The Religion of the Northmen
PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD
The Ash Yggdrasill is the noblest of all trees; its evergreen branches encompass all the world. It grows up from three roots. The one is in the fountain Hvergelmir in Niflheim, at which the dragon Niðhögg gnaws; the second root is in Jötunheim; the third with the Æsir in heaven. In the top of the ash sits a very wise eagle; four harts run among its branches and bite off the buds; while up and down the trunk goes the squirrel Ratatösk, which bears words of malice between the eagle and Niðhögg. Under the root which shoots up from Jötunheim, is the well of the wise Jötun Mímir. Here is kept Odin's eye, which he pledged for a drink from the well; and every morning Mímir drinks from his glittering horn the mead which flows over Odin's pledge. Under the root of the ash which sprouts from heaven is the sacred Urdar-fount (Urðar-brunnr), by which the Gods have their judgment seat, whither they ride every day over Bifröst. By this fountain the three great Nornir have their seat: the maidens Urður, Verðandi, and Skuld. They nourish the tree by sprinkling over its body with the purifying waters of the fountain. They deal out life and rule the fates. Their messengers, now good, now evil, accompany man from birth till death, and create his good and evil fate. Nothing can change the doom of the Norns.
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