“Then Gangleri asked: "What is to be said concerning that place?" Then said Jafnhárr: "The Ash is greatest of all trees and best: its limbs spread out over all the world and stand above heaven. Three roots of the tree uphold it and stand exceeding broad: one is among the Æsir; another among the Rime-Giants, in that place where aforetime was the Yawning Void; the third stands over Niflheim, and under that root is Hvergelmir, and Nídhöggr gnaws the root from below. But under that root which turns toward the Rime-Giants is Mímir's Well, wherein wisdom and understanding are stored; and he is called Mímir, who keeps the well. He is full of ancient lore, since he drinks of the well from the Gjallar-Horn. Thither came Allfather and craved one drink of the well; but he got it not until he had laid his eye in pledge. So says Völuspá:
All know I, Odin, | where the eye thou hiddest,
In the wide-renowned | well of Mímir;
Mímir drinks mead | every morning
From Valfather's wage. | Wit ye yet, or what?
The third
root of the Ash stands in heaven; and under that root is the well
which is very holy, that is called the Well of Urdr; there the gods
hold their tribunal [dómstað “doom-stead”]. Each day the Æsir
ride thither up over Bifröst, which is also called the Æsir's
Bridge. These are the names of the Æsir's steeds: Sleipnir is best,
which Odin has; he has eight feet. The second is Gladr, the third
Gyllir, the fourth Glenr, the fifth Skeidbrimir, the sixth
Silfrintoppr, the seventh Sinir, the eighth Gisl, the ninth
Falhófnir, the tenth. Gulltoppr, the eleventh Léttfeti. Baldr's
horse was burnt with him; and Thor walks to the judgment, and wades
those rivers which are called thus:
Körmt and Örmt | and the Kerlaugs twain,
Them shall Thor wade
Every day | when he goes to doom
At Ash Yggdrasill;
For the Æsir's Bridge | burns all with flame,
And the holy waters howl."
Then said
Gangleri: "Does fire burn over Bifröst?" Hárr replied:
"That which thou seest to be red in the bow is burning fire; the
Hill-Giants might go up to heaven, if passage on Bifröst were open
to all those who would cross. There are many fair places in heaven,
and over everything there a godlike watch is kept. A hall stands
there, fair, under the ash by the well, and out of that hall come
three maids, who are called thus: Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld; these maids
determine the period of men's lives: we call them norns; but there
are many norns: those who come to each child that is born, to appoint
his life; these are of the race of the gods, but the second are of
the Elf-people, and the third are of the kindred of the dwarves, as
it is said here:
Most sundered in birth | I say the Norns are;
They claim no common kin:
Some are of Æsir-kin, | some are of Elf-kind,
Some are Dvalinn's daughters."
Then said
Gangleri: "If the Norns determine the weirds of men, then they
apportion exceeding unevenly, seeing that some have a pleasant and
luxurious life, but others have little worldly goods or fame; some
have long life, others short." Hárr said: "Good norns and
of honorable race appoint good life; but those men that suffer evil
fortunes are governed by evil norns."
XVI. Then
said Gangleri: "What more mighty wonders are to be told of the
Ash?" Hárr replied: "Much is to be told of it. An eagle
sits in the limbs of the Ash, and he has understanding of many a
thing; and between his eyes sits the hawk that is called Vedrfölnir.
The squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the length of the
Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr; and four
harts run in the limbs of the Ash and bite the leaves. They are
called thus: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Durathrór. Moreover, so many
serpents are in Hvergelmir with Nídhöggr, that no tongue can tell
them, as is here said:
Ash Yggdrasill | suffers anguish,
More than men know of:
The stag bites above; | on the side it rotteth,
And Nídhöggr gnaws from below.
And it is further said:
More serpents lie | under Yggdrasill's stock
Than every unwise ape can think:
Góinn and Móinn | (they're Grafvitnir's sons),
Grábakr and Grafvölludr;
Ófnir and Sváfnir | I think shall aye
Tear the trunk's twigs.
It is
further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take
water of the well every day, and with it that clay which lies about
the well, and sprinkle it over the Ash, to the end that its limbs
shall not wither nor rot; for that water is so holy that all things
which come there into the well become as white as the film which lies
within the egg-shell,--as is here said:
I know an Ash standing | called Yggdrasill,
A high tree sprinkled | with snow-white clay;
Thence come the dews | in the dale that fall--
It stands ever green | above Urdr's Well.
That
dew which falls from it onto the earth is called by men honey-dew,
and thereon are bees nourished. Two fowls are fed in Urdr's Well:
they are called Swans, and from those fowls has come the race of
birds which is so called."”
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