Wednesday 3 November 2021

Virtual Yggdrasil


The Fleet Of Stars
, 4.

When the L-5 colony disbanded, the Tree, a giant sequoia grown in low gravity, was allowed to die. Although the space station has been moved from its L-5 orbit to Lunar orbit and repopulated, no second Tree has been planted in it. 

Fenn has had virtual reality experiences of that Tree and also of Yggdrasil:

roots in earth, winterland and hell;
trunk soaring into heaven;
nine worlds strewn through windy, shadowy leafage;
the All-Tree whose fall brings divine doom and the end of time;
the wind in its boughs had told him something deep but unknown.

Once again, the wind speaks. 
 
Everyone retells myths. I did not know that Yggdrasil was meant to fall at the Ragnarok. If anything, the World Ash Tree seems to be absent from accounts of Ragnarok although I also though that Lif and Lifthrasir were said to have hidden among its branches. See Hoddmimis Holt.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

You could have mentioned, as well, that again we see Anderson drawing on his Scandinavian roots.

Ad astra! Sean