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

Yggdrasil, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse 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. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... World Tree may refer to any of the following: A World Tree (such as Yggdrasil), a form of axis mundi, found in many mythologies. ... taken from the german language version of wikipedia Painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... taken from the german language version of wikipedia Painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see Yggdrasil (disambiguation). ... In literature, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The existence of similarities among the gods and religious practices of the Indo-European peoples suggests that whatever population they actually formed had some form of polytheistic religion. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ...

Specific World Trees include Yggdrasil (or Irminsul) in Norse mythology, the Oak in Slavic and Finnish mythology, and in Hinduism, a banyan tree. For other uses, see Yggdrasil (disambiguation). ... Detail of the bent Irminsul on the Externsteine relief. ... 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. ... 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 (from Latin oak tree), and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... Slavic mythology and Slavic religion evolved over more than 3,000 years. ... Finnish mythology has many features that it shares with other Finnic mythologies, like the Estonian mythology, and also elements similar with non-Finnic neighbours, especially the the Balts and the Scandinavians. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Species Many; see text for examples Banyan (genus Ficus, subgenus Urostigma) is a subgenus of many species of tropical figs with an unusual growth habit. ...

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. 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. ... Yggdrasil In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil (also Mimameid and Lerad) was the World tree, a gigantic tree (often suggested to be an ash, an interpretation generally accepted in the modern Scandinavian mind), thought to hold all of the different worlds, such as Asgard, Midgard, Utgard and Hel. ... Thors battle against the giants, by Marten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor, Þór (ON), Þunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. ... Drawing of an archeological find of a gold plated hammer in silver. ... Níðhöggr gnaws the roots of Yggdrasill in this illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript. ... Niflheim (Land of Mists) is the realm of ice and cold in Norse mythology. ... This image from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript shows Ratatoskr with a horn. ...

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. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... North Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... The Nenets people (Russian name: Ненцы - Nentsy (plural)) are an indigenous people in Russia. ... Mother Earth is a common metaphorical expression for the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life. ... Samoyed may refer to: the Samoyed, an obsolete name of Nenets people of Siberia. ... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means...

The symbol of the World Tree is also common in Tengriism, an ancient religion of Mongols and Turkic peoples. It has been suggested that Tengri be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Mongols (disambiguation). ... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ...

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.

A world tree depicted on the sarcophogus lid of the Classic-era Maya ruler of Palenque, Pacal II World trees are a prevalent motif occurring in the mythical cosmologies, creation accounts and iconographies of the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. ... The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the Americas continent. ... This article is about the culture area. ... Axis mundi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... This article is about the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. ... Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic... // Overview Izapa was a very large pre-Columbian site located in Chiapas, Mexico, often placed in the Late Formative period. ... Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a pre-Columbian piece of Mixtec writing, now in the British Museum The Mixtec (or Mixteca) are a Native American people centered in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. ... Monument 1, one of the four Olmec colossal heads at La Venta. ... Mesoamerican chronology The chronology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is usually divided into the following eras: Paleo-Indian Period c. ... Species About 10-20 species, including: Ceiba aesculifolia Ceiba glaziovii Ceiba insignis Ceiba pentandra Ceiba speciosa Ceiba trichistandra Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Central and South America, The Bahamas,the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. ... The Mayan languages are a family of related languages spoken from South-Eastern Mexico through northern Central America as far south as Honduras. ... Genera Alligator Caiman Melanosuchus Paleosuchus Alligators and caimans are reptiles closely related to the crocodiles and forming the family Alligatoridae (sometimes regarded instead as the subfamily Alligatorinae). ... The Pre-Columbian people of Mesoamerica kept track of time with calendars which had ritual and religious meaning. ... The traditions of indigenous Mesoamerican literature extend back to the oldest-attested forms of early writing in the Mesoamerican region, which date from around the mid-1st millennium BCE. Many of the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica are known to have been literate societies, who produced a number of Mesoamerican... Maya codices (singular codex) are books written by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, using the Maya hieroglyphic script. ... Divine being Quetzalcoatl in human form, using the symbols of Ehecatl, from the Codex Borgia. ... First page of the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer The Codex Fejérváry-Mayer is an Aztec Codex of central Mexico. ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... For other uses, see Milky Way (disambiguation). ... Izapa Stela 5 is one of a number of large, carved stelae found in the ancient Mesoamerican city of Izapa in 1941 by Smithsonian archaeologist Matthew W. Stirling. ...

Other cultures

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). Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 426 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (436 × 614 pixels, file size: 57 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Image scanned from the book Lithuanian Folk Art, J. Baltrusaitis, published by Munchner Graphische Kunstantsalten, 1948. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 426 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (436 × 614 pixels, file size: 57 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Image scanned from the book Lithuanian Folk Art, J. Baltrusaitis, published by Munchner Graphische Kunstantsalten, 1948. ... A memorial cross in Lithuania KryždirbystÄ— or the Lithuanian cross crafting is a traditional Lithuanian art of crafting crosses. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... A Kallikantzaros (Καλλικάντζαρος) pl. ... A goblin is an evil or mischievous creature of folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured, elf-like phantom. ...

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

References

• Vytautas Straižys and Libertas Klimka, Cosmology of the Ancient Balts, Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Lithuania.

Further reading

• Santillana, Giorgio de & Dechend, Hertha von (1969) Hamlet's Mill. Gambit, Boston