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God of War Ragnarok continues Kratos and Atreus’s journey through the Nine Realms as they face the consequences of killing Baldur. The death of the god prompted the Norse apocalyptic event called Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods.

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There are several prominent characters that serve important roles, but there’s one that is overlooked. Yggdrasil the World Tree supports the universe and all of the Nine Realms; Kratos travels to each of the realms by running across its branches. We take a look at the history of Yggdrasil and what role it plays in Ragnarok.

Odin’s Horse

The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine

Yggdrasil is described as being a giant green ash tree with branches that connect to all the Nine Realms. The name of the tree is a combination of two words: Yggr and drasill. The former is another name for Odin and the latter means horse in a symbolic way, translating Yggdrasil into Odin’s Horse.

Odin made many sacrifices to obtain hidden knowledge and one of those acts involved hanging himself from Yggdrasil. He hung for nine days and nights in order to gain knowledge of other worlds and learn how to understand runes.

Yggdrasil’s Roots

The World Tree has three roots that extend into Niflheim, Jotunheim, and Asgard and have special wells next to each one of them. The well located far beneath Niflheim in the underworld is called Hvergelmir or Roaring Kettle. It’s said that the first living being was created from this well.

The great dragon Nidhogg spends most of his time gnawing on the root until he hears the Hellhound Garmr approaching. When that happens, Nidhogg will fly to the entrance of Hel and feast on corpses until Garmr leaves. While Nidhogg chews on the root, he’s often ridiculed by insults from Ratatoskr.

Kratos meets this squirrel outside of Sindri’s house, and the rodent asks the Spartan to help him with a variety of tasks.

Urdrarbrunnr is the Well of Fate and is located in Asgard. The well is maintained by the Norns, three sisters who can closely predict future events. The Norns draw water from the well, as well as moist soil around it, and pour it over the root to keep the tree healthy. Without the Norns caring for Yggdrasil, the tree would rot and destroy the realms.

The Well of Fate is also the location where the gods and goddesses conduct daily meetings and cast judgment.

Jotunnheim is home to the third well Mimisbrunnr, otherwise called Mimir’s Well. Mimir’s Well is a magical source of wisdom where many have paid a heavy price to obtain knowledge. Odin sought knowledge from the well and Mimir allowed him to drink in exchange for his right eye. Mimir drinks from the well himself using a drinking horn called Gjallarhorn. The horn shares the same name as Heimdall’s which will signal Ragnarok.

Surviving Ragnarok

Illustration by Oluf Olufsen Bagge from Northern Antiquities

Although Ragnarok means the Doom of the Gods, that doesn’t necessarily include Yggdrasil. The World Tree managed to survive Ragnarok in some capacity despite the majority of the Norse pantheon meeting their ends.

When Ragnarok arrives, it’s said that Yggdrasil will tremble, causing mountains and trees to collapse. The shockwaves cause the chain that held Fenrir capture to break, allowing the wolf to escape. When Surtr struck his weapon into Asgard, the fires of Muspelheim spread throughout the tree and consumes the Nine Realms.

In God of War Ragnarok, Surtr only destroyed Asgard and Yggdrasil survived and allowed Kratos and Freya to continue traveling to the other realms.

Even though Yggdrasil suffered significant damage and several gods perished in Ragnarok, new life emerged from the World Tree. The two survivors, Lif and Lifhrasir, found shelter among woods called Hoddmimir. The name is similar to Mimir, implying that the woods could be an indication that Yggdrasil was reborn in the aftermath of Ragnarok.

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