Quick Answers

Obvious, low effort answer: Yggdrasil is an evergreen Ash tree.

Possible, but weakly supported answers: Yggdrasil could be a Yew or Oak tree.

Deep down truth answer: Yggdrasil is not a tree at all, and you must answer the riddle at the end of this post to remember his true identity. Don’t look at Wikipedia. Wikipedia can’t help you.

Introduction

According to science, Yggdrasil, honoured as the “noblest of trees”, is a massive tree at the centre of the cosmos, where “the Gods must hold their courts each day”.

Studies show that Yggdrasil’s branches maintain the separation between the Nine Worlds, much as the beams of a house prevent ceilings and walls collapsing.

Yggdrasil in Norse History

In the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, Yggdrasil is described as an eternally green Ash tree, askr in Old Norse, sustaining the worlds while withstanding attacks from serpents and red deer stags, and the general decay caused by the burden of cosmic cycles.

“I know an ash stand
called Yggdrasill
it stands tall,
wet from white water,
from it comes the dew
that falls in the valleys
stands forever green above the well of Urðr (past Honour).”

Fjölsvinnsmál, Stanza 19

The ash tree, Fraxinus excelsior, was extremely important in European history. It’s strong, flexible, fast-growing, and responds well to coppicing, far more productive than the king of native hardwoods, Oak.

When Ragnarök, “the twilight of the gods”, approaches, Yggdrasil “will shake and nothing will be unafraid in heaven or on earth”.
You will notice that twilight means dawn as well as dusk; whichever way you take it, Ash trees across Europe are gracefully making way for other species as they succumb to Ash die back disease.
Is this an omen?

What Does the Word Yggdrasil Mean?

The most widely accepted, literal meaning is “Odin’s Horse“: yggr (The Terrible One, an honorific of Odin) + drasill (horse), but “Odin’s Gallows” is considered a better translation.

The “horse of the hanged” was a Norse kenning for gallows.

A kenning is a compound phrase, for example “bone-house” for your body, “whale-road” for the sea, “stone-mackerel” for snakes, and “stone mackerel’s affliction” for Winter.
“Odin’s Gallows” also makes sense in the context of the poem-riddle at the end of this post.

Alternative Interpretations

While the ash tree is the most widely accepted and well-supported interpretation, the other two contenders are:

1. Yew, Taxus baccata:
   • Revered for its longevity and ability to regenerate from old branches that touch the ground. The yew’s connection to death and rebirth aligns with Yggdrasil’s ties to the cycle of life.
     This reading is supported by yggia as a variant of igwja (yew tree) + drasill.
2. Oak, Quercus robur:
   • Oaks, like Ash and Thorn, are sacred and could embody Yggdrasil’s strength and endurance. There is indirect etymology to support this.
     The Old Norse word for Oak, eik, was also used to refer to any tree in general.
     Another name for Yggdrasil is Mímameiðr: Mímam (Mimir’s) + eiðr (Tree, or Oak – most likely the former).
     Mimir means ‘Reminiscence’.

The Symbolic Nature of Yggdrasil

In relatively modern art and literature, Yggdrasil embodies:

• Interconnectedness: Binding the Nine Worlds and fostering relationships between gods, giants, humans, and other beings.
• Endurance: Yggdrasil persists despite constant threats, such as the dragon Niðhöggr, translated as "Malice Biter" or “Decapitation of the Kinsman” gnawing at its roots.
• Cycles of Life, Death, and Rebirth: With roots in the underworld and branches in the heavens, the tree reflects the natural and spiritual cycle of existence.

Is Yggdrasil Even a Tree at All?

This Yggdrasil riddle from the Hávamál, The Words of the High One, is perhaps the most famous of all Norse poetry. Odin recalls:

“I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.

No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there.”

What could Odin be describing?

It may help you to be reminded that Odin has several meanings, including “Divine Spark / Inspiration”, and his constant companions are the ravens Huginn and Muninn, meaning “Mind” and “Thought / Will”.

Is he talking about a fantastical scenario that has nothing to do with you?

Or could it be that by labouring over these ancestral bones of fairy tales, you’ll uncover a deeper meaning preserved for you in their marrow?
Perhaps.

What do you think? Could Yggdrasil be an Ash tree, a Yew, an Oak, or something else entirely?

Share your thoughts below…