View source for World tree

{{Short description|Motif in many mythologies and religions}}
{{About|the religious and mythological motif|other uses|World Tree (disambiguation)}}
[[File:yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|right|250px| From ''Northern Antiquities'', an English translation of the [[Prose Edda]] from 1847. Painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge.]]

The '''world tree''' is a [[Motif (narrative)|motif]] present in several religions and mythologies, particularly [[Indo-European religion|Indo-European]], Siberian, and [[Native American religion]]s. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the [[heaven]]s, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the [[underworld]]. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the [[tree of life]], but it is the source of wisdom of the ages.

Specific world trees include ''[[Égig érő fa]]'' in [[Hungarian mythology]], ''Ağaç Ana'' in [[Turkic mythology]], ''Kenac' Car''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Farnah : Indo-Iranian and Indo-European studies in honor of Sasha Lubotsky.|date=2018|others=Lucien van Beek, Alwin Kloekhorst, Guus Kroonen, Michaël Peyrot, Tijmen Pronk, Michile de Vaan|publisher=Beech Stave Press|isbn=978-0-9895142-4-8|location=Ann Arbor|oclc=1104878206}}{{page needed|date=August 2022}}</ref> in [[Armenian mythology]], ''Modun'' in [[Mongol mythology]], ''[[Yggdrasil]]'' in [[Norse mythology]], ''[[Irminsul]]'' in [[Germanic mythology|Germanic]] mythology, the [[oak]] in [[Slavic paganism|Slavic]], [[Finnish mythology|Finnish]] and [[Baltic mythology|Baltic]], ''Jianmu'' ({{Lang-zh|c=建木|p=jiànmù}}) in [[Chinese mythology]], and in [[Hindu mythology]] the ''[[Ashvattha]]'' (a ''[[Ficus religiosa]]'').

==General description==
=== Diffusion ===
Scholarship states that many [[Eurasia]]n mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and Serpent Tree".<ref name=Annus2009>{{cite journal|last1=Annus|first1=Amar|title=Review Article. The Folk-Tales of Iraq and the Literary Traditions of Ancient Mesopotamia|journal=Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions|date=2009|volume=9|issue=1|pages=87–99|doi=10.1163/156921209X449170}}</ref> More specifically, it shows up in "Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore".<ref name=Crews2003>{{cite journal|last1=Crews|first1=Judith|title=Forest and tree symbolism in folklore|journal=Unasylva|date=2003|issue=213|pages=37–43|url=https://www.fao.org/3/y9882e/y9882e08.htm|oclc=210755951}}</ref>

=== Tripartite division of the world ===
The World Tree is often identified with the ''Tree of Life'',<ref name=Lintrop2001>{{cite journal|last1=Lintrop|first1=Aado|title=The Great Oak and Brother-Sister|journal=Folklore|date=2001|volume=16|pages=35–58|doi=10.7592/FEJF2001.16.oak2|doi-access=free}}</ref> and also fulfills the role of an ''[[axis mundi]]'', that is, a centre or axis of the world.<ref name="Toporov 1990 46–63 48">{{cite journal |last=Toporov |first=V. |author-link=Vladimir Toporov |title=The Thracian Horseman in an Indo-European Perspective |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=772269 |journal=ORPHEUS. Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies |volume=18 |date=1990 |pages=46–63 [48]}}</ref><ref name=Crews2003/> It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos.<ref name="lituanistika.lt">Senkutė, Loreta. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/45631 Varuna "Rigvedoje" ir dievo įvaizdžio sąsajos su velniu baltų mitologijoje]" [God Varuna o f the Rigveda as related to images in ancient Baltic mythology]. In: ''Rytai-Vakarai: Komparatyvistinés Studijos XII''. pp. 366–367. {{ISBN|9789955868552}}.</ref> According to Loreta Senkute, each part of the tree corresponds to one of the three spheres of the world (treetops – heavens; trunk – middle world or earth; roots – underworld) and is also associated with a classical element (top part – [[fire]]; middle part – [[earth]], soil, ground; bottom part – [[water]]).<ref name="lituanistika.lt"/>

Its branches are said to reach the skies and its roots to connect the human or earthly world with an underworld or subterranean realm. Because of this, the tree was worshipped as a mediator between Heavens and Earth.<ref>Usačiovaitė, Elvyra. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/5648 Gyvybės medžio simbolika Rytuose ir Vakaruose]" [Symbolism of the Tree of Life in the East and the West; Life tree symbols in the East and West]. In: ''Kultūrologija'' [Culturology]. 2005, t. 12, p. 313. {{ISSN|1822-2242}}.</ref> On the treetops are located the luminaries ([[star]]s) and heavenly bodies,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Toporov |first=V. |author-link=Vladimir Toporov |title=The Thracian Horseman in an Indo-European Perspective |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=772269 |journal=ORPHEUS. Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies |volume=18 |date=1990 |pages=46–63 [48] |quote=The ''top'' [of the World Tree] is correlated ... with celestial and astral symbols: the Sun and the Moon, usually placed symmetrically above the tree, on the right and on the left, less frequently stars.}}</ref> along with an eagle's nest; several species of birds perch among its branches; humans and animals of every kind live under its branches, and near the root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles.<ref name="Straižys, Vytautas 1997">{{cite journal|last1=Straižys|first1=Vytautas|last2=Klimka|first2=Libertas|title=The Cosmology of the Ancient Balts|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|date=February 1997|volume=28|issue=22|pages=S57–S81|doi=10.1177/002182869702802207|s2cid=117470993}}</ref><ref name=Kuperjanov2002>{{cite journal|last1=Kuperjanov|first1=Andres|title=Names in Estonian Folk Astronomy - from 'Bird's Way' to 'Milky Way'|journal=Folklore|date=2002|volume=22|pages=49–61|doi=10.7592/FEJF2002.22.milkyway|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Motifs ===
The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Paliga|first1=Rodica|title=Le motif du passage. La sémiotique de l'impact culturel pré-indoeuropéen et indoeuropéen|journal=Dialogues d'histoire ancienne|date=1994|volume=20|issue=2|pages=11–19|doi=10.3406/dha.1994.2172|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/dha_0755-7256_1994_num_20_2_2172.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Lintrop2001/> As George Lechler also pointed out, in some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree.<ref name="The Tree of Life in Indo-European a">{{cite journal|last1=Lechler|first1=George|title=The Tree of Life in Indo-European and Islamic Cultures|journal=Ars Islamica|date=1937|volume=4|pages=369–419|jstor=25167048}}</ref>

==== Zoological imagery ====
According to [[Vladimir Toporov]], animal species are commonly distributed along the parts of the tree: between its roots, figure "chthonic animals", such as snakes and frogs, but he also mentions [[aquatic animals]] such as otters, beavers, and fishes, as well as dragons; the middle part of the tree is reserved for hoofed animals such as deer or elk (sometimes bees), and on the topmost part perches the "principal" bird, or a pair of birds sat on either side of the tree crown.<ref name="Toporov 1990 46–63 48"/>

A bird perches atop its foliage, "often .... a winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm.<ref name="Annus, Amar 2015. pp. 289-290">Annus, Amar & Sarv, Mari. "The Ball Game Motif in the Gilgamesh Tradition and International Folklore". In: ''Mesopotamia in the Ancient World: Impact, Continuities, Parallels. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of the Melammu Project Held in Obergurgl, Austria, November 4–8, 2013''. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH. 2015. pp. 289–290. {{ISBN|978-3-86835-128-6}}.</ref><ref name=Lintrop2001/> The [[eagle]] seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity.<ref name=Norelius2016>{{cite journal|last1=Norelius|first1=Per-Johan|title=The Honey-Eating Birds and the Tree of Life: Notes on Ṛgveda 1.164.20–22|journal=Acta Orientalia|date=2016|volume=77|pages=3–70–3–70|doi=10.5617/ao.5356|s2cid=166166930|doi-access=free}}</ref> Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld".<ref name="Annus, Amar 2015. pp. 289-290"/><ref name=Lintrop2001/>

