pfant Isore, "Isie^zr^f, and "bijncy. 



A Byzantine legend, which is current in Russia, tells of a vast 

 world-tree of iron, which in the beginning of all things spread its 

 gigantic bulk throughout space. Its root is the power of God ; its 

 head sustains the three worlds, — heaven, with the ocean of air ; the 

 earth, with its seas of water; and hell, with its sulphurous fumes 

 and glowing flames. 



Rabbinic traditions make the Mosaic Tree of Life, which 

 stood in the centre of the Garden of Eden, a vast world-tree, 

 resembling in many points the Scandinavian Ash Yggdrasill. A 

 description of this world-tree of the Rabbins, however, need not 

 appear in the present chapter, since it will be found on page 13. 



