World tree: Encyclopedia - World tree

World tree

In certain Indo-European religions there was a belief in a world tree, such as Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, an Oak in Slavic mythology and in Hinduism, a banyan tree.

Although the concept is absent from the Greek mythology, medieval Greek folk traditions and more recent ones claim that the Tree that holds the Earth is shewn by goblins (Kallikantzaroi).

A World Tree (Wacah Chan) also appears in the Maya religion as the axis mundi. It connects the Middleworld of man, with Xibalba (Otherworld) and the heavens (Schele & Friedle, 1990).

There is a extensive book on the world tree and the axis mundi tracing all possible mythological sources and meeting scientific demands: Santillana, Giorgo de / Dechend, Hertha von: Hamlet's Mill. Gambit, Boston 1969

World tree - In popular culture

The "world tree" appears in the Warcraft series of computer games from Blizzard Entertainment - particularly in the games Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

World Tree is also the name of a anthropomorphic role-playing game by Bard Bloom - see World Tree at WikiFur.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "World tree", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki