World Tree: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A gargantuan tree fills the sky. Usually situated in [[Grim Up North|a breezy land of snow and ice]] or [[The Lost Woods|a sprawling forest]] or maybe even [[Ghibli Hills|a green, green field]]. It can be seen from miles away...

The '''World Tree''' may exist ''between'' worlds, with its roots in one and its branches in another. It may even be a [[Pocket Dimension|Wood Between The Worlds]]. It's naturally a [[Genius Loci]]. See also [[The Tower]].

 

 

* Right at the start of the most recent wave of anime hitting the West — there is a large tree of life painted on the wall of the final showdown in ''[[Ghost in the Shell]].''

** Which of course was lifted straight out of one of [[Mamoru Oshii]]'s earlier films called ''[[Angel's Egg]].''

** It also looks like a tree. A very odd kind of tree, with three intertwined trunks that form an endless triple helix.

** [[The Movie]] has Yggdrasil's existence as simultaneously a tree and the computer that runs reality be a major plot point.

* In ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' when Van hovers at the edge of life and death in an [[Angst Coma]], unable to comprehend anyone, he sits at the foot of the Tree.

* In ''[[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien]]'' (The Eternity That You Wish For, Rumbling Hearts) promises made at a tree on a hill are crucial to the plot.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' uses the Kaballistic Tree Of Life. The concept of breaching the barrier that people put around themselves is integral to the plot.

* Mahora Academy in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' literally has the World Tree on campus. It is the setting of the last episode, where promises made in the past are remembered, and used as a battery for frequent time travel in the manga. Also in the manga it glows for one week per 22 years, makes confessions of love (or requests for 'deep' kisses) made near it magically binding, and provides enough ambient magic to power an army of robots.

** Also, it's one of the most powerful foci for magical energy on the entire Earth. {{spoiler|And it has an old gateport to Mundus Magicus beneath it. And in the late 200s / early 300s chapter-wise, the severing of all other gateports and the tremendous influx of chaotic energy from MM is affecting the World Tree, causing it to glow with extreme amounts of power. If/when Mundus Magicus collapses (which, in Ch. 317, [[The End of the World as We Know It|it starts doing]]), the backlash of energy will [[Sphere of Destruction|explode outwards]] from the Tree, leveling Mahora Academy and - presumably - killing thousands}}.

* Most recently in [[Hunter X Hunter]], Ging, Gon's father meets his son at the top of the aptly named World Tree, known to be 1784 meters from the ground. Ging reveals that this World Tree is only a young tree that refused to grow any taller. Makes you wonder how big a fully grown World Tree is in the Hunter X Hunter World...

* In ''[[Saint Beast]]'', the giant tree that stands in front of the training hall is infused with memories of the angels who spent time there, allowing Kira and Maya to access them and gather courage before taking their first step toward adulthood.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''[[The Fountain]]'' pretty much entirely revolves around this trope, particularly the Christian Tree of Life and Mayan World Tree variations. It actually ''is'' the titular [[Fountain of Youth]], apparently, since you drink its sap. (Though eating the bark is just as effective.) It can also [[Literal Genie|grant immortality]], but probably not the way you'd expect. "[[Exact Words|Together we will live forever]]," indeed.

** It apparently [[Bittersweet Ending|outlasts Earth]] and its health is seemingly tied to the health of the planet. It is suggested that the future version of the tree is a seedling planted over {{spoiler|Izzy's grave}} by present-Tom. Before future-Tom [[Gainax Ending|put it in a spaceship]], the original Tree was planted in a pool of water on top of a pyramid and guarded by a Mayan sacrifical priest [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|with a flaming sword]].

* The ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' movie (and, by extension, the entire [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]]) has one, which binds the nine realms (Earth/Midgard, Asgard, Jotunheim, etc.) together. You can see it hovering as the universe itself during the end credits.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In Sharon Lee's and Steve Miller's [[Liaden Universe]], Jelaza Kazone, the gigantic tree that literally lies at the foundation of clan Korval's family tree, and which in modern times is about a quarter of a mile high. The name - Jela's Fulfillment - is a remembrance of the promise that Jela's partner made to him that she would protect the tree - a promise that is considered (according to Val Con, the current head of the family) to have led directly to the colonization of the planet, since she needed a safe place for the Tree. It is an intelligent being (although most outsiders don't seem to be aware of this), and is considered a member of the family.

* A world tree is mentioned very occasionally and always in passing in the ''[[Chronicles of Narnia]]'' by [[C. S. Lewis]], too, alluding specifically to Yggdrasil.

** ''The Magician's Nephew'' also features the Wood Between the Worlds, which connects all worlds together in a [[Dark Tower]] -like fashion.

* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Rainbow Mars]]'' had a tree that [[Space Elevator|stuck up into space]] and [[Planet Looters|drained entire planets of their water]]. It is explicitly compared to Yggdrasil.

* Used metaphorically in the [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] [[Sci Fi]] novel ''[[Gradisil]]'' by Adam Roberts to refer to the shape of the Earth's magnetic field at the poles, which are used by the characters to propel electromagnetic flight. The title character's name is a misspelling/mispronunciation of Yggdrasil.

* In Dan Simmons Hyperion/Endymion-series there is a world called Gods' Grove which consisted of forests of Mammoth-trees and a large world tree. It is burned due to an attack of aggressive aliens; its burned stump is some kilometers high. Later events consist of a Dyson sphere made out of a tree—which is also burnt.

** The Two Trees were sufficiently holy (and large) that not only were their (damaged) fruits sufficient to light the moon and the sun, but the Silmarils made from them power the whole mythos. Eventually, one is put in the sky, {{spoiler|one is thrown in the ocean, and one falls into a fiery pit with its owner where it burns at the heart of the earth}}. After [[Gotterdammerung|Dagor Dagorath]] it is said the Silmarils will be renunited, and [[Nature Spirit|Yavanna]] will use them to bring the trees back to life.

** Also the various White Trees that were either made in the image of Telperion, or descended from its seedlings (depending on which version of the mythology you read). The [[Fisher King|withered tree]] of Gondor in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is the "son" of the White Tree of Númenor, which is the "son" of the one from Tol Eressëa, which is the "son" of the one from Tirion, etc. Earendil's star is used to create the Phial of Galadriel, making it the reflected light of the Trees two times over.

 

 

* In ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', the Talaxian afterlife is said to be a giant forest, in which the largest tree is the "Guiding Tree", at which the dead reunite with loved ones.

* In ''[[Carnivale]]'', [[The World Tree]] is, interestingly enough, connected to the Tattooed Man - {{spoiler|the evil, [[Anti Christ]]-like being also called "the Usher" that Justin Crowe is transforming into}} - and features greatly in Justin's prophetic dreams of his coming battle with Ben. Justin and Iris make a subversion of the [[Childhood Marriage Promise]] under its branches when Justin vows to build his "kingdom" in the valley below, and Iris answers "we'll build it together".

 

* World Trees appear in Chinese and North Asian religions.

* [[Older Than Dirt]]: The oldest embodiment is the Holy Tree of Eridu in Sumeric-Babylonic cosmology.

* [[The Book of Mormon (literature)|The Book of Mormon]] features the first protagonist/narrator Nephi experiencing a vision in a dream, where the point of the vision was to use an iron rod as a guide to the Tree of Life, while ignoring a big building full of wicked people who tried to lead the righteous away from the tree.

* "When [[Merlin|Myrddin's]] Tree shall tumble down, then shall fall Carmarthen town." An ancient [[King Arthur|Arthurian legend]], and possibly [[Defictionalization]]. The tree, which sits in the middle of the [[wikipedia:Myrddin Wyllt|historical Merlin's]] hometown, is said to be ancient. The people of Carmarthen (aka [[Land of My Fathers and Their Sheep|the Welsh]], who are descended from the Britons) have naturally encased the stump of the old tree [[Exact Words|in concrete]].

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Tower]]

[[Category:Otherworld Tropes]]

[[Category:Motifs]]

[[Category:Tree Tropes]]