Ratatosk; Chatterer of Yggdrassil

Rat-Tooth he is called, the squirrel who lives on the World Tree, a holy messenger entrusted to carry the power of words between powerful beings in a mythical place. Many secrets Rat-Tooth has been given, many things he knows and hoards like nuts squirreled away. He runs along, through, up, and down the spine of the very multiverse chattering, scolding, and playing. He plays. All squirrels do. They express joy in every fiber of their beings when playing. I see Ratatosk as a being of joy. Pure joy is the essence of manifestation and here we have a joyous messenger. That is worth considering.

“Hail Ratatosk and his kin!”

Tina's squirrel pic

I posted this as a comment to an awesome squirrel shot that my friend Tina Harvey had taken and put up at FB.  Eventually a fellow came along and asked me; “why would you hail Ratatosk, a being who is nothing more than a vicious, gossiping crap-stirrer?"

Now that’s an interesting question. It really is. Honestly. As much for the why would I hail (wish health to) His Squirreliness as the question of where did the perception of “vicious, gossiping crap-stirrer” come from?  So I looked to the lore for insight. (Queue drum roll, fanfare and balloons!) I also looked to the concepts and ideals behind the who and what and why of Ratatosk.

What I found in the lore is a messenger who lives upon the great world tree and is compelled to carry words, warnings, taunts, and malicious messages from the eagle at the top of the tree to the dragon below and in some versions back again. All of these beings are giants. In Norse mythology some giants are allies but most are adversaries. We’re not told if Rat-Tooth is either but the position that the World Tree Rodent holds is a very honorable, needed, and trusted one. An interpretation of Ratatosk as aiding the flyting taking place by carrying taunts and the like between the eagle and the wyrm seems reasonable to me. That in itself is not malicious, evil, vicious, nor even gossiping. Battling with words, wit, poetry and the like was well thought of in Old Norse cultures. Unless Ratatosk is altering the messages between the other two giants or carrying untrue stories in lies and ill meanings between them to cause harm then he’s just the post-man. Even the interpretations of envious or malicious words can be taken apart as just part of the flyting the squirrel is carrying back and forth and not a reflection on the rodent himself. I found no mention in the Eddas of Ratatosk gossiping, let alone gossipping viciously. 

From the Eddas we can glean about Ratatosk the concepts of messenger, tide bearer, and traveler. In the Grimnismol of the Poetic Edda the wordings used to describe Ratatosk’s actions are benign, possibly even favorable. (1) This poem is older than Snorri’s retelling of it in the Gyfaginning section of the Prose Edda. The wordings in the descriptions concerning Ratatosk have been translated into meanings very different than those in the poem. The Grimnismol of the Poetic Edda has Ratatosk bearing simply “words” and in one instance “warnings”. When we look to Snorri’s Prose Edda, compiled after the conversions, what we see used to describe the messages Rat-Tooth carries from wyrm to eagle and back again are the words “envious” and “malicious”. these terms are not applied to the squirrel. (2) Even in the Gylfaginning of Snorri’s Prose Edda as concerns Ratatosk he is portrayed as at worst neutral and at best benign.

My understanding of the Old Norse view, the pre-conversion mindset, is that good and evil were not primary concepts. Rather, the standard of proper behavior weighed between honorable and dishonorable. It seems to me that many modern Heathens who come from Christian backgrounds have not yet left the baggage of thinking in terms of good vs evil at the door. I cannot come up with any other reason for a neutral being like Rat-Tooth to be perceived of as essentially evil. If we stick to the lore the notion of Ratatosk as evil is completely unsustainable.

The Ash Yggdrasil
by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine

In looking at the concepts and ideals behind the who and what and why of Ratatosk we have a few elements or basic principles to think upon. We should consider the place of Ratatosk’s actions. Rat-Tooth lives and runs upon Yggdrassil, the Great World Tree. Yggdrassil is the center of all that is, the very spine of the multiverse, an incredible living anchor of everything. As the holy binding element of all the worlds Yggdrassil holds Midgardh (Earth) in its branches and roots along with the rest of the nine worlds. The Great Tree spreads its limbs over all the worlds, and above Asgardh. Its three great roots draw water from three wells or rivers among the Nine Worlds. (3) 

Of all those jotunar we are told of who live upon the Tree only the squirrel is emphasized as having the range of motion to run the Spine of the Multiverse from end to end. This makes him a traveler and puts him in a very elite list as concerns Northern mythology. Just think of how exciting it would have been as a semi-isolated, if not completely out in BFE crofter, to have a traveler come to your stead! There would be news, hospitality, possibly messages written or spoken and entrusted to be taken up the line. Add to this that there was an extremely high standard of hospitality in the old North. As a fabric of the culture it was very honorable to aid travelers and quite dishonorable not to. A traveling news bearer and message carrier such as The Squirrel upon the Great tree would have been well received and well sent off from even a humble abode.