===Similar motifs===
The World Tree has also been compared to a World Pillar that appears in other traditions and functions as separator between the earth and the skies, upholding the latter.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199680795.003.0009|chapter=What is a 'World Tree', and Should We Expect to Find One Growing in Anglo-Saxon England?|title=Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World|year=2013|last1=Tolley|first1=Clive|pages=177–185|isbn=978-0-19-968079-5}}</ref> Another representation akin to the World Tree is a separate World Mountain. However, in some stories, the world tree is located atop the world mountain, in a combination of both motifs.<ref name="lituanistika.lt"/>

A conflict between a serpentine creature and a giant bird (an eagle) occurs in Eurasian mythologies: a hero kills the serpent that menaces a nest of little birds, and their mother repays the favor – a motif comparativist Julien d'Huy dates to the Paleolithic. A parallel story is attested in the traditions of the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], where the [[Thunderbird (mythology)|thunderbird]] is slotted into the role of the giant bird whose nest is menaced by a "snake-like water monster".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=d'Huy|first1=Julien|title=Première reconstruction statistique d'un rituel paléolithique : autour du motif du dragon|journal=Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée|date=18 March 2016|issue=3|pages=http://nouvellemythologiecomparee.hautetfort.com/archive/2016/03/18/julien|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01452430/|language=fr}}</ref><ref>Hatt, Gudmund (1949). ''[http://publ.royalacademy.dk/books/248/1508?lang=da Asiatic influences in American folklore]''. København: I kommission hos ejnar Munksgaard, p. 37.</ref>

===Relation to shamanism===
Romanian historian of religion, [[Mircea Eliade]], in his monumental work ''[[Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy]]'', suggested that the world tree was an important element in [[shamanism|shamanistic]] worldview.<ref name=Fournet2020>{{cite journal|last1=Fournet|first1=Arnaud|title=Shamanism in Indo-European Mythologies|journal=Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies|date=2020|volume=8|issue=1|pages=12–29|url=https://aaatec.org/documents/article/fournetar2.pdf}}</ref> Also, according to him, "the giant bird ... hatches shamans in the branches of the World Tree".<ref name=Fournet2020/> Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates the presence of the motif in [[Altaic shamanism]].<ref name="Knutsen Cultic Symbols">{{cite book|doi=10.1163/9789004218024_007|chapter=Cultic Symbols|title=Tengu|year=2011|pages=43–50|isbn=978-1-906876-22-7|first1=Roald|last1=Knutsen}}</ref> Representations of the world tree are reported to be portrayed in [[drum]]s used in Siberian shamanistic practices.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hultkrantz|first1=Åke|title=The drum in Shamanism: some reflections|journal=[[Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis]]|date=1991|volume=14|doi=10.30674/scripta.67194|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Some species of birds ([[eagle]], [[raven]], [[Crane (bird)|crane]], [[loon]], and [[lark]]) are revered as mediators between worlds and also connected to the imagery of the world tree.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Balzer|first1=Marjorie Mandelstam|title=Flights of the Sacred: Symbolism and Theory in Siberian Shamanism|journal=American Anthropologist|date=1996|volume=98|issue=2|pages=305–318|doi=10.1525/aa.1996.98.2.02a00070|jstor=682889}}</ref> Another line of scholarship points to a "recurring theme" of the [[owl]] as the mediator to the upper realm, and its counterpart, the snake, as the mediator to the lower regions of the cosmos.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eastham|first1=Anne|title=Magdalenians and Snowy Owls ; bones recovered at the grotte de Bourrouilla (Arancou, Pyrénées Atlantiques)/Les Magdaléniens et la chouette harfang : la Grotte de Bourrouilla, Arancou (Pyrénées Atlantiques)|journal=Paléo|date=1998|volume=10|issue=1|pages=95–107|doi=10.3406/pal.1998.1131|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/pal_1145-3370_1998_num_10_1_1131.pdf}}</ref>

Researcher Kristen Pearson mentions Northern Eurasian and Central Asian traditions wherein the World Tree is also associated with the [[horse]] and with [[deer antlers]] (which might resemble tree branches).<ref>Pearson, Kristen. ''[http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp269_horse_myths.pdf Chasing the Shaman's Steed: The Horse in Myth from Central Asia to Scandinavia]''. Sino-Platonic Papers nr. 269. May, 2017.</ref>

===Possible origins===
Mircea Eliade proposed that the typical imagery of the world tree (bird at the top, snake at the root) "is presumably of Oriental origin".<ref name=Fournet2020/> Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates a possible origin of the motif in [[Central Asia]] and later diffusion into other regions and cultures.<ref name="Knutsen Cultic Symbols"/>

==In specific cultures==
===Indigenous American cultures===
{{Main|Mesoamerican world tree}}
* Among [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous]] [[Mesoamerica]]n cultures, the concept of "world trees" is a prevalent motif in Mesoamerican cosmologies and iconography. The [[Temple of the Cross Complex]] at [[Palenque]] contains one of the most studied examples of the world tree in architectural motifs of all Mayan ruins. World trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic ''[[axis mundi]]'' connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.{{sfn|Miller|Taube|1993|p=186}}
* Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and traditions of cultures such as the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Aztec]], [[Izapa]]n, [[Mixtec]], [[Olmec]], and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of [[Mesoamerican chronology]]. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as, or represented by, a [[ceiba]] tree, called ''yax imix che'' ('blue-green tree of abundance') by the Book of [[Chilam Balam]] of Chumayel.<ref>Roys 1967: 100.</ref> The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright [[caiman]], whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.{{sfn|Miller|Taube|1993|p=186}} These depictions could also show birds perched atop the trees.<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010">{{cite journal|last1=Knowlton|first1=Timothy W.|last2=Vail|first2=Gabrielle|title=Hybrid Cosmologies in Mesoamerica: A Reevaluation of the Yax Cheel Cab , a Maya World Tree|journal=Ethnohistory|date=1 October 2010|volume=57|issue=4|pages=709–739|doi=10.1215/00141801-2010-042|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* A similarly named tree, ''yax cheel cab'' ('first tree of the world'), was reported by 17th-century priest Andrés de Avendaño to have been worshipped by the [[Itza people|Itzá]] [[Mayan people|Maya]]. However, scholarship suggests that this worship derives from some form of cultural interaction between "pre-Hispanic iconography and [millenary] practices" and European traditions brought by the Hispanic colonization.<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010"/>
* Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in [[Mesoamerican calendars]], and the directional colors and deities. [[Mesoamerican codices]] which have this association outlined include the [[Dresden Codex|Dresden]], [[Codex Borgia|Borgia]] and [[Codex Fejérváry-Mayer|Fejérváry-Mayer]] [[codex|codices]].<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010"/> It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.
* World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of the underworld).
* The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the [[Milky Way]].<ref>Freidel, ''et al.'' (1993){{full citation needed|date=August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Izapa Stela 5]] contains a possible representation of a world tree.

A common theme in most indigenous cultures of the Americas is a concept of directionality (the horizontal and vertical planes), with the vertical dimension often being represented by a world tree. Some scholars have argued that the religious importance of the horizontal and vertical dimensions in many [[animist]] cultures may derive from the human body and the position it occupies in the world as it perceives the surrounding living world. Many Indigenous cultures of the Americas have similar cosmologies regarding the directionality and the world tree, however the type of tree representing the world tree depends on the surrounding environment. For many Indigenous American peoples located in more temperate regions for example, it is the [[spruce]] rather than the ceiba that is the world tree; however the idea of cosmic directions combined with a concept of a tree uniting the directional planes is similar.

===Greek mythology===
Like in many other [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Indo-European cultures]], one tree species was considered the World Tree in some cosmogonical accounts.

====Oak tree====
The [[sacred tree]] of [[Zeus]] is the oak,<ref name="Philpot">{{cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm|first=Mrs. J.H.|last=Philpot|title=The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth|publisher=MacMillan & Co.|place=London|year=1897}}</ref> and the one at [[Dodona]] (famous for the cultic worship of Zeus and the oak) was said by later tradition to have its roots furrow so deep as to reach the confines of Tartarus.<ref>Philpot, Mrs. J. H. (1897). ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm#c5 The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth]''. London: MacMillan & Co. pp. 93–94.</ref>

In a different cosmogonic account presented by [[Pherecydes of Syros#Reconstruction|Pherecydes of Syros]], male deity ''Zas'' (identified as [[Zeus]]) marries female divinity ''Chthonie'' (associated with the earth and later called Gê/[[Gaia]]), and from their marriage sprouts an oak tree. This oak tree connects the heavens above and its roots grew into the Earth, to reach the depths of [[Tartarus]]. This oak tree is considered by scholarship to symbolize a cosmic tree, uniting three spheres: underworld, terrestrial and celestial.<ref>Marmoz, Julien. "La Cosmogonie de Phérécyde de Syros". In: ''Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée'' n. 5 (2019–2020). pp. 5–41.</ref>

====Other trees====
Besides the oak, several other [[Trees in mythology|sacred trees]] existed in [[Greek mythology]]. For instance, the [[olive]], named [[Moria (tree)|Moriai]], was the world tree and associated with the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian goddess]] [[Athena]].

In a separate Greek myth the [[Hesperides]] live beneath an [[apple tree]] with [[golden apple]]s that was given to the highest Olympian goddess [[Hera]] by the primal [[Mother goddess]] [[Gaia]] at Hera's marriage to Zeus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hesperides-Greek-mythology|title=Hesperides|series=Greek mythology|encyclopedia=Britannica online}}</ref> The tree stands in the [[Hesperides#The Garden of the Hesperides|Garden of the Hesperides]] and is guarded by [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]], a dragon. [[Heracles]] defeats Ladon and snatches the golden apples.

In the epic quest for the [[Golden Fleece]] of ''[[Argonautica]]'', the object of the quest is found in the realm of [[Colchis]], hanging on a tree guarded by a never-sleeping dragon (the [[Dragons in Greek mythology#The Colchian dragon|Colchian dragon]]).<ref>Godwin, William. ''[https://archive.org/details/livesnecromance04godwgoog/page/n63/mode/2up Lives of the Necromancers]''. London: F. J. Mason, 1876. p. 41.</ref> In a version of the story provided by Pseudo-Apollodorus in ''Bibliotheca'', the Golden Fleece was affixed by King [[Aeetes]] to an oak tree in a grove dedicated to war god [[Ares]].<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus. ''[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D1 Bibliotheca]'' 1.9.1. Translation by Sir James George Frazer.</ref> This information is repeated in [[Valerius Flaccus (poet)|Valerius Flaccus]]'s ''Argonautica''.<ref>Valerius Flaccus. ''[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.261.xml Argonautica]''. Translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Book V. Lines 228ff.</ref> In the same passage of Valerius Flaccus' work, King Aeetes prays to Ares for a sign and suddenly a "serpent gliding from the Caucasus mountains" appears and coils around the grove as to protect it.<ref>Valerius Flaccus. ''[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.263.xml Argonautica]''. Translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Book V. Lines 241 and 253ff.</ref>

===Roman mythology===
In [[Roman mythology]] the world tree was the [[Olive branch#Ancient Greece and Rome|olive tree]], that was associated with [[Pax (goddess)|Pax]]. The Greek equivalent of ''Pax'' is [[Eirene (goddess)|Eirene]], one of the [[Horae]]. The Sacred tree of the Roman [[Sky father]] [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] was the [[oak]], the [[Laurus nobilis|laurel]] was the Sacred tree of [[Apollo]]. The ancient [[Ficus Ruminalis|fig-tree]] in the [[Comitium]] at Rome, was considered as a descendant of the very tree under which [[Romulus and Remus]] were found.<ref name="Philpot"/>

===Norse mythology===
In [[Norse mythology]], [[Yggdrasil]] is the world tree.<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/> Yggdrasil is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense [[Fraxinus excelsior|ash tree]] that is central and considered very holy. The [[Æsir]] go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations: one to the well [[Urðarbrunnr]] in the heavens, one to the spring [[Hvergelmir]], and another to the well [[Mímisbrunnr]]. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the [[Deer|hart]]s [[Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór]], the giant in eagle-shape [[Hræsvelgr]], the squirrel [[Ratatoskr]] and the [[Norse dragon|wyrm]] [[Níðhöggr]]. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name ''Yggdrasil'', the potential relation to the trees [[Mímameiðr]] and [[Læraðr]], and the [[sacred tree at Uppsala]].

===Circumbaltic mythology===

In [[Baltic mythology|Baltic]], [[Slavic paganism|Slavic]] and [[Finnish mythology|Finnish]] mythology, the world tree is usually an [[oak]].<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/>{{efn|Lithuanian scholar Libertas Klimka ([[:lt:Libertas Klimka|lt]]) indicated that the oak was considered a sacred tree to pre-Christian Baltic religion, including being a tree associated to thunder god Perkunas.<ref>Klimka, Libertas. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/37316 Medžių mitologizavimas tradicinėje lietuvių kultūroje]" [Mythicization of the tree in Lithuanian folk culture]. In: ''Acta humanitarica universitatis Saulensis'' [Acta humanit. univ. Saulensis (Online)]. 2011, t. 13, pp. 22–25. {{ISSN|1822-7309}}.</ref>}} Most of the images of the world tree are preserved on ancient ornaments. Often on the Baltic and Slavic patterns there was an image of an inverted tree, "growing with its roots up, and branches going into the ground".

{{anchor|Aušros medis|Austras koks}}

====Baltic beliefs====
Scholarship recognizes that Baltic beliefs about a World Tree, located at the central part of the Earth, follow a tripartite division of the cosmos (underworld, earth, sky), each part corresponding to a part of the tree (root, trunk, branches).<ref>Čepienė, Irena. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/59891 Kai kurie mitinės pasaulėkūros aspektai lietuvių tradicinėje kultūroje]" [Certain aspects of mythical world building in Lithuanian traditional culture]. In: ''Geografija ir edukacija'' [Geography and education]. 2014, Nr. 2, p. 57. {{ISSN|2351-6453}}.</ref><ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178">Běťáková, Marta Eva; [[Václav Blažek|Blažek, Václav]]. ''Encyklopedie baltské mytologie''. Praha: Libri. 2012. p. 178. {{ISBN|978-80-7277-505-7}}.</ref>

It has been suggested that the word for "tree" in [[Baltic languages]] ([[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''medis''; in [[Latvian language|Latvian]] "tree" is ''koks'', but "forest" is ''mežs''), both derived from [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''*medh-'' 'middle', operated a semantic shift from "middle" possibly due to the belief of the ''Arbor Mundi''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kalygin|first1=Victor|title=Some archaic elements of Celtic cosmology|journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie|date=30 January 2003|volume=53|issue=1|doi=10.1515/ZCPH.2003.70|s2cid=162904613}}</ref>

=====Lithuanian culture=====
The world tree ({{langx|lt|Aušros medis}}) is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters.<ref>Straižys and Klimka, chapter 2.</ref><ref>[http://www.lithuanian.net/mitai/cosmos/baltai2.htm Cosmology of the Ancient Balts – 3. The concept of the World-Tree] (from the 'lithuanian.net' website. Accessed 2008-12-26.)</ref><ref>Klimka, Libertas. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/86027 Baltiškasis Pasaulio modelis ir kalendorius]" [Baltic Model of the World and Calendar]. In: ''LIETUVA iki MINDAUGO''. 2003. p. 341. {{ISBN|9986-571-89-8}}.</ref> According to Lithuanian scholars Prane Dunduliene and [[Norbertas Vėlius]], the World Tree is "a powerful tree with widespread branches and strong roots, reaching deep into the earth". The recurrent imagery is also present in Lithuanian myth: on the treetops, the luminaries and eagles, and further down, amidst its roots, the dwelling place of snakes and reptiles.<ref name="Straižys, Vytautas 1997"/> The World Tree of Lithuanian tradition was sometimes identified as an oak or a [[maple tree]].<ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178"/>

=====Latvian culture=====
In [[Latvian mythology]] the world tree ({{langx|lv|Austras koks}}) was one of the most important beliefs, also associated with the birth of the world. Sometimes it was identified as an oak or a [[birch]], or even replaced by a wooden pole.<ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178"/> According to Ludvigs Adamovičs's book on Latvian folk belief, ancient Latvian mythology attested the existence of a Sun Tree as an expression of the World Tree, often described as "a birch tree with three leaves or forked branches where the Sun, the  Moon, God, Laima, Auseklis (the morning star), or the daughter of the Sun rest[ed]".<ref name=Kencis2011>{{cite journal|last1=Ķencis|first1=Toms|title=The Latvian Mythological Space in Scholarly Time|journal=Archaeologia Baltica|date=20 September 2011|volume=15|pages=144–157|doi=10.15181/ab.v15i1.28}}</ref>

====Slavic beliefs====

[[File:Dolmatov World tree.png|thumb|Old Russian ornament of the world tree]]

According to Slavic folklore, as reconstructed by [[Radoslav Katičić]], the draconic or serpentine character furrows near a body of water, and the bird that lives on the treetop could be an eagle, a falcon or a nightingale.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Šmitek|first1=Zmago|title=The Image of the Real World and the World Beyond in the Slovene Folk TraditionPodoba sveta in onstranstva v slovenskem ljudskem izročilu|journal=Studia mythologica Slavica|date=5 May 2015|volume=2|pages=161|doi=10.3986/sms.v2i0.1848|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Scholars Ivanov and Toporov offered a reconstructed Slavic variant of the Indo-European myth about a [[Proto-Indo-European mythology#Serpent-slaying myth|battle between a Thunder God and a snake-like adversary]]. In their proposed reconstruction, the Snake lives under the World Tree, sleeping on black wool. They surmise this snake on black wool is a reference to a cattle god, known in [[Slavic mythology]] as [[Veles (god)|Veles]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eckert|first1=Rainer|title=On the Cult of the Snake in Ancient Baltic and Slavic Tradition (based on language material from the Latvian folksongs)|journal=Zeitschrift für Slawistik|date=January 1998|volume=43|issue=1|doi=10.1524/slaw.1998.43.1.94|s2cid=171032008}}</ref>

Further studies show that the usual tree that appears in Slavic folklore is an oak: for instance, in [[Czech language|Czech]], it is known as ''Veledub'' ('The Great Oak').<ref>Hudec, Ivan. ''Mýty a báje starých Slovanů''. [s.l.]: Slovart, 2004. S. 1994. {{ISBN|80-7145-111-8}}. (in Czech)</ref>

In addition, the world tree appears in the Island of [[Buyan]], on top of a stone. Another description shows that legendary birds [[Sirin]] and [[Alkonost]] make their nests on separate sides of the tree.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gerasimenko|first1=I. A.|last2=Dmutrieva|first2=J. L.|title=The Image of the World Tree in the Aspect of Russian Linguistic Culture|journal=Russian Language Studies|date=15 December 2015|issue=4|pages=16–22|url=https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-language-studies/article/view/13509}}</ref>

Ukrainian scholarship points to the existence of the motif in "archaic wintertime songs and carols": their texts attest a tree at the center of the world and two or three falcons or pigeons sat on its top, ready to dive in and fetch mud to create land (the ''[[Earth diver]]'' cosmogonic motif).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Goshchytska|first=Tеtyana|title=The tree symbol in world mythologies and the mythology of the world tree (іllustrated by the example of the ukrainian Carpathians traditional culture)|journal=The Ethnology Notebooks|date=21 June 2019|volume=147|issue=3|pages=622–640|doi=10.15407/nz2019.03.622|s2cid=197854947}}</ref><ref>Szyjewski, Andrzej (2003). ''Religia Słowian''. Krakow: Wydawnictwo WAM. pp. 36-37. {{ISBN|83-7318-205-5}}. (in Polish)</ref>

The imagery of the world tree also appears in folk medicine of the [[Don Cossacks]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Karpun|first1=Mariia|title=Representations of the World Tree in traditional culture of Don Cossacks|journal=Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski|date=30 November 2018|volume=9|issue=2|pages=115–122|doi=10.31648/pw.3088|s2cid=216841139|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Finnic mythology====

According to scholar [[Aado Lintrop]], [[Estonian mythology]] records two types of world tree in Estonian runic songs, with similar characteristics of being an oak and having a bird at the top, a snake at the roots and the stars amongst its branches.<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/>

===Judeo-Christian mythology===

[[File:Lucas Cranach (I) - Adam and Eve-Paradise - Kunsthistorisches Museum - Detail Tree of Knowledge.jpg|thumb|upright|The Tree of Knowledge depicted, with [[Adam and Eve]], where the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of life]] is described as part of the [[Garden of Eden]] in the Hebrew bible.]]

The [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil]] and the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of life]] are both components of the [[Garden of Eden]] story in the [[Book of Genesis]] in the [[Bible]]. According to [[Jewish mythology]], in the [[Garden of Eden]] there is a tree of life or the "tree of souls" that blossoms and produces new [[souls]], which fall into the [[Guf]], the ''Treasury of Souls''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dRi8v-j7OMC&pg=PA153|title=Origins of the Kabbalah|via=Google Books|access-date=2014-05-01|df=dmy-all|isbn=0691020477|year=1990|last1=Scholem|first1=Gershom Gerhard|publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> The Angel [[Gabriel]] reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then [[Lailah]], the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/95135842/224/THE-TREASURY-OF-SOULS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030044612/http://www.scribd.com/doc/95135842/224/THE-TREASURY-OF-SOULS|archive-date=2012-10-30|df=dmy-all|title=The Treasury of Souls for Tree of Souls|series=The Mythology of Judaism|website=Scribd|url-status=dead|access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref>

===Islam===
A tree that is grown in the depth of hell is mentioned in the Quran, Surrat As-Saffat (64), called Zaqqum tree, zaqqum literllary means "poisonous food" or "poisonous nourishment".

"Is this bliss a better accommodation or the tree of Zaqqum (62) We have surely made it a test for the wrongdoers (63) Indeed, it is a tree that grows in the depths of Hell (64) bearing fruit like devils’ heads (65)"

===Gnosticism===
According to the [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] codex [[On the Origin of the World]], the tree of immortal life is in the north of [[paradise]], which is outside the circuit of the Sun and Moon in the luxuriant Earth. Its height is so great it reaches Heaven. Its leaves are described as resembling [[cypress]], the color of the tree is like the Sun, its fruit is like clusters of white grapes and its branches are beautiful. The tree will provide life for the innocent during the [[Eschatology|consummation of the age]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=On the Origin of the World|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/origin-Barnstone.html|date=2009|access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref>

[[List of Mandaean texts|Mandaean scrolls]] often include abstract illustrations of world trees that represent the living, interconnected nature of the cosmos.<ref name="Nasoraia 2021">{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}</ref> In [[Mandaeism]], the [[date palm]] ([[Mandaic language|Mandaic]]: {{Transliteration|myz|sindirka}}) symbolizes the cosmic tree and is often associated with the cosmic wellspring ([[Mandaic language|Mandaic]]: {{Transliteration|myz|aina}}). The date palm and wellspring are often mentioned together as heavenly symbols in [[Mandaean texts]]. The date palm takes on masculine symbolism, while the wellspring takes on feminine symbolism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha|title=The Mandaean Rivers Scroll (Diwan Nahrawatha): an analysis|publisher=Routledge|publication-place=London|year=2022|isbn=978-0-367-33544-1|oclc=1295213206|url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Mandaean-Rivers-Scroll-Diwan-Nahrawatha-An-Analysis/Nasoraia/p/book/9780367335441}}</ref>

===Armenian mythology===
Armenian professor Hrach Martirosyan argues for the presence, in [[Armenian mythology]], of a serpentine creature named ''Andndayin ōj'', that lives in the (abyssal) waters that circundate the World Tree.<ref>Martirosyan, Hrach (2018). "[https://www.academia.edu/37814326/Armenian_Andndayin_%C5%8Dj_and_Vedic_%C3%81hi_Budhny%C3%A0_Abyssal_Serpent_In_Farnah_Indo_Iranian_and_Indo_European_studies_in_honor_of_Sasha_Lubotsky_ed_by_L_van_Beek_A_Kloekhorst_G_Kroonen_M_Peyrot_T_Pronk_M_de_Vaan_Ann_Arbor_New_York_Beech_Stave_Press_191_197 Armenian Andndayin ōj and Vedic Áhi- Budhnyà- "Abyssal Serpent""]. In: ''Farnah: Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Studies''. pp. 191–197.</ref>

===Georgian mythology===
According to scholarship, [[Georgian mythology]] also attests a rivalry between mythical bird Paskunji, which lives in the underworld on the top of a tree, and a snake that menaces its nestlings.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1515/9783112320860-018|chapter=Religious Beliefs of the Caucasian Society of the Early Iron Age (According to Archaeological Evidence)|title=Gesellschaft und Kultur im alten Vorderasien|year=1982|pages=127–136|isbn=9783112309674}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.14428/babelao.vol2.2013.19913|title=About Georgian Fairytales|year=2013|last1=Gogiashvili|first1=Elene|journal=Bulletin de l'Académie Belge pour l'Étude des Langues Anciennes et Orientales|pages=159–171|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>Gogiashvili, Elene (2009). ფრინველისა და გველის ბრძოლის მითოლოგემა უძველეს გრაფიკულ გამოსახულებასა და ზეპირსიტყვიერებაში [The Myth about a Conflict Between a Bird and a Snake on the Old Graphics and in Folklore]. In: სჯანი [Sjani] nr. 10, pp. 146–156. (in Georgian)</ref>

=== Hittite culture ===
A similar imagery is attested in [[Hittite mythology and religion|Hittite literature]]: a snake encircles the base of a tree, an eagle perches atop it, and a bee occupies its middle,<ref>Ünal, Ahmet. "[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/216415011.pdf Parts of Trees in Hittite According to a Medical Incantation Text (KUB 43, 62)]". In: ''Hittite and Other Anatolian and Near Eastern Studies in Honour of Sedat Alp [Sedat Alp Festschrift]''. Heinrich Otten, Ekrem Akurgal, Hayri Ertem, Aygül Süel (eds.). Ankara: TÜRK TARlH KURUMU BASIMEVl, 1992. p. 496.</ref><ref>Collins, B. J. (2002). "Animals in Hittite Literature". In: ''A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 244–245. {{doi|10.1163/9789047400912_008}}</ref> which [[Craig Melchert]] considers to be a version of the "world tree" or "tree of life" motif.<ref>Melchert, H. Craig. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=RtMSrGe8MY0C&dq=%22world+tree%22+hittite&pg=PA285 Hittite antaka- "loins" and an Overlooked Myth about Fire]". In: ''Hittite Studies in Honor of Harry A. Hoffner Jr. on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday''. Edited by Gary Beckman, Richard H. Beal and Gregory McMahon. University Park, US: Penn State University Press, 2003. pp. 284–285. {{doi|10.1515/9781575065434-025}}.</ref>

=== Mesopotamian traditions ===
==== Sumerian culture ====
Professor Amar Annus states that, although the motif seems to originate much earlier, its first attestation in world culture occurred in [[Sumerian literature]], with the tale of "[[Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld]]".<ref name=Annus2009/> According to this tale, goddess Innana transplants the [[Inanna#The huluppu tree|''huluppu'' tree]] to her garden in the City of Uruk, for she intends to use its wood to carve a throne. However, a snake "with no charm", a ghostly figure ([[Lilith]] or [[Lilu (mythology)|another character]] associated with darkness) and the legendary [[Anzû]]-bird make their residence on the tree, until Gilgamesh kills the serpent and the other residents escape.<ref name=Annus2009/><ref name=Lintrop2001/>

==== Akkadian literature ====
In fragments of the story of [[Etana]], there is a narrative sequence about a snake and an eagle that live on opposite sides of a poplar tree (''şarbatu''), the snake on its roots, the eagle on its foliage. At a certain point, both animals swear before deity [[Shamash]] and share their meat with each other, until the eagle's hatchlings are born and the eagle decides to eat the snake's young ones. In revenge, the snake alerts god Shamash, who agrees to let the snake punish the eagle for the perceived affront. Later, Shamash takes pity on the bird's condition and sets hero Etana to release it from its punishment. Later versions of the story associate the eagle with mythical bird [[Anzû]] and the snake with a serpentine being named [[Bašmu]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Winitzer|first=Abraham|title=Etana in Eden: New Light on the Mesopotamian and Biblical Tales in Their Semitic Context|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=133|date=2013|pages=444–445|doi=10.7817/JAMERORIESOCI.133.3.0441}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Valk|first=Jonathan|date=2021|title=The Eagle and the Snake, or Anzû and bašmu? Another Mythological Dimension in the Epic of Etana|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=140|issue=4|pages=889–900|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.140.4.0889|s2cid=230537775}}.</ref>

===Iranian mythology===
[[File:A rhyton from Marlik, Iran, 1000 BC.jpg|thumb|upright|Two winged bulls are guarding a sacred tree, on a rhyton from [[Marlik]], Iran, currently at the [[National Museum of Iran]]]]

A world tree is a common motif in [[Persian mythology]], the legendary bird [[Simurgh]] (alternatively, ''Saēna bird''; ''Sēnmurw'' and ''Senmurv'') perches atop a tree in the center of the sea [[Vourukasha|Vourukasa]]. This tree is described as having all-healing properties and many seeds.<ref>Rose, Jenny (2019). "[https://oxfordre.com/classics/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8150 Near Eastern and Old Iranian myths]". In: ''Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics''. {{doi|10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8150}}</ref> In another account, the tree is the very same ''tree of the White Hōm'' (Haōma).<ref>Schmidt, Hanns-Peter (2002). "[https://iranicaonline.org/articles/simorg Simorgh]". In: ''[[Encyclopedia Iranica]]''.</ref> ''[[Gaokerena]]'' or white [[Haoma]] is a tree whose vivacity ensures continued life in the universe,<ref>Philpot, Mrs. J. H. (1897). ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm#c5 The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth]''. London: MacMillan & Co. pp. 123–124.</ref> and grants immortality to "all who eat from it". In the [[Pahlavi language|Pahlavi]] [[Bundahishn]], it is said that evil god [[Ahriman]] created a lizard to attack the tree.<ref name=Norelius2016/>

''Bas tokhmak'' is another remedial tree; it retains all herbal seeds and destroys sorrow.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_36319.html|title=Plant of life in Ancient Iran, Mesopotamia, and Egypt|date=2013|place=Tehran|journal=Honarhay-e Ziba Journal|volume=18|issue=2|page=15|last=Taheri|first=Sadreddin}}</ref>

===Hinduism and Indian religions===
Remnants are also evident in the [[Kalpavriksha]] ("wish-fulfilling tree") and the [[Ashvattha]] tree of the [[Indian religions]]. The ''Ashvattha'' tree ('keeper of horses') is described as a [[sacred fig]] and corresponds to "the most typical representation of the world
tree in India", upon whose branches the celestial bodies rest.<ref name=Lintrop2001/><ref name=Norelius2016/> Likewise, the Kalpavriksha is also equated with a fig tree and said to possess wish-granting abilities.<ref name="The Tree of Life in Indo-European a"/>

Indologist [[David Dean Shulman]] provided the description of a similar imagery that appears in [[South India]]n [[Dravidian architecture|temples]]: the ''[[Sthala Vriksha|sthalavṛkṣa]]'' tree. The tree is depicted alongside a water source (river, temple tank, sea). The tree may also appear rooted on Earth or reaching the realm of [[Patala]] (a netherworld where the [[Nāga]] dwell), or in an inverted position, rooted in the Heavens. Like other accounts, this tree may also function as an ''axis mundi''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shulman|first1=David|title=Murukan, the mango and Ekāmbareśvara-Śiva: Fragments of a Tamil creation myth?|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|date=1 January 1979|volume=21|issue=1|pages=27–40|doi=<!-- gone -->|jstor=24653474|s2cid=189767945}}</ref>

===North Asian and Siberian cultures===
The world tree is also represented in the mythologies and [[folklore]] of [[North Asia]] and [[Siberia]]. According to Mihály Hoppál, Hungarian scholar Vilmos Diószegi located some motifs related to the world tree in [[Siberian shamanism]] and other [[North Asian]] peoples. As per Diószegi's research, the "bird-peaked" tree holds the sun and the moon, and the underworld is "a land of snakes, lizards and frogs".<ref>M. Hoppál. "Shamanism and the Belief System of the Ancient Hungarians". In: ''Ethnographica et folkloristica carpathica'' 11 (1999): 59.</ref>

In the mythology of the [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyeds]], the world tree connects different realities (underworld, this world, upper world) together. In their mythology the world tree is also the symbol of [[Mother Nature|Mother Earth]] who is said to give the Samoyed [[Shamanism|shaman]] his drum and also help him travel from one world to another. According to scholar Aado Lintrop, the [[larch]] is "often regarded" by [[Siberian peoples]] as the World Tree.<ref name=Lintrop2001/>

Scholar Aado Lintrop also noted the resemblance between an account of the World Tree from the [[Yakuts]] and a [[Mokshas|Moksha-Mordvinic]] folk song (described as a great [[birch]]).<ref name=Lintrop2001/>

The imagery of the world tree, its roots burrowing underground, its branches reaching upward, the luminaries in its branches is also present in the mythology of [[Finno-Ugric peoples]] from Northern Asia, such as the [[Khanty]] and the [[Mansi people|Mansi]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sanjuán|first1=Oscar Abenójar|title=El abedul de hojas doradas: representaciones y funciones del " Axis Mundi" en el folclore finougrio|journal=Liburna|date=2009|issue=2|pages=13–24|url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3643195}}</ref>

===Mongolic and Turkic folk beliefs===
The symbol of the world tree is also common in [[Tengrism]], an ancient religion of [[Mongols]] and [[Turkic peoples]]. The world tree is sometimes a [[beech]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-03|title=The Tree Of Life In Turkic Communities With Its Current Effects|url=https://ulukayin.org/the-tree-of-life-in-turkic-communities-with-its-current-effects/|access-date=2022-05-11|website=ULUKAYIN|language=en-US}}</ref> a [[birch]], or a poplar in epic works.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lyailya|first1=Kaliakbarova|title=Spatial Orientations of Nomads' Lifestyle and Culture|journal=Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities|date=6 May 2018|volume=10|issue=2|doi=10.21659/rupkatha.v10n2.03|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Scholarship points out the presence of the motif in Central Asian and North Eurasian epic tradition: a world tree named Bai-Terek in Altai and Kyrgyz epics; a "sacred tree with nine branches" in the Buryat epic.<ref name=Pavlova2018>{{cite journal|last1=Pavlova|first1=Olga Ksenofontovna|title=Mythological Image in Olonkho of the North-Eastern Yakut Tradition: Sacred Tree|journal=Journal of History Culture and Art Research|date=30 September 2018|volume=7|issue=3|pages=79|doi=10.7596/taksad.v7i3.1720|s2cid=135257248|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Turkic cultures====
=====''Bai-Terek''=====
The ''Bai-Terek'' (also known as ''bayterek'', ''beyterek'', ''beğterek'', ''begterek'', ''begtereg''),<ref name=Dochu2017>{{cite journal|last1=Dochu|first1=Alina|title=Turkic etymological background of the English bird name terek ' Tringa cinereus '|journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|date=December 2017|volume=70|issue=4|pages=479–483|doi=10.1556/062.2017.70.4.6|s2cid=134741505|url=http://real.mtak.hu/71283/1/062.2017.70.4.6.pdf}}</ref> found, for instance, in the Altai ''Maadai Kara'' epos, can be translated as "Golden [[Populus|Poplar]]".<ref name="himalayanresearch.org">Zhernosenko, I. A.; Rogozina, I. V. "[http://www.himalayanresearch.org/pdf/Vol18%20Nos3-4.pdf WORLDVIEW AND MENTALITY OF ALTAI'S INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS]". In: ''Himalayan and Central Asian Studies''; New Delhi Vol. 18, Ed. 3/4 (Jul–Dec 2014): 111.</ref> Like the mythological description, each part of tree (top, trunk and root) corresponds to the three layers of reality: heavenly, earthly and underground. In one description, it is considered the ''axis mundi''. It holds at the top "a nest of a double-headed eagle that watches over the different parts of the world" and, in the form of a snake, [[Erlik]], deity of the underworld, tries to slither up the tree to steal an egg from the nest.<ref name=Dochu2017/> In another, the tree holds two gold cuckoos at the topmost branches and two golden eagles just below. At the roots there are two dogs that guard the passage between the underworld and the world of the living.<ref name="himalayanresearch.org"/>

=====''Aal Luuk Mas''=====

Among the [[Yakut people|Yakuts]], the world tree (or sacred tree) is called ''Ál Lúk Mas'' (Aal Luuk Mas) and is attested in their ''[[Olonkho]]'' epic narratives. Furthermore, this sacred tree is described to "connect the three worlds  (Upper, Middle and Lower)", the branches to the sky and the roots to the underworld.<ref name=Pavlova2018/> Further studies show that this sacred tree also shows many alternate names and descriptions in different regional traditions.<ref name=Pavlova2018/> According to scholarship, the prevalent animal at the top of the tree in the Olonkho is the [[eagle]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Satanar|first1=Marianna T.|title=К семиотической интерпретации мифологического образа древа Аал Луук мас в эпосе олонхо|journal=Oriental Studies|date=25 December 2020|volume=13|issue=4|pages=1135–1154|doi=10.22162/2619-0990-2020-50-4-1135-1154|s2cid=241597729|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Researcher Galina Popova emphasizes that the motif of the world tree offers a binary opposition between two different realms (the Upper Realm and the Underworld), and Aal Luuk Mas functions as a link between both.<ref name="ПОПОВА 2019">{{cite journal|last1=ПОПОВА|first1=Г. С.|title=ДРЕВО МИРА ААЛ ЛУУК МАС В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ ЯКУТОВ САХА|date=2019|doi=10.24411/2071-6427-2019-00039}}</ref> A spirit or goddess of the earth, named Aan Alahchin Hotun, is also said to inhabit or live in the trunk of Aal Luuk Mas.<ref name="ПОПОВА 2019"/>

=====Bashkir=====
According to scholarship, in the [[Bashkirs|Bashkir]] epic ''[[Ural-batyr]]'', deity Samrau is described as a celestial being married to female deities of the Sun and the Moon. He is also "The King of the Birds" and is opposed by the "dark forces" of the universe, which live in the underworld. A similarly named creature, the bird Samrigush, appears in Bashkir folktales living atop the tallest tree in the world and its enemy is a snake named Azhdakha.<ref name="cyberleninka.ru">{{cite journal|last1=Хисамитдинова|first1=Ф.г.|title=Божества верхнего мира в мифологии башкир|journal=Oriental Studies|date=2014|issue=4|pages=146–154|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/bozhestva-verhnego-mira-v-mifologii-bashkir}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Батыршин|first1=Ш.ф.|title=Образы мифических животных в русской, башкирской и китайской лингвокультурах|journal=Мир науки, культуры, образования|date=2019|volume=2|issue=75|pages=470–472|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/obrazy-mificheskih-zhivotnyh-v-russkoy-bashkirskoy-i-kitayskoy-lingvokulturah}}</ref> After the human hero kills the serpent Azhdakha, the grateful Samrigush agrees to carry him back to the world of light.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Равиловна|first1=Хусаинова Гульнур|title=Отражение мифологических воззрений в башкирской волшебной сказке|journal=Вестник Челябинского государственного университета|date=2012|volume=32|issue=286|pages=126–129|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/otrazhenie-mifologicheskih-vozzreniy-v-bashkirskoy-volshebnoy-skazke}}</ref>

=====Kazakh=====
Scholarship points to the existence of a bird named Samurik (Samruk) that, according to [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] myth, lives atop the World Tree ''Baiterek''. Likewise, in Kazakh folktales, it is also the hero's carrier out of the underworld, after he defeats a dragon named Aydakhara or Aydarhana.<ref name="cyberleninka.ru"/> In the same vein, Kazakh literary critic and folklorist {{ill|Seyt Kaskabasov|ru|Каскабасов, Сеит Аскарович}} described that the Samruk bird travels between the three spheres of the universe, nests atop the "cosmic tree" (bәyterek) and helps the hero out of the underworld.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kaskabasov|first1=Seit|title=Iranian Folk Motifs And Religious Images In Kazakh Literature And Folklore|journal=Astra Salvensis|date=2018|volume=VI|issue=Sup. 1|pages=423–432|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=647524}}</ref>

=====Other representations=====
An early 20th-century report on Altaian shamanism by researcher Karunovskaia describes a shamanistic journey, information provided by one Kondratii Tanashev (or Merej Tanas). However, A. A. Znamenski believes this material is not universal to all Altaian peoples, but pertains to the specific worldview of Tanashev's Tangdy clan. Regardless, the material showed a belief in a tripartite division of the world in sky (heavenly sphere), middle world and underworld; in the central part of the world, a mountain (''Ak toson altaj sip''') is located. Upon this mountain there is "a navel of the earth and water  ... which also serves as the root of the 'wonderful tree with golden branches and wide leaves' (''Altyn byrly bai terek'')". Like the iconic imagery, the tree branches out to reach the heavenly sphere.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-94-017-0277-5_3|chapter=Siberian Shamanism in Soviet Imagination|title=Shamanism in Siberia|year=2003|last1=Znamenski|first1=Andrei A.|pages=131–278|isbn=978-90-481-6484-4}}</ref>

====Mongolic cultures====
Finnish folklorist [[Uno Holmberg]] reported a tale from the [[Kalmuck]] people about a dragon that lies in the sea, at the foot of a Zambu tree. In the [[Buryat language|Buryat]] poems, near the root of the tree a snake named Abyrga dwells.<ref name="Holmberg, Uno 1927 p. 357">Holmberg, Uno (1927). ''Finno-Ugric and Siberian''. The Mythology of All Races Vol. 4. Boston: Marshall Jones Company. 1927. p. 357.</ref> He also reported a "Central Asian" narrative about the fight between the snake Abyrga and a bird named Garide – which he identified as a version of Indian [[Garuda]].<ref name="Holmberg, Uno 1927 p. 357"/>

===East Asia===
====Korea====
The world tree is visible in the designs of the [[Crown of Silla]], [[Silla]] being one of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]. This link is used to establish a connection between Siberian peoples and those of [[Korea]].

====China====
In Chinese mythology, a manifestation of the world tree is the ''[[Fusang]]'' or ''Fumu'' tree.<ref>Yang, Lihui; An, Deming. ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. ABC-Clio. 2005. pp. 117–118, 262. {{ISBN|1-57607-807-8}}.</ref> In a Chinese cosmogonic myth, solar deity [[Xihe (deity)|Xihe]] gives birth to ten suns. Each of the suns rests upon a tree named ''Fusang'' (possibly a mulberry tree). The ten suns alternate during the day, each carried by a crow (the "[[Three-legged crow|Crow of the Sun]]"): one sun stays on the top branch to wait its turn, while the other nine suns rest on the lower branches.<ref>Yang, Lihui; An, Deming. ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. ABC-Clio. 2005. pp. 32, 66, 91, 95, 117–118, 212, 215–216, 231. {{ISBN|1-57607-807-8}}.</ref>

===Tanzania===
An origin myth is recorded from the Wapangwa tribe of [[Tanzania]], wherein the world is created through "a primordial tree and a termite mound".<ref>Penprase, Bryan E. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pQHNDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22wapangwa%22+world+tree&pg=PA146 The Power of Stars]''. Springer, 2017. p. 146. {{ISBN|978-3-319-52597-6}}.</ref> As a continuation of the same tale, the animals wanted to eat the fruits of this Tree of Life, but humans intended to defend it. This led to a war between animals and humans.<ref>[[David Leeming|Leeming, David Adams]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9I62BcuPxfYC&q=%22world+tree%22&pg=PA381 Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia]''. Second Edition. Volume I: Parts I-II. ABC-Clio. 2010. p. 273. {{ISBN|978-1-59884-175-6}}.</ref>

===Kenya===
In the agikuyu community, the "mūgumo" tree is held sacred and it is a taboo to even fetch firewood from it. In the past, the tree served as an altar to offer sacrifices as well as being a place of prayer. If a mùgumo tree falls, it is believed to be an end of an era for a "god"/dynasty and a ritual should be done by elders to cleanse the area and the community because it might be a bad omen.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

== In folk and fairy tales ==
===ATU 301: The Three Stolen Princesses===
The imagery of the World Tree appears in a specific tale type of the [[Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index]], type ATU 301, "The Three Stolen Princesses", and former subtypes AaTh 301A, "Quest for a Vanished Princess" (or "Three Underground Kingdoms") and AaTh 301B, "The Strong Man and His Companions" (''[[Jean de l'Ours]]'' and ''[[Fehérlófia (Hungarian folk tale)|Fehérlófia]]''). The hero journeys alone to the underworld (or a subterranean realm) to rescue three princesses. He leads them to a rope that will take them to the surface and, when the hero tries to climb up the rope, his companions cut it and the hero is stranded in the underworld. In his wanderings, he comes across a tree, on its top a nest of eggs from an eagle, a griffin or a mythical bird. The hero protects the nest from a snake enemy that slithers from the roots of the tree.<ref name=Kencis2011/><ref>Radulović, Nemanja. "[https://www.academia.edu/16032893/ARBOR_MUNDI_Visual_Formula_and_the_Poetics_of_Genre Arbor Mundi: Visual Formula and the Poetics of Genre]". In: ''Epic Formula: a Balkan Perspective''. Edited by Mirjana Detelić and Lidija Delić. Belgrade: Institute for Balkan Studies/Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. 2015. p. 67. {{ISBN|978-86-7179-091-8}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Levin|first1=Isidor|title=Etana. Die keilschriftlichen Belege einer Erzählung.|journal=Fabula|date=January 1966|volume=8|issue=Jahresband|pages=1–63|doi=10.1515/fabl.1966.8.1.1|s2cid=161315794}}</ref>

Serbian scholarship recalls a Serbian mythical story about three brothers, named Ноћило, Поноћило и Зорило ("Noćilo, Ponoćilo and Zorilo") and their mission to rescue the king's daughters. Zorilo goes down the cave, rescues three princesses and with a whip changes their palaces into apples. When Zorilo is ready to go up, his brothers abandon him in the cave, but he escapes with the help of a bird.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.18485/msc.2017.46.2.ch20|chapter='Од немила до недрага' Милана Дединца: есејизација лирске прозе или лиризација есеја|title=Есеј, есејисти и есејизација у српској књижевности ; Форме приповедања у српској књижевности|series=Научни састанак слависта у Вукове дане|year=2017|last1=Мeдан|first1=Маја Ј.|volume=46/2|pages=185–194|isbn=978-86-6153-470-6}}</ref> Serbian scholar Pavle Sofric ([[:sr:Павле Софрић Нишевљанин|sr]]), in his book about Serbian folkmyths about trees, noted that the tree of the tale, an [[ash tree]] ([[Serbian language|Serbian]]: јасен), showed a great parallel to the [[Yggdrasil|Nordic tree]] as not to be coincidental.<ref>Vukicevic, Dragana. "[https://www.academia.edu/22588972/ БОГ КОЈИ ОДУСТАЈЕ (Илија Вукићевић Прича о селу Врачима и Сими Ступици и Радоје Домановић Краљевић Марко по други пут међу Србима)]" [The Resigning God]. In: СРПСКИ ЈЕЗИК, КЊИЖЕВНОСТ, УМЕТНОСТ. Зборник радова са VI међународног научног скупа одржаног на Филолошко-уметничком факултету у Крагујевцу (28–29. X 2011). Књига II: БОГ. Крагујевац, 2012. p. 231.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Glavnije bilje u narodnom verovanju i pevanju kod nas Srba|first=Pavle|last=Sofrić|publisher=BIGZ|date=1990|pages=119–121|isbn=9788613004745|language=Serbian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WmBAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%9B%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE,+%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%9B%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE+%D0%B8+%D0%97%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE+%22}}</ref>

While comparing Balkanic variants of the tale type ATU 301, researcher Milena Benovska-Sabkova noticed that the conflict between the snake and the eagle (bird) on the tree "was very close to the classical imagery of the World Tree".<ref>Benovska-Sabkova, Milena. "[https://www.academia.edu/42800343 "Тримата братя и златната ябълка" — анализ на митологическата семантика в сравнителен балкански план] ["The three brothers and the golden apple": Analysis of the mythological semantic in comparative Balkan aspect]. In: "Българска етнология" [Bulgarian Ethnology] nr. 1 (1995): 90–102.</ref>

===Other fairy tales===
According to scholarship, Hungarian scholar János Berze Nágy also associated the imagery of the World Tree with fairy tales wherein a mysterious thief comes at night to steal the [[golden apple]]s of the king's prized tree.<ref name="core.ac.uk">Bárdos József. "[https://core.ac.uk/display/328818665 Világ és más(ik) világok tündérmesékben]" [Worlds and Other Worlds in Fairy Tales]. In: ''Gradus'' Vol. 2, No 1 (2015). p. 16. {{ISSN|2064-8014}}.</ref> This incident occurs as an alternative opening to tale type ATU 301, in a group of tales formerly classified as AaTh 301A,{{efn|The third revision of the Aarne-Thompson classification system, made in 2004 by German folklorist [[Hans-Jörg Uther]], subsumed both subtypes AaTh 301A and AaTh 301B into the new type ATU 301.<ref>Uther, Hans-Jörg. ''The types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson''. Folklore Fellows Communications (FFC) n. 284. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia-Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004. p. 177.</ref>}} and as the opening episode in most variants of tale type ATU 550, "Bird, Horse and Princess" (otherwise known as ''[[The Golden Bird]]'').<ref>Tacha, Athena. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pmJQAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Gallant+Young+Praslea%22 Brancusi's Birds]''. New York University Press for the College Art Association of America. 1969. p. 8. {{ISBN|9780814703953}}.</ref>

Likewise, historical linguist [[Václav Blažek]] argued for parallels of certain motifs of these fairy tales (the night watch of the heroes, the golden apples, the avian thief) to [[Ossetian language|Ossetian]] [[Nart saga]]s and the Greek myth of the [[Garden of the Hesperides]].<ref>BLAŽEK, Václav. "[https://www.academia.edu/42649582/The_role_of_apple_in_the_Indo_European_mythological_tradition_and_in_neighboring_traditions The Role of "Apple" in the Indo-European Mythological Tradition and in Neighboring Traditions]". In: Lisiecki, Marcin; Milne, Louise S.; Yanchevskaya, Nataliya. Power and Speech: Mythology of the Social and the Sacred. Toruń: EIKON, 2016. pp. 257–297. {{ISBN|978-83-64869-16-7}}.</ref> The avian thief may also be a princess cursed into bird form, such as in Hungarian tale ''Prince Árgyilus ([[:hu:Árgírus|hu]]) and Fairy Ilona''<ref name="core.ac.uk"/> and in Serbian tale ''[[The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples]]'' (both classified as ATU 400, "The Man on a Quest for the Lost Wife").<ref>BLAŽEK, Václav. "[https://www.academia.edu/42649582/The_role_of_apple_in_the_Indo_European_mythological_tradition_and_in_neighboring_traditions The Role of "Apple" in the Indo-European Mythological Tradition and in Neighboring Traditions]". In: Lisiecki, Marcin; Milne, Louise S.; Yanchevskaya, Nataliya. Power and Speech: Mythology of the Social and the Sacred. Toruń: EIKON, 2016. p. 184. {{ISBN|978-83-64869-16-7}}.</ref> This second type of opening episode was identified by Romanian folklorist [[Marcu Beza]] as another introduction to [[swan maiden]] tales.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Beza|first1=M.|title=The Sacred Marriage in Roumanian Folklore|journal=The Slavonic Review|date=1925|volume=4|issue=11|pages=321–333|jstor=4201965}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Religion|World}}
* ''[[It's a Big Big World]]'', TV-series which takes place at a location called the "World Tree"
* [[Potomitan]]
* [[Rehue]]
* [[Sidrat al-Muntaha]]
* [[Tree of life (Quran)]]
* [[Ṭūbā]]
* [[The Fountain]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist|}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Literature==
*David Abram. ''The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World'', Vintage, 1997
*{{cite book|title=Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions|author=Burkert W|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-674-17570-9	|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXjRg_3p1s4C|ref=refBurkertW}}
*{{cite book|title=Being and Perceiving|author=Haycock DE|publisher=Manupod Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-9569621-0-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXFeQb1z6bsC|ref=refHaycockDE}}
* {{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Mary Ellen|last2=Taube|first2=Karl A.|title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion|date=1993|publisher=Thames and Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-05068-2}}
*Roys, Ralph L., The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1967.

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last1=Balalaeva|first1=O.|last2=Pluzhnikov|first2=N.|last3=Funk|first3=D.|last4=Batyanova|first4=E.|last5=Dybo|first5=A.|last6=Bulgakova|first6=T.|last7=Burykin|first7=A.|title=The Myth of the World Tree in the Shamanism of Siberian Peoples. Comments: Funk, D. A. In Search of the World Tree: Some Thoughts on What, Where, and How We Search [V poiskakh Mirovogo dreva: razmyshleniia o tom, chto, gde i kak my ishchem]; Batyanova, E. P. Trees, Shamans, and Other Worlds [Derev'ia, shamany i inye miry]; Dybo, A. V. The World Tree: Data from Siberian Languages [Mirovoe drevo: dannye sibirskikh yazykov]; Bulgakova, T. D. The "World Tree" in the Shamanic Image of the World among the Nanai ["Mirovoe drevo" v shamanskoi kartine mira nanaitsev]; Burykin, A. A. The "Shamanic Theater" and Its Attributes ["Shamanskii teatr" i ego atributy]; Balalaeva, O. E., and N. V. Pluzhnikov. Response to Commenters: Thinking about the Use of Discussions (One of the Keys) [Otvet opponentam: razmyshleniia o pol'ze diskussii (odin iz kliuchei)]|journal=[[Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie]]|date=June 2019|issue=3|pages=80–122|doi=10.31857/S086954150005293-2}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Bauks|first1=Michaela|title=Sacred Trees in the Garden of Eden and Their Ancient Near Eastern Precursors|journal=[[Journal of Ancient Judaism]]|date=6 May 2012|volume=3|issue=3|pages=267–301|doi=10.30965/21967954-00303001}}
* Butterworth, E. A. S. ''The Tree - the Navel of the Earth''. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1970.
* [[Uno Harva|Holmberg, Uno]]. ''Der Baum des Lebens'' (= Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian toimituksia. Sarja B = Series B, 16, 3, {{ISSN|0066-2011}}). Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Helsinki, 1922 (Auch: Edition Amalia, Bern 1996, {{ISBN|3-9520764-2-2}}).

==External links==
{{Commons category|World tree}}
* [http://www.lithuanian.net/mitai/cosmos/baltai.htm Cosmology of the Ancient Balts] by Vytautas Straižys and Libertas Klimka (Lithuanian.net)

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mythological archetypes]]
[[Category:Religious cosmologies]]
[[Category:Trees of life]]
[[Category:Individual trees]]
[[Category:ATU 300-399]]
[[Category:ATU 400-459]]
[[Category:ATU 500-559]]