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Yggdrasil, the tree of the worlds
Yggdrasil is the tree of the worlds in Norse mythology.
This colossal tree is the most
perfect tree that ever existed.
Its roots are so profound that reach the three most distant worlds.
These are Jötunheimr,
Niflheim and Helheim.
Jötunheimr, the frozen kingdom and land of the Jötnar,
also known as the icy giants,
ruled by the king of the Jötnar, the giant Thrym.
Niflheim, in turn, is a desolated and shadowy world,
where the ice and the freezing mist
make everything even more sinister.
This is where Níðhöggr, the giant dragon, lives, who is constantly gnawing the roots of Yggdrasil.
Helheim is the kingdom of Hel, also known as Hella.
This is the world of the dead in
the Norse mythology.
This world is inhabited by spectra of the souls of those who died without glory.
Niðavellir, the land of the dwarves, is located above these three profound kingdoms,
these beings were quite skillful and capable of creating impressive things,
like Thor’s hammer, for instance.
Right above the kingdom of the dwarves is Midgard, the land of men and women,
this kingdom was surrounded by walls edified by the gods to protect men.
There was also the world of Álfheimr, the kingdom of the light-elves, creatures of great beauty.
Svartalfheim also existed, the home of evil elves, black like tar.
Muspelheim is the world of giant, where the fire giants live,
whose fate is to destroy the Bifröst bridge, which connects Asgard to the remaining worlds.
Vanaheimr is the home of the Vanir and, for being the land of the gods of fertility,
grains and fruits spring up from the soul in vast amounts.
This is the homeland of the
goddesses Freyr and Freya,
offspring of Njord, the Vanir god of the seas.
Lastly, in the highest parts of Yggdrasil, is Asgard,
the kingdom of the gods Æsir.
Where Odin ruled sovereignly on his throne.
This is also the location of Valhalla.
The place where the great warriors, who had an honored dead in the battlefield, will go to.
A giant eagle named Veðrfölnir lived on the top of the worlds,
the arch enemy of the
dragon Níðhöggr,
and the hate between both creatures was fed by the squirrel Ratatoskr,
which ran up and down the worlds, carrying the insults of both.
The squirrel’s greatest source of amusement was to amplify the insults it carried even more,
and witness the angered reactions of the eagle and the dragon.
The leaves and the fruits of the Yggdrasil tree had magic properties.
Eating just one of its fruits healed any wound and some said that its leaves could even retrieve a life already lost.
Yggdrasil will always remain beautiful and green, but it will tremble with Ragnarok’s arrival.
