The World Tree

Everything that exists hangs on one colossal ash tree — Yggdrasil, whose branches spread over the sky and whose three roots reach the gods, the giants, and the dead. Nine worlds rest in it, joined by the burning rainbow bridge Bifrost. Beneath one root, Odin pays an eye for a drink of wisdom; beneath another, the dragon Nidhogg chews forever. And beside the well of fate sit the three Norns — Has-Been, Becoming, and Shall-Be — carving destinies that not even the gods can appeal.