The Norse (Old Scandinavian) cosmological tradition, preserved chiefly in the Eddas — a
world organised around Yggdrasil, the cosmic world-tree/axis, nine worlds, and a great time-
cycle ending in Ragnarök and renewal. Its contribution to this corpus is a vivid northern
instance of the axis-mundi (the world-tree) and cyclical-time motifs, plus the striking
Valhalla number 432,000.
world organised around Yggdrasil, the cosmic world-tree/axis, nine worlds, and a great time-
cycle ending in Ragnarök and renewal. Its contribution to this corpus is a vivid northern
instance of the axis-mundi (the world-tree) and cyclical-time motifs, plus the striking
Valhalla number 432,000.
Norse cosmology centres on Yggdrasil, the immense ash whose roots and branches bind the
nine worlds and cosmic levels; on a mythic history that runs from creation to the doom and
rebirth of Ragnarök (a cyclic rather than purely linear time); and on numerically-marked
images such as Valhalla's 540 doors × 800 warriors = 432,000 einherjar. The sources are the
*Poetic Edda* and Snorri Sturluson's *Prose Edda* (13th c.), which post-date the pagan period.
Era (prose)
Viking Age (pagan) cosmology; recorded 13th c. CE (Eddas)
Region (prose)
Scandinavia / the Norse world
Evidence
Label
Yggdrasil the world-tree and the nine worlds
Body
The cosmos hangs on Yggdrasil, the world-ash joining the nine worlds and cosmic levels — the
Norse axis mundi.
Citation
*Poetic Edda* — Völuspá and Grímnismál (Yggdrasil, the nine worlds); Snorri
Sturluson, *Prose Edda* (Gylfaginning) — see symbol: Tree of life, concept: Axis mundi.
Source tier
Curation status
Label
Valhalla's 432,000 einherjar (→ number: 432000)
Body
Grímnismál gives Valhalla 540 doors, 800 warriors marching from each at Ragnarök: 540 × 800 =
432,000 — a third independent occurrence of the "Great Year" number.
Citation
*Grímnismál* st. 23 — see number: 432000.
Curation status
Import key
70c685d5b4625e953c9c70632b3f27dc38514d53
Import hash
e4f94c686a9183f7c66481a4482bad88e053b8da