Læraðr (Laerad) is a tree in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, often identified with Yggdrasil. It stands at the top of the Valhöll. Two animals, the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir, graze its foliage.

Etymology

The meaning of Læraðr / Léraðr is unclear. One of the meanings of ''læ'' is "harm", "betrayal". A possible translation of Læraðr could therefore be "arranger of betrayal", which would relate to Yggdrasill as the place of

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

self-sacrifice Self-sacrifice is the giving up of something that a person wants for themselves, so that others can be helped or protected, or so that other external values can be advanced or protected. Generally, an act of self-sacrifice conforms to the rule tha ...

. Another reading is sometimes suggested, *hléradr, whose first component means "shelter" and which could thus be rendered as "giver of protection".

Attestations

''Poetic Edda''

Læraðr is mentioned in two stanzas of the '' Grímnismál'': :Heidrûn the goat is called, :that stands o’er Odin’s hall, :and bites from Lærâd’s branches. :He a bowl shall fill :with the bright mead; :that drink shall never fail. :Eikthyrnir the hart is called, :that stands o’er Odin’s hall, :and bites from Lærâd’s branches; :from his horns fall :drops into Hvergelmir, :whence all waters rise:— : ::—''Grímnismál'' (25, 26)
Thorpe's translation

''Prose Edda''

Under the name Léraðr, it also appears in ''Gylfaginning'': :The she-goat, she who is called Heidrún, stands up in Valhall and bites the needles from the limb of that tree which is very famous, and is called éraðr and from her udders mead runs so copiously, that she fills a tun every day. ..Even more worthy of note is the hart Eikthyrnir, which stands in Valhall and bites from the limbs of the tree; and from his horns distils such abundant exudation that it comes down into Hvergelmir, and from thence fall those rivers called thus .. : ::—''Gylfaginning'' (39)
Brodeur's translation
ref> Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. ''Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda''. New York:

The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Swe ...

Theories

According to

John Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

, the first reason to identify Lærad with Yggdrasill is "Lærad's location at Odin's hall, which would be at the center of the cosmos". Lindow, John. 2002.
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
'. New York:

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. First published: ABC-Clio, 2001. . Another argument is that many animals dwell in or around Yggdrasill, such as an eagle, the squirrel Ratatoskr, four stags, many snakes and the dragon Níðhöggr. Snorri also wrote that Hvergelmir was located under Yggdrasill (''Gylfaginning'', 15, 16).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laeradr Trees in Germanic mythology Yggdrasil