World Tree
<p >The <b>world tree</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif(narrative)" title="Motif (narrative)" >motif</a> present in several religions and mythologies, particularly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_religion" title="Indo-European religion" class="mw-redirect" >Indo-European religions</a>, Siberian religions, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_religion" title="Native American religion" >Native American religions</a>. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven" title="Heaven" >heavens</a>, thereby connecting the heavens, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World(theology)" title="World (theology)" >world</a>, and, through its roots, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underworld" title="Underworld" >underworld</a>. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life" title="Tree of life" >tree of life</a>.
Specific world trees include <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_tree_(Hungarian)" title="World tree (Hungarian)" >világfa</a></i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_mythology" title="Hungarian mythology" >Hungarian mythology</a>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yggdrasil" title="Yggdrasil" >Yggdrasil</a></i> (or <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminsul" title="Irminsul" >Irminsul</a></i>) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_mythology" title="Germanic mythology" >Germanic</a> (including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology" title="Norse mythology" >Norse</a>)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology" title="Mythology" >mythology</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak" title="Oak" >Oak</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_mythology" title="Slavic mythology" >Slavic</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_mythology" title="Finnish mythology" >Finnish mythology</a>, and in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu" title="Hindu" >Hindu</a> mythology the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashvattha" title="Ashvattha" >Ashvattha</a></i> (a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Fig" title="Sacred Fig" class="mw-redirect" >Sacred Fig</a>).</p>
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<img src="/ed506fe2-368b-507c-96fb-df0672703b84.jpg"/></p>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yggdrasil" title="Yggdrasil" >Yggdrasil</a>, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree.</p>
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