Song of the Day - 22nd April

Today's Song of the Day celebrates a day many of us may be unfamiliar with. 

22nd April is Yggdrasil Day. Yggdrasil is the World Tree in Norse mythology, a great Ash Tree that connects our world to the others, with branches that reach high into the Heavens. The tree is supported by its three great roots and is the place where Gods collectively govern over our world.

Also known in much of the world as the 'Tree of Life', this day is all about celebrating it as the source of life and of the magnificent nature that supports us and the world around us.  It is important to understand our place within the Universe and to spend time appreciating the co-dependency that we have for each other's existence.

You can honour Yggdrasil Day by finding a quiet woodland space. Allow yourself to become immersed with your surroundings and be one with the blessings of nature.

The generally accepted meaning of Old Norse Yggdrasill is "Odin's horse", meaning "gallows". This interpretation comes about because drasill means "horse" and Ygg(r) is one of Odin's many names. The Poetic Edda poem Hávamál describes how Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from a tree, making this tree Odin's gallows.

This song is being beta tested by Blackburn People's Choir.

Yggdrasil, The Tree of Life

By Julie Reilly

In the realm of myths and sagas old

Stands Yggdrasil, a tale oft told

Its roots, like serpents, deeply twine,

A cosmic tree of life divine.

In Niflheim's frost, its roots extend,

Where icy waters' whispers blend.

To Hel's abode, they downward creep,

Where spirits rest in endless sleep.

In Midgard's realm, where mortals dwell,

Its branches high, in stories tell.

A link between the realms, this tree

This symbol of our destiny.

In Asgard's heights, it holds the sky,

With leaves that whisper, secrets lie.

The well of wisdom 'neath its shade,

Where Odin's eye is there displayed.

In Vanaheim's lush, fertile land,

Its boughs with nature's gifts expand.

A tree of life, robust and wise,

Under its shade, all realms arise.

In Ragnarök's fiery final stand,

Yggdrasil falls, the end at hand,

But from its roots, new life will rise,

In the cycle of the northern skies.

In realms untamed, through time it stands,

Yggdrasil's fate in cosmic hands.

The tree of life, immense and grand,

In Norse myth, forever shall stand.