Norse Mythology: Odin's Runesong

Odin ( from Old Norse Óðinn), is considered the chief god in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon W?den and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *W??inaz or *W??anaz.

The name Odin is generally accepted as the modern translation; although, in some cases, older translations of his name may be used or preferred. His name is related to ?ðr, meaning "fury, excitation", besides "mind", or "poetry". His role, like many of the Norse gods, is complex. He is associated with wisdom, war, battle, and death, and also magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt.

Category: File - :The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.jpg|thumb|"The Ash Yggdrasil" (1886) by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil (from Old Norse Yggdrasill ; generally considered to mean "Ygg's (Odin's) horse") is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, and an unnamed eagle, and the wyrm Níðhöggr. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasill, the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr, and the sacred tree at Uppsala.

Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.

Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda.

Norse mythology is the best-preserved version of wider Germanic paganism, which also includes the closely related Anglo-Saxon and Continental varieties. Germanic mythology can be shown to preserve certain aspects attributed to common Indo-European mythology.

Norse mythology has its roots in Proto-Norse Iron Age Scandinavian prehistory. It flourishes during the Viking Age and following the Christianization of Scandinavia during the High Middle Ages passed into Scandinavian folklore, some aspects surviving to the modern day.

The mythology from the Romanticist Viking revival came to be an influence on modern literature and popular culture.