Yggdrasill

English

Proper noun

Yggdrasill

Alternative spelling of Yggdrasil

Old Norse

Etymology

Yggr (“the terrifying one; Odin”) +‎ drasill (“steed”), where “steed” is a poetic expression for gallows, referring to the story of Odin hanging himself on the tree for nine nights.

Proper noun

Yggdrasill m

an unclear word, only occurring in the genitive in a fixed expression

Usage notes

Unlike in most languages that have borrowed this word, in Old Norse the “world tree” itself is only referred to by the expression askr Yggdrasils (“the ash tree of Yggdrasill”).

Derived terms

askr Yggdrasils (“the ash of Yggdrasill; the world tree”)

Descendants

→ Icelandic: Yggdrasill
→ Faroese: Yggdrasil
→ Norwegian Nynorsk: Yggdrasil, Yggdrasel
→ Swedish: Yggdrasil
→ Danish: Yggdrasil

References

Winterbourne, Anthony (2004): When the Norns Have Spoken: Time and Fate in Germanic Paganism

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