norse common noun ""almr"" (Elm tree), and says that ""the potential of a protective tree goddess brings to mind a mysterious passage in the ""Prose Edda"" involving the rowan, in which the tree is referred to as [Thor's] ""bjǫrg"" ['aid, help, salvation, rescue']"". In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"", Hlín receives a mention regarding the foretold death of the god Odin during the immense battle waged at Ragnarök: The death of Odin (the stanza's ""second sorrow"") implies a first death. Scholars all but universally view this"
"a sarcophagus."" Scholars John Lindow and Carolyne Larrington agree that the ""Prose Edda"" account of the flood borrowed from Judeo-Christian tradition of Noah's Ark. Bergelmir In Norse mythology, Bergelmir ( ; Old Norse ""Mountain Yeller"" or ""Bear Yeller"") is a frost giant, the son of giant Þrúðgelmir and the grandson of Ymir (who was called Aurgelmir among giants), the first frost giant, according to stanza 29 of the poem ""Vafthrudnismal"" from the ""Poetic Edda"": According to the ""Gylfaginning"" section of the ""Prose Edda"" by Snorri Sturluson, Bergelmir and his wife alone among the giants were the only survivors of the"
"(wood relief carving, 1938) on the Oslo City Hall by Dagfin Werenskjold; and the bronze relief on the doors of the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities (around 1950) by B. Marklund in Stockholm, Sweden. Poems mentioning Yggdrasil include ""Vårdträdet"" by Viktor Rydberg and ""Yggdrasill"" by J. Linke. Yggdrasil Yggdrasil (; from Old Norse , pronounced ) is an immense mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology. Yggdrasil is attested in the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources,"
"into one or other of these categories. There are two examples of ""pteleogenesis"" (:birth from elms) in world myths. In Germanic and Scandinavian mythology the first woman, Embla, was fashioned from an elm, while in Japanese mythology Kamuy Fuchi, the chief goddess of the Ainu people, ""was born from an elm impregnated by the Possessor of the Heavens"". The elm occurs frequently in English literature, one of the best known instances being in Shakespeare's ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"", where Titania, Queen of the Fairies, addresses her beloved Nick Bottom using an elm-simile. Here, as often in the elm-and-vine motif, the"
"from a root meaning ""fertility"": the first man is to work in God's miraculously fertile garden. The ""tree of life"" is a motif from Mesopotamian myth: in the ""Epic of Gilgamesh"" the hero is given a plant whose name is ""man becomes young in old age"", but a serpent steals the plant from him. There has been much scholarly discussion about the type of knowledge given by the second tree. Suggestions include: human qualities, sexual consciousness, ethical knowledge, or universal knowledge; with the last being the most widely accepted. In Eden, mankind has a choice between wisdom and life, and"