World tree
A cosmic tree in mythology that connects different realms and often symbolizes the structure or origin of the universe.
Yggdrasil: The immense ash tree in Norse mythology that connects the worlds and shelters many beings. Its branches and roots join the realms of Norse cosmology.
Axis mundi: A symbolic center or vertical axis connecting different levels of the cosmos. World trees often embody this link between heaven, earth, and underworld.
Three realms: A cosmological arrangement dividing existence into upper, middle, and lower worlds. The world tree commonly links these vertically arranged regions.
World mountain: A sacred mountain that stands at the center of the cosmos or connects its levels. It performs an axis-like role similar to the world tree through a different landscape form.
Ceiba: A tropical tree of the genus Ceiba, several species of which hold cultural and religious significance in the Americas. The Maya world tree is often represented as a ceiba linking cosmic levels.
Cosmology: An account of the universe's origin, structure, and eventual fate. A world tree gives cosmology a spatial and often genealogical form.
Creation myth: A traditional narrative explaining how the world or its present order began. World trees can appear as the source or framework of creation.
Rainbow Serpent: A powerful ancestral being in Aboriginal Australian traditions, associated with creation, water, and land. Some traditions use a living ancestral being to shape the world rather than a cosmic tree.
Irminsul: A sacred pillar or tree-like object associated with the continental Saxons before their conversion to Christianity. It offers a Germanic sacred-axis comparison, though its form and meaning remain uncertain.
Sacred tree: A tree regarded as holy or as a focus of ritual and religious meaning. The world tree is a cosmic form of the wider sacred-tree motif.