Art Analysis: The Ash Yggdrasil

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Recommended: Greek mythology and Norse mythology

Friedrich Wilhelm Heine
The Ash Yggdrasil
1886
Illustrated in a book, written by Dr. W. Wägner: “Asgard and the gods”
F. W. Heine was known for his paintings of stories from Norse mythology. “The Ash Yggdrasil” is virtually the most comprehensive and fundamental picture, which represents Norse mythology, because Yggdrasil is one of the central elements in the religious beliefs of ancient Scandinavians. It symbolizes the universe and its structure, like people of those days used to interpret their vision of the world system. It is unknown authentically what material exactly the painter used to draw this picture, but we can presume that it was charcoal or a pencil, as F. W. Heine was also a sketch artist.
This picture enables us to be absorbed …show more content…

He illustrated numerous books of different German writers; among them was the Rudolf’s Herzog’s product – “Germaniens Götter”, where the illustration “Ask and Embla” appeared. This picture tells us a story about the creation of the first humans at the Norse mythology. The subject of the picture is: the trio of gods are gifting the first humans with life. Ask and Embla are rather popular figures not only at the Norse mythology, but also they have been the subject of a number of references and artistic depictions. We can compare the story of Ask and Embla to the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible – the ancestors of all humans. The difference between these two couples consists in the fact that Ask and Embla were humans from the very beginning and Adam and Eve were gods, but they were expulsed from Eden for the …show more content…

And then they saw two trees, the first one was big and strong and the second one was thin and trembling. The Gods thought that it was a perfect choice. The youngest brother made up two bodies, heads, ears, mouths and the whole skin; the middle one taught them to walk and think; and the eldest brother breathed a life and soul in them. According to the picture we can presume that the naked man who holds the body is the youngest brother, the curly naked man who stands aside is the middle brother and the only one dressed man on the painting is the eldest brother. The very first man was given a name Ask, which means Ash Tree and the very first woman was called Embla, which means Water Pot, to make people remember of what exactly the Gods created

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