Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds
More Info...
After being frequently asked questions about specific aspects of my art, I have decided to include an explanation of the thought process behind my bigger pieces. Below is a brief explanation covering some of the details included in "Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds", but is by no means all of them.
Revisionist History
This was the first of my attempts to portray some the aspects of Norse mythology. I was compelled to update my version of Yggdrasil, the "World Tree", after reading more and more of the source material and realising the amount of detail that I had not included, and some details I had included in error. My second attempt can be found in the piece "Runestone of Memory".
World Tree
This piece aims to capture the idea of the world tree using the limited knowledge I had at the time of old Norse sources such as the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and Codex Regius. After further research into the topic, there were a number of details (or lack thereof) which I regretted in the drawing. This prompted my second attempt.
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The main regret of this piece is actually the layout/shape. After tens of hours, I had completed the outside rectangular border, but looking back at it, this really should have been a square.
The other error I realised after completion of the artwork was that I had included symbols that are well known for specifically NOT being of old Norse origin. This is the "vegvisir" (shown right).
I used these symbols to represent each of the Nine Worlds (with the centre of the sigil being used as the ninth, for Midgard).
I only learned later (from angry forum posters) that this sigil seems to originate from the Icelandic "Huld"(or Dark) manuscript dated at around 1860. Compared to the likes of the Codex Regius which precedes this by just under 600 years.
DETAILS
A brief list of some of the details included (going from top to bottom):​
Odin's Ravens
Stylised design of Huginn and Muninn, the two ravens of Odin looking over the world tree. They are flanked by sun and moon designs.
Four Stags
I included the four stags (Dainn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, and Durathror) which were thought to inhabitat the tree, pruning back the leaves, branches, and bark. They are represented as being a part of the tree itself as intertwining branches.
Ratatoskr
In the same style as the four stags, the squirrel is like a branch in itself. Ratatoskr carries messages between top and bottom of the tree.
Valknut
A symbol of three interlocking triangles present on various stones and inscriptions from the old Germanic peoples. It is thought to represent Odin.
Three Pools
The three roots of the world tree emerge from three wells. In this piece, I placed the wells at ground level which does not reflect the descriptions in some of the sources, in which they are described as being in various worlds (see "Runestone of Memory")
Serpent
Wrapping around the bottom of the tree is Nidhoggr, the serpent, or dragon, which chews at the roots.
Wolves
Stylised wolves in the bottom border (mirroring the sun and moon above) represent Skoll and Hati, the wolves that chase the sun and moon.
Borders/Decoration
The outside border and other decoration depicted here are based on medieval English art. This was included to show the Christian influence on the heathens, and the Viking influence on the English.
