In the branches of the big ash tree lived a queer family
of creatures. First, there was a great eagle, who was wiser than any
bird that ever lived--except the two ravens, Thought and Memory, who sat
upon Father Odin's shoulders and told him the secrets which they learned
in their flight over the wide world. Near the great eagle perched a
hawk, and four antlered deer browsed among the buds of Yggdrasil. At
the foot of the tree coiled a huge serpent, who was always gnawing
hungrily at its roots, with a whole colony of little snakes to keep him
company--so many that they could never be counted. The eagle at the top
of the tree and the serpent at its foot were enemies, always saying hard
things of each other. Between the two skipped up and down a little
squirrel, a tale bearer and a gossip, who repeated each unkind remark
and, like the malicious neighbour that he was, kept their quarrel ever
fresh and green.
In one place at the roots of Yggdrasil was a fair fountain called the
Urdar-well, where the three Norn maidens, who knew the past, present,
and future, dwelt with their pets, the two white swans. This was magic
water in the fountain, which the Norns sprinkled every day upon the
giant tree to keep it green--water so sacred that everything which
entered it became white as the film of an eggshell. Close beside this
sacred well the AEsir had their council hall, to which they galloped
every morning over the rainbow bridge.
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