Yggdrasill
English
editProper noun
editYggdrasill
- Alternative spelling of Yggdrasil
Old Norse
editEtymology
editYggr (“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
editYggdrasill m
- an unclear word, only occurring in the genitive in a fixed expression
Usage notes
edit- 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
edit- askr Yggdrasils (“the ash of Yggdrasill; the world tree”)
Descendants
edit- → Icelandic: Yggdrasill
- → Faroese: Yggdrasil
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: Yggdrasil, Yggdrasel
- → Swedish: Yggdrasil
- → Danish: Yggdrasil
References
edit- Winterbourne, Anthony (2004): When the Norns Have Spoken: Time and Fate in Germanic Paganism