We should consider the form; a squirrel. Squirrels would have been very present to the tree concerned peoples of the Northern lands. Squirrels store food for the winter and work industriously at doing so. The importance of the ability and action of putting away winter food cannot be stressed enough as concerns the people of the North during the eras around and of the Viking Age. Food was almost always in scarce supply, the ability to plan and store for the winter was a survival necessity. Those able to do so well were highly thought of.

Squirrels scold, or chatter. This can easily be seen as bearing tidings. They race about busily carrying on with a great deal to do, often pausing to chatter before running on. An action easily transferred into bearing messages. Squirrels also, and perhaps most importantly, play. In play they are the very essence of joy.

When we combine the information in the Eddas with consideration of the concepts concerning the Squirrel on the Tree the result is an intriguing image. My thoughts on this depiction are of joy, of play, and of care for the future. It is my long standing opinion that one of the great goals of a heathen living upon Midgardh is to live fully, such as with joy. Another is to be responsible, such as laying away food. For these reasons I have felt comfortable praising His Squirreliness, whom I hold in kind eyes. I was surprised to be questioned as to this and happily present the above well touted and much regarded lore as concerns the World Tree Runner in mine and Rat-Tooth's defense.

Ratatosk he is called, the squirrel who lives on the Great World Tree, a holy messenger entrusted to carry the power of words between powerful beings in a mythical place!

The consideration of this still takes my breath away!


As for hailing Rat-Tooth’s kin on Midgardh, watching them brings me joy.

Hail Ratatosk!

Hail his kin!

Frith,
Jackie 

(1)

This is either strophe 32 or 33 depending on the translator’s placement of it in the Grimnisol (Grimnir’s Sayings, The Lay of Grimnir) Section of the Poetic Edda.

Bellows’ translation http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/ ;

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

Larrington’s;

Ratatosk is the squirrel’s name who has to run
upon the ash of Yggdrasill;
the eagle’s word he must bring from above
and tell to Nidhogg below.

Hollander’s;

Ratatosk the squirrel is hight                      which runneth ay
about the ash Yggdrasill:
the warning words                          of the watchful eagle
he bears to Nithogg beneath.

Chisholm’s;

Ratatosk the squirrel is called
who runs on the Yggdrasill ash.
He bares the words of the Eagle above
and tells them to Nithogg beneath.

(2)
In the Gylfaginning of Snorri Sturlson’s Prose Edda High/ Hárr speaks of Ratatosk;

Brodeur translation http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/ ;

XVI. Then said Gangleri: "What more mighty wonders are to be told of the Ash?" Hárr replied: "Much is to be told of it. An eagle sits in the limbs of the Ash, and he has understanding of many a thing; and between his eyes sits the hawk that is called Vedrfölnir. The squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr; and four harts run in the limbs of the Ash and bite the leaves.

Faulkes translation;

Then spoke Gangleri: "What other particularly notable things are there to tell about the Ash?"

High said: "There is a great deal to tell of it. There is an eagle sits in the branches of the Ash, and it has knowledge of many things, and between its eyes sits a hawk called Vedrfolnir. A squirrel called Ratatosk runs up and down through the Ash and carries malicious messages between the eagle and Nidhogg. Four stags run in the branches of the Ash and feed on the foliage.

(3)
Prose Edda, Brodeur translation
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm

XV. Then said Gangleri: "Where is the chief abode or holy place of the gods?" Hárr answered: 'That is at the Ash of Yggdrasill; there the gods must give judgment everyday." Then Gangleri asked: "What is to be said concerning that place?" Then said Jafnhárr: "The Ash is greatest of all trees and best: its limbs spread out over all the world and stand above heaven. Three roots of the tree uphold it and stand exceeding broad: one is among the Æsir; another among the Rime-Giants, in that place where aforetime was the Yawning Void; the third stands over Niflheim, and under that root is Hvergelmir, and Nídhöggr gnaws the root from below. But under that root which turns toward the Rime-Giants is Mímir's Well, wherein wisdom and understanding are stored; and he is called Mímir, who keeps the well. He is full of ancient lore, since he drinks of the well from the Gjallar-Horn. Thither came Allfather and craved one drink of the well; but he got it not until he had laid his eye in pledge. So says Völuspá:

All know I, Odin, | where the eye thou hiddest,
In the wide-renowned | well of Mímir;
Mímir drinks mead | every morning
From Valfather's wage. | Wit ye yet, or what?

The third root of the Ash stands in heaven; and under that root is the well which is very holy, that is called the Well of Urdr; there the gods hold their tribunal.

[snip]

XVI. Then said Gangleri: "What more mighty wonders are to be told of the Ash?" Hárr replied: "Much is to be told of it. An eagle sits in the limbs of the Ash, and he has understanding of many a thing; and between his eyes sits the hawk that is called Vedrfölnir. The squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr; and four harts run in the limbs of the Ash and bite the leaves. They are called thus: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Durathrór. Moreover, so many serpents are in Hvergelmir with Nídhöggr, that no tongue can tell them, as is here said:

Ash Yggdrasill | suffers anguish,
    More than men know of:
The stag bites above; | on the side it rotteth,
    And Nídhöggr gnaws from below.

And it is further said:

More serpents lie | under Yggdrasill's stock
    Than every unwise ