| Yggdrasil (World Tree) apparently had smaller counterparts as the enormous evergreen of unknown species that stood at the Temple at Uppsala and Irminsul, which was an oak venerated by the pagan Saxons and which was said to connect heaven and earth. The Old Norse form of Irmin was Jörmun and interestingly, just like Ygg, it was one of Odin's names. Irminsul may have been representing a world tree corresponding to Yggdrasil among the pagan Saxons. An explanation for the World Tree myth that the Cirrus clouds – to a ground standing observer appearing to be virtually stationary on the sky – was imagined to be the branches of a gigantic tree, turned seemingly pale the same way that far away mountains do. Accordingly, rain was held to be the dew dropping from the World Tree. Other patron trees such as Thor's Oak appearing in surviving accounts (8th century) and Ahmad ibn Fadlan's account of his encounter with the Scandinavian Rus tribe in the early 10th century, describing them as tattooed from "fingernails to neck" with dark blue "tree patterns." |  |
The Tree of Life, in the Book of Genesis, is a tree in the "New Jerusalem" whose "fruit" gives everlasting life, i.e. immortality. After eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the biblical account states, Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden of Eden. Other apparent parallels between Norse Mythology and Christianity:
The Norns (Old Norse: norn, plural: nornir) of Norse mythology are three dísirs by the names of Urd (the past), Verdandi (the being) and Skuld (what is to come). (Skuld was also the name of a Valkyrie.) Tree of Life connecting the Heavens and the Earth (Yggdrasill), a slaying and resurrection (Baldr) and an apocalyptic battle at Armageddon (Ragnarok- the Æsir, led by Odin).
Ragnarök
is one between order (the gods) and chaos (the giants). These two events also
differ in that after Ragnarök, both sides are ultimately decimated by one
of three Norns which are otherwise to the valkyries or minor female deities. The
Rök Runestone (In Swedish Rökstenen) (Ög 136) is the most famous
of rune stones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone and was
probably carved in the 800s. However, valkyrie horse was a kenning for wolf (Rök
Stone), so contrary to the stereotype, they did not ride winged horses as the
valkyries are sometimes depicted as beautiful shieldmaidens on winged horses,
armed with helmets and spears. Cognate forms include the Old English "wælcyrige"
and the German "Walküre." theodoric strophe is written in three rows in the
stone with a version of the younger futhark where the Hreidgoths
mentioned are a poetic name for the Ostrogoths.
According to the old English Deor (The Lament of Deor) poem from the 900s, Theodoric
ruled the "castle of the Mærings" (Ravenna) for thirty years. From the 10th
century it is preserved in the Exeter Book.
The Battle of the Brávellir or the Battle
of Bråvalla was a legendary battle that took place in the 8th century
on the Brávellir between
Sigurd Ring, king of Sweden and
the Geats of West Götaland,
and Harald Wartooth, king
of Denmark and the Geats of East Götaland. This battle is said to have taken
place in the mid 8th century to which the Rök Stone relates. Harald had inherited
Sweden from his maternal grandfather Ivar Vidfamne, but ruled Denmark and East
Götaland, whereas his subordinate king Sigurd Ring was the ruler of Sweden
and West Götaland. For comparison with the 3000 Swedish ships, the leidang
fleets of the Scandinavian kingdoms numbered around 300 ships each during the
Viking Age. Harald was joined by the legendary heroes Ubbe of Friesland, Uvle
Brede, Are the One-eyed, Dag the Fat, Hroi Whitebeard and Hothbrodd the indomitable
as well was 300 shieldmaidens led by Hed, Visna and Hedborg. The 200,000 warriors
met at Bråvalla, and when the kings had sacrificed to Odin the battle commenced.
Sigurd won the battle and became the sovereign ruler of all of Sweden and Denmark.
The book of Revelation or The Apocalypse of John or as the book is- The Revelation
of Jesus Christ ... unto his servant John. Traditional views held that John the
Apostle — considered to have written the Gospel and epistles by the same name
— was exiled on Patmos off the coast of southwest Turkey during the reign of Emperor
Domitian, and that he wrote the Revelation there. Although the traditional
view still has many adherences, many modern scholars believe that John the Apostle,
John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos refer to three separate individuals. The
Gospel uses amno, Revelation uses arnion.
Located on the southern end
of the island of Bahrain is a solitary tree. This tree is also known as the tree
of life. In Aztec legend, there is a tree of life, which is the Tule tree. The
Tule tree exists in modern times, and is thought to be the single largest biomass
on the planet. To Milton, Eve was once again a villain. To Byron, she was a hero
once more. To some followers of Kabbala, the tree is a concealed version of the
Kabalistic tree, and the apples are the nodes of the Sephiroth. Beith,
Old
Irish Beithe means "birch-tree, " Luis, Old Irish Luis is either related
to luise "blaze" or lus "herb". The arboreal tradition has caertheand 'rowan,
' Fearn, Old Irish Fern means "alder-tree",
Primitive Irish *werna, so that the original value of the letter was [w]. Sail,
Old Irish Sail means "willow-tree", cognate to Latin salix. Nion, Old Irish Nin
means either "fork" or "loft". The arboreal tradition has uinnius "ash-tree".
Uath, Old Irish Úath means úath "horror, fear", the arboreal tradition
has "white-thorn".
Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages. Another possiblility would be 4th century Irish colonies in Wales who came into contact with the Latin alphabet. Ogham is sometimes referred to as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet." Monumental Ogham inscriptions are found in Ireland, Wales, and the Isle of Man, with a few additional specimens found in England, Scotland and Shetland. Use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to have flowered in the 5th–6th centuries around the Irish Sea.
In Ireland and in Wales, the language of
the inscriptions this period is termed Primitive
Irish. The transition to Old Irish, the language of the earliest sources in
the Latin alphabet, takes place in about the 6th century. Since Ogham inscriptions
consist almost exclusively of personal names, linguistic information that may
be glimpsed from the Primitive Irish period is mostly restricted to phonological
developments. Roughly 380 inscriptions are known in total is very close to the
number of known inscriptions in the contemporary Elder
Futhark. The highest concentration by far is found in the southwestern Irish
province of Munster. One third of the total are found in Co Kerry alone. Ogham
text is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward,
across the top and down the right-hand side in the case of long inscriptions.
Major Northumbrian dialects
are Geordie, Mackem, Pitmatic, Tyke and Scouse. Due to the roots of Northumbrian
dialects, it is often said that visitors from Scandinavian countries often find
it much easier to understand the English of Northumbria than the rest of the country.
Apart from standard English, Northumbria has a series of closely related but distinctive
dialects, descended from the early Germanic languages of the Angles and Vikings,
and of the Celtic Romano-British tribes. The Picts, Gaels and many Britons were
freed from Northumbrian overlordship. Southern Ireland accepts Roman order of
Christianity in 636 after Augustine met with the Welsh bishops. Early Northumbrian
is regarded as the forerunner of the Scots Language, which was called Ynglis
as late as the early 16th century. (Until the end of the 15th century the
name Scots (or Scottis) referred to Scottish Gaelic). There are many similarities
between modern Scots (Ynglis) dialects and those of Northumbria.