History Main / WorldTree

** This troper doesn't see how this list got so long without mentioning the ''TalesOfTheWorld'' MassiveMultiplayerCrossover Radiant Mythology, where the player's goal is to revive the World tTree (again).

*** Having been onto the Cataclysm beta, this troper can safely say that Nordrassil seems much bigger than Teldrassil. It can be seen from most of Mount Hyjal, forming a large chunk of the mountain's BASE.

** 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 withered tree of Gondor in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' 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... And Earendil's star is used to create the Phial of Galadriel, making it the reflected light of the Trees two times over.

Of course, anything this spiritually significant is very popular to produce [[EvilTwin evil versions]]. Evil World Trees often pervert the concept of "oneness" by making promises into a DealWithTheDevil and spiritual connection into absorbing everything into itself.

The WorldTree may exist ''between'' worlds, with its roots in one and its branches in another. It may even be a [[PocketDimension Wood Between The Worlds]]. It's typically a GeniusLoci.

Of course, anything this spiritually significant is very popular to produce [[EvilTwin evil versions]]. Evil World Trees often pervert the concept of "oneness" by making promises into a DealWithTheDevil and spiritual connection into absorbing everything into itself. It's typically a GeniusLoci.

The WorldTree may exist ''between'' worlds, with its roots in one and its branches in another. It may even be a [[PocketDimension Wood Between The Worlds]].

A gargantuan tree fills the sky. Usually situated in [[GrimUpNorth a breezy land of snow and ice]] or [[TheLostWoods a sprawling forest]] or maybe even a [[GhibliHills a green, green field]]. It can be seen from miles away...

Of course, anything this spiritually significant is very popular to produce [[EvilTwin evil versions]]. Evil World Trees often pervert the concept of "oneness" by making promises into a DealWithTheDevil and spiritual connection into absorbing everything into itself.

The WorldTree may exist ''between'' worlds, with its roots in one and its branches in another. It may even be a [[PocketDimension Wood Between The Worlds]].

The health of the WorldTree is [[EmpathicEnvironment tied to that]] of the [[FisherKing world itself]]; injuring it may have [[{{Gotterdammerung}} catastrophic]] [[NoOntologicalInertia consequences]].

* ''[[InterstellarFiveFiveFiveFive Interstellar5555]]'' had the band members burying their fallen comrade under the Tree, where his soul then ascends.

Of course, anything this spiritually significant is very popular to produce evil versions. Evil World Trees often pervert the concept of "oneness" by making promises into a DealWithTheDevil and spiritual connection into absorbing everything into itself.

* [[DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]] in Florida has the Tree of Life, which is a giant 145 foot tall artificial tree [[InNameOnly built on the frame of an oil platform]]. There are many animal shapes carved into the bark that are easy to overlook if you don't know about them.

* [[DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]] in Florida has the Tree of Life, which is a giant 145 foot tall artificial tree built on the frame of an oil platform. There are many animal shapes carved into the bark that are easy to overlook if you don't know about them.

** And the cross Jesus hung from before his transformation.

* The evil subversion is one of the oldest ones in the book, too, for that matter - the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Okay, it's not ''inherently'' evil, obviously, but still.)
** Some Jews would say there's nothing actually evil about that Tree or the act of eating from it. (How could disobeying God by eating from the tree be evil if man could not have understood evil before eating from the tree?) The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is pretty darn morally neutral, really.
*** If we interpret the tree as Axis Mundi than the tree itself is the most neutral thing can ever exists. Axis mundi was suppose to connect and bind three worlds - Olimpic/Heaven, Earth and Chthonic (sorry for the use of Heaven and Olimpic - I could only find those translations). At least in the middle-ages in slavic nations the God was connected with the Olimpic sphere (i.e. order, harmony, power - both political and physical, sky [which shares a name with heaven]...) while Satan with the Chthonic sphere (i.e. chaos, walfare, agriculture, trade, fertility, water...). I'm not quite sure how was it in Judaism.

** And the cross Jesus hung from before his transformation (which is remarkably similar to the way Odin hung from Yggdrasil in order to gain mystical knowledge).
*** For other similarities like that, see HijackedByJesus.

** It can also [[LiteralGenie grant immortality]], but probably not the way you'd expect. "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Together we will live forever]]," indeed.

* In ''{{Hellboy}}'', Rasputin's immortality is due to having half of his soul buried under Yggdrassil's roots. On one occasion, after one of his plans is completely ruined, he retreats to the base of Yggdrassil in order to rest.

* An issue of ''{{Badger}}'' featured an apple from "The Wotan Tree". Since Ygdrassil is supposed to be an ash tree, this represents artistic license (probably a reference to Eden). Still, inconsistency aside, the scene where a gigantic tree bursts out of a building in the middle of Minneapolis while two martial artists are slugging it out near the top was pretty cool.

* ''{{Film/Avatar}}'' (2009)

** 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 the Silmarils, which contain their reflected light, become the most important artifacts in Middle Earth. Being NighInvulnerable [[ArtifactOfAttraction Artifacts Of Attraction]], they are split up and 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. Earendil's star is later used to create the Phial of Galadriel, making it the reflected light of the Trees two times over.
** 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 withered tree of Gondor in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' 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...

** The apple drops a seed in the Real World which grows up to be another tree. When cut down many years later, [[spoiler:it is made into a wardrobe for Digory]]. Meanwhile, the part of a lamppost dropped by Digory grows into an eternally-burning gaslamp in the heart of Narnia.

* In StephenKing's ''DarkTower'' series, the eponymous tower is representative of the World Tree, [[spoiler: in that it holds all the worlds in the multiverse together]].
** Given that the Tower appears in some form in every universe, but only as a tower in the "keystone" world, and that at least one of these forms is a plant (a rose), it's entirely possible that that somewhere it is a literal WorldTree

* ''QuestForGlory 3'' features the Tree at the Heart of the World, complete with appropriate mystic connections and rejuvenation powers.

* "When [[{{Merlin}} Myrddin's]] Tree shall tumble down, then shall fall Carmarthen town." An ancient [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]], and possibly {{Defictionalization}}. The people of Carmarthen (aka [[LandOfMyFathersAndTheirSheep the Welsh]], who are descended from Arthur's people) have naturally encased the stump of the old tree [[ExactWords in concrete]].

* "When [[{{Merlin}} Myrddin's]] Tree shall tumble down, then shall fall Carmarthen town." An ancient [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]], and possibly {{Defictionalization}}. The people of Carmarthen (aka [[LandOfMenAndTheirSheep the Welsh]], who are descended from Arthur's people) have naturally encased the stump of the old tree [[ExactWords in concrete]].

* In ''{{Riven}}'', a vast tree used to stand on one of the islands. [[BigBad Gehn]] cut it down and hollowed out the stump to build a prison the size of an apartment. In the ''Book of Atrus'', it is still standing.