Poetry: Yggdrasil, Tree of Life

The word for “Equal Writes” in Belgrave for May was “Tree of Life”, so I settled on a Norse theme for it.

Yggdrasil – the Norse “tree of life”

Yggdrasil, noblest of trees, stands tall.
Branches spreading above the heavens,
three roots below to take the weight,
of an ash tree covering nine worlds.

The eagle above and the wyrm below,
a mutual hatred old and worn,
kept alive by squirrel Ratatoskr,
relayer of insults and slander.

Asgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim,
Gods, Giants and the land of Hel,
three lands connected by three roots,
of a tree rooted in imagination.

By Asgards root three Norns stand,
“Past”, “Present” and “Future” in our tongue
weaving the threads of life,
forever deciding all fate.

Odin, spear pierced all father,
hanging nine long nights upon the tree,
sacrificed to himself,
for wisdom, for literacy, for runes.

And then the end comes and Ragnarok rages,
Yggdrasil shudders and groans,
Gods die, the world burns and sinks.
Two survivors only emerge,
from this literal tree of life.