My friend Allison has this on a necklace, she wore it a lot in college. Actually, I’m not sure sure if she wore it every single day, but that’s how I picture her in my head, and so, every time I see it on jewelry or other designs, I’d think of Allison. Pretty sure Allison didn’t actually invent Yggdrasil, but I see it as “her” thing.
(By the way, one of our projects at work is called Bifrost, and I didn’t come up with it, but if you’re a fan of describing technical products through mythological allusions, it is kind of perfect. Studying ancient myth, you guys, improves basically everything.)
I realize, though, that no one I know in Chapel Hill has ever seen Allison, and isn’t that terribly sad and bizarre? That Harold and Allison have never met each other? That my adventures living upstairs from Allison were all more than ten years ago? That I see my friend basically once every two years? Wait, what I meant to say is, that since no one here knows Allison, I can probably wear the same world tree without being a big copycat.
These are my new favorite earrings! I think about Allison every time I put them on, which is nice. Also, I got these on my midwinter beach adventure with Harold, when we decided that adults can drive to the ocean in January if they feel like it.
And naturally, I wore these earrings to New York, and when I went to have dinner with my sister. We met on the Upper West Side, and once we got out of the cold, and into a wonderful basement restaurant (that turned out way fancier than I’d expected, from a basement restaurant, but then again, UWS), I peeled off my scarf and hat.
“Oh, Meggie!” my sister said, “I have those earrings, too!”
For the record, I lived above you.
Also, it’s a pentacle and an owl. My parents gave me the owl, my sister gave me the pentacle, and Jonathan gave me the chain I wear them on.
But those are beautiful earing.
And you’d see me more if y’all would move to Austin. 😉
While I have an expert on the subject, can you explain the difference between Niðavellir and Svartálfaheimr? Specifically the creatures that call these two realms home?
If by “expert” you mean “fan” (not even sure how you got the awesome characters in the names), you are in the right place! I think Nidavellir is where the dwarves live, and Svartheimer is where the dark elves live. RIGHT? Although it’s been a while…
The cool characters are a result of cut and paste magic so I can’t take any credit for that really. You’re right about the Dwarves and Dark Elves calling those places home. The issue I’m having is that I can’t really tell what makes something a dwarf vs. a dark elf as their descriptions pretty much describe them as the same thing.
I’m having more fun reading about the PIE gods right now though which I guess is a higher step up the food chain. I like the Aesir-Asura correspondence and how the ‘pandemonium’ relates to the Aesir-Vanir war. Where as the Zoroastrians and the Hindus essentially took sides on the God war, the Norse ended up integrating the two sides (assuming that the Devas and Vanir are the same beings) after a war.
I may have too much free time.