As I will make abundantly clear in every article I write which focuses on mythology and religion, I want to ensure that you the reader have a substantial understanding of the etymology, the origin of the terms used within our religion, before we begin to piece together the myths themselves, as without the correct tools, one cannot possibly build the structure that they wish to. Here are a lit of etymologies of terms we will need in this article:

Óðinn: Willpower/Spirit, or more accurately “will in action/will in movement”. The word Óð means the soul.

Daïn: Death or deep sleep
Bölþorn: meaning “thorn of misfortune” is the maternal grandfather of Óðinn.
Asviđr: From As, meaning spirit, and vidr, meaning “forest”, “tree” or “woodland”.

Some “scholars” have suggested that the the brother of Bestla whom Ódinn learns from is Mimir, Odinn’s bodyless uncle who lives at the bottom of Yggdrasil. However, the idea that the brother of Bestla whom Óðinn learns from could be Mimir is ridiculous when a basic study of the genealogy is employed. Mimir is the brother of Borr, Óðinn’s father, and thus is Óðinn’s uncle on his father’s side, so how then could he also be Óðinn’s uncle on his mother’s side? This hypothesis is completely nonsensical.

Though subject to change, it is my personal hypothesis that since the name Bestla comes from the word “bark” and that the bark is the daughter of the thorn, Óðinn (the spirit) learns nine important lessons from nature itself, and also drinks the mead known as Óðroerir, “soul stirrer”, which I hypothesise to refer to breast milk drank in the younger years when the spirit returns to life.

Throughout his life, the speaker bears spiritual fruit and blossoms like the tree that he learnt from, symbolised by Bölþorn. All human beings, at least in pagan times, were encourage to think of themselves as a tree, continually growing and branching out into new direction and bearing fruit for the nourishment of others. “Word following word”, IE learning from the words of others, the speaker wrought words of his own, “deed following deed”, IE learning from the actions of others, the speaker learns action.

Stanza 141 commands the reader to seek out secrets and hidden signs in order to improve their knowledge throughout life. 

In Stanza 142, as I will continually keep making extremely clear, utilisation of the etymology to find the root concepts behind the scripture again becomes extremely important, as well as a prior readjng of the material I wrote in article 10 about the chakras, Kundalini and Yggdrasil. 

One of the words for dwarf in Norse is svartalf, meaning dark elf. They live in Svartalfheimr near the bottom of Yggdrasil, meaning at a basic level of human consciousness, unlike the white elves, the dark elves/dwarves are ugly, swarthy and decrepid and are continually fixated with riches; the proto-Germanic root word *dweurg is hypothesises to mean “deceivers” and indeed sleep disturbances in the middle ages were often attributed to the behaviours of dwarves.

Freyja with the dwarves, the astral Untermenschen. In Norse mythology, dwarves are nearly always portrayed negatively, the idea of dwarves as having overly positive characteristics was more or less invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, who although portraying them as stubborn and rude, portrayed them as reliable, strong and courageous, traits not attributed in the original myths.

I don’t wish to elaborate on the racialist aspects of heathenry in this article but will cover it in depth in future as it will become tangential.

So, as understanding the different realms on Yggdrasil/in life not merely as the placenta but as realms of consciousness, the dwarves symbolise those who live on a lower level of self actualisation, with the elves and Vanir displaying good levels of righteousness, and the Æsir being completely righteous living in Asgard/enlightenment.

The runes (synonymous with the Gunas, spiritual properties in Hinduism) that the soul learns are taken from each of the realms of consciousness or from each race of beings, symbolising that throughout life we acquire both virtues and weaknesses. From the dwarves, the metaphysical Untermenschen, comes Dvalin, which translates as an inability or unwillingness to act, an aimless inactivity. Although the runes/skill provided by inactivity/Dvalin are not in of themselves negative, they are of a much poorer spiritual quality than the others but are still gifts. From the elves, who are mostly virtuous, Óđinn is granted runes by Daïn, which translates as restfulness/sleep or even death, or at the very must subtle it ought to mean a state in which one feels dead but is not. 

The gift of sleep is considered good, and why should it not be? Have you ever had a dream that gave you new ideas, jnspiration or expanded the way that you think, IE your consciousness? We all have and so did our ancestors who wrote Havamal. 

Finally, the Jötunn Ásviðr provides Óðinn with knowledge; it is quite possibly the same giant that is Bestla’s uncle from earlier in the poem whom Óðinn learns songs from. Again, we must delve into the etymology. Ás, singular of God or spirit, and viðr, which means forest. The greatest gifts of knowledge that the soul received were the gifts of the spirit of the forest, which is interesting, as Jotunheimir, the realm of the giants, is to be found on the same level of Yggdrasil as Svartalfheim, which may warrant a deeper dissection of the metaphysics in later articles. 

To finish, the author grants that he has in his life carved runes of his own for the sons of men, which we all should,and I hope I am doing now.

Additional subliminal meanings (to be expanded in later articles):

As we touched upon in Article 9, the tree Yggdrasil is likely also, as well as symbolising the placenta, an elegant metaphor for the Kundalini, the electromagnetic system that dictates human thought and emotion. One can be said to move further up the tree (tree of knowledge) as one approaches enlightenment and purity (the word Elf coming from *altaz, meaning white or pure).

Logically speaking, for an individual to hang themselves from a tree they must first reach the top of this tree, IE complete enlightenment and purity, which is symbolised through Asgard. To complete the process of reaching the very top of the tree, Odin, the will and power of the spirit must be sacrificed, meaning symbolically that enlightenment is attained through the death of the spirit or the Óð.

Óðinn is more or less synonymous with the Hindu concept of Prana, and the Germanic word for willpower and life force was Óð.

The World Tree in other religious traditions:

Norse paganism is not the only pre-Christian tradition to utilise the symbolism of the world tree as a representation of planes of consciousness within the Universe/Brahman. It is also found within Hinduism as the holy fig tree Asvattha:

Yama while instructing Naciketa describes the eternal Asvattha tree with its root upwards and branches downwards, which is the pure immortal Brahman, in which all these worlds are situated, and beyond which there is nothing else (Katha Upanishad Verse II.vi.1):

Katha Upanishad, sixth Valli, verse 1:

This ancient Aswattha tree has its root above and branches below. That is pure, That is Brahman, That alone is called the Immortal. All the worlds rest in That. None goes beyond That. This verily is That. This verse indicates the origin of the tree of creation (the Samsara–Vriksha), which is rooted above in Brahman, the Supreme, and sends its branches downward into the phenomenal world. Heat and cold, pleasure and pain, birth and death, and all the shifting conditions of the mortal realm–these are the branches; but the origin of the tree, the Brahman, is eternally pure, unchanging, free and deathless. From the highest angelic form to the minutest atom, all created things have their origin in Him. He is the foundation of the universe. There is nothing beyond Him.

Krishna tells us that the Asvattha tree having neither end nor beginning nor stationariness whatsoever has its roots upwards and branches downwards whose branches are nourished by the Gunas and whose infinite roots spread in the form of action in the human world which though strong are to be cut off by the forceful weapon of detachment to seek the celestial abode from which there is no return:

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 15, verse 1 to 4:

Hungarian religion:

In Hungarian shamanism, the tree Égig érő fa. The Égig érő fa is the tree which contains nine realms which can only be accessed by the shamans

The Hungarian religion is also the foundation of the “Princess in the Tower” fairy-tale stories that all European children have grown up on. In the original tales, which were devised thousands of years ago, the princess was in actuality held captive by a dragon in a tree, not a tower. As we understand from comparative mythology, the symbolism of the snake or dragon is found all over, including in the Jewish myth of the Garden of Eden, in which Eve is also tempted by a dragon/snake in a tree.

Therefore, it is easy to see that the dragon that lives within the world tree and kidnaps the princess is symbolic of unrighteousness and sin, and that the world tree can represent the various ways in which that human spirit can express itself and branch out in numerous directions.

The Tree within paganism: Infinite interpretation and significance

If one fails to understand the significance of a symbolic interpretation of pre-Christian religion, that person has failed to attain any knowledge from the myths, runes and texts. By all means, you can continue to believe either that Odin is not real in that his essence is insignificant, or that Odin is real, in that he physically exists or even that he exists as a distinctive consciousness; both of these conclusions are incorrect, and herein lies the wisdom of paganism, which lies within the subtlety of interpretation and understanding, and within a careful study of the riddles set forward by our ancestors in the distant past.

There is so much significance behind the tree itself that it warrants the writing of an entire tome, something I intend to do when time and sufficient understanding permits me to do so. The symbolism of the tree can be found everywhere in nature, from the branched-shaped veins which carry the life fluid (blood) around our vessel of consciousness to the “family tree” which for each of us comprises our origin and history, and the lives (genes) that have lived before in the body of our ancestors, which ties in with the philosophy of Oðalism advocated by the venerable Varg Vikernes, who I owe much to in my personal journey.

For an excellent and thorough article purely on the significance of the tree itself, and anything and everything the tree religiously symbolizes, please take the time to read this excellent article on Jungian Genealogy: https://jungiangenealogy.weebly.com/cosmic-tree.html

If you have an interesting and unique interpretatation of the significance of Yggdrasil within paganism or in fact any trees, I would be fascinated to hear from you in the comments below. I will continue writing if you continue reading.

Stay strong, stay righteous, stay holy, stay Óðinn.

Óðinn á yðr alla! Sieg heil zum Óðinn!