i88 THE TREE BOOK 



roes of the Sagas. Everjrwhere throughout the 

 north the wood and leaves of the ash are re- 

 garded as a protection against snakes. In 

 Shakespeare's time, even among the learned, it 

 was firmly believed that a snake would escape 

 through fire rather than through a barricade of 

 ash. An old Devonshire belief held that : "If 

 a circle be traced with an ashen staff round a 

 sleeping viper, the creature will be unable to 

 pass beyond it." Babies suspended in their 

 cradles from the branches of the ash were safe 

 from harm while their mothers worked in the 

 fields. 



In Scandinavia the ash was long regarded as 

 a sacred tree. It is recorded in their Eddas 

 that the whole universe is supported by a 

 mighty ash tree, called Ygdrasil, which sprang 

 from the body of the giant Ymir. One root of 

 this great tree penetrates into the realm of the 

 gods, another reaches the dwelling of the giants, 

 and a third extends into the abode of darkness. 

 Each root is watered by a spring. The spring 

 in the realm of the gods is tended by three 

 Norns, or goddesses, who represent the past, 

 present, and future. They are regarded as the 

 dispensers of fate. The spring at Jotunheim, 

 the home of the giant, is a well in which wit and 

 wisdom are hidden. The third spring, in the 



