Ratatosk: Meaning and Definition
The name Ratatosk or Ratatöskr belongs to a squirrel of the norse mytology.
The squirrel is mentioned in the songs of the poetic edda in the Grímnismál (song of Grímnir).
Source: www.wikipedia.org |
"Ratatoscr heitir ícorni, er renna scal at asci Yggdrasils; arnar orð hann scal ofan bera oc segia Níðhǫggvi niðr." "Ratatosk is the squirrel who there shall run On the ash-tree Yggdrasil; From above the words of the eagle he bears, And tells them to Nithhogg beneath." – Grímnismál 32 |
According to that the squirrel in the bearer of the eagle's messages to the dragon Nidhögg,
who stays at the roots of the world tree Yggdrassil.
"Örn einn sitr í limum asksins, ok er hann margs vitandi [...].
Íkorni sá, er heitir Ratatoskr, renn upp ok niðr eftir askinum
ok berr öfundarorð milli arnarins ok Níðhöggs, [...]"
"An eagle sits at the top of the ash, and it has knowledge of many things.
Between its eyes sits the hawk called Vedrfolnir [...]. The squirrel called Ratatosk [...]runs up and down the ash.
He tells slanderous gossip, provoking the eagle and Nidhogg.'
– SNORRI STURLUSON: Prose-Edda: Gylfaginning's chapter 16
Source: www.wikipedia.org
