The Image of Yggdrasil from Överhogdal

The images of Yggdrasil on the tapestries of Överhogdal (Jämtland, Sweden) are undoubtedly among the most magnificent pictures of the world tree that have been handed down to us from the Viking Age. Surprisingly, however, they have remained largely unknown outside a small circle of Scandinavian archaeologists.

To remedy this situation, a detailed sketch of the Yggdrasil image on weave II was made. This particular version of Yggdrasil was chosen because it is the most detailed and most appealing of the three world tree images on the tapestries. The graphic has been marginally normalized to compensate small inaccuracies with the goal of achieving a geometrically correct representation. The slightly damaged bird of the original has been redrawn as good as possible. Its curvilinear beak together with the shape of the corresponding bird representation on weave Ia shows that it is clearly a bird of prey, just as it is handed down from the Old Norse literature.

In the spirit of a free and unrestricted exchange this graphic is published under the Creative Commons license “CC BY 4.0”. Therefore it can be reproduced, distributed, modified and even used commercially as long as the author is named (it is sufficient to link to this page).

The graphic is available as an easy-to-use PNG file (with transparent background) in two different resolutions, as well as a SVG vector image (allows unlimited enlargement without loss of quality):

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PNG (515 x 572 pixel) Download file
PNG (1024 x 1137 pixel) Download file
SVG Download file

Click here for a more detailed description and interpretation of the tapestries of Överhogdal.

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