THE THREE NORNS lived at the foot of an enormous ash, tree which grew right from the middle of the earth. It was so tall that its top touched the vault of the sky; its branches stretched out over all the earth, and its huge roots went down to the deepest depth. The dew that dripped from its evergreen leaves made flowers spring up all over Midgard, the earth. As long as the ash tree stood, the world of the Aesir would last, for it was Yggdrasil, the world tree.
On the topmost branch of Yggdrasil an eagle sat and fanned the air with his wings, making the leaves rustle as if they were breathing. With his sharp eyes he scanned the four corners of the world, and a little bright-eyed hawk perched on his beak, helping him to keep watch.
While the eagle was guarding Yggdrasil, a dreadful dragon lay far underground in dismal Niflheim, gnawing away at its roots. It was Nidhogg, the dragon of destruction, trying to destroy the world tree. Ratatosk, a busybody squirrel, scampered up and down the tree, carrying abuse back and forth between the eagle and the dragon.
Many creatures made their homes in the tree and it suffered much damage. Worms bored holes in its bark, deer nibbled at its foliage, and all the birds in the world built their nests from its twigs. Still the world tree thrived, because the three Norns cared for it. At the foot of the tree there was a sacred pool with snow-white swans swimming on it. Every morning the three Norns scooped water from the pool and sprinkled it upon the tree. This water was so magic and so pure that it healed all of Yggdrasil’s wounds.
As the population on earth had increased, so had the godly population. Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur had taken for their wives many beautiful jotun maidens who had made them the fathers of strong young gods and lovely goddesses. Odin himself was the father of nine of the great new gods. They were Thor, Balder, and Hod, Tyr, Heimdall and Bragi, Hermod, Vidar and Vali.
They were all high and holy, but Odin came to be first among the Aesir. To gain greater power, he hanged himself on Yggdrasil’s windswept branches, Odin sacrificed to Odin. For nine nights and nine days he hung. there suffering in silence, staring at the twig-strewn ground without closing an eye.
On the ninth night he saw that the twigs that dropped from Yggdrasil fell into shapes which spelled out words and symbols. Thus he discovered the magic of the runic letters, which he would share with the Aesir and wise men on earth. Whoever could master the runic alphabet and carve the magic letters on wood or stone possessed great powers. Through reading and writing men could now send their words to others who were far away. They could even share their thoughts with those who were not yet born.
But the runes were dangerous, too; there were evil symbols that witches and sorcerers sometimes used to put a spell on a man or on his cattle.
When Odin came down from Yggdrasil, he was the AU-father, the father of Aesir and men, wisest of them all. His two brothers, Hoenir and Lodur, with whom he had created the world of the Aesir, faded into the background to make more room for him. And all the other Aesir turned to him for advice just as children turn to their father.
From then on Yggdrasil was Odin’s sacred tree. The sacrifices made to him were hung from its branches, and it was at the foot of the great tree that he gathered the other Aesir around him every morning. There they sat in council and loudly debated what was just or unjust, and decided the course of Asgard and earth. Everyone had his say, and when a matter of great importance was debated, even the Asynjer, the goddesses, were called in.
When the council was over they mounted their horses and rode up , the shimmering rainbow bridge to Asgard, their home, above the clouds. Flimsy as the rainbow bridge looked, it was the strongest of all bridges. The Aesir had made it with great care to keep the frost giants away, for the red in it was glowing fire that burned the icy feet of jotuns and trolls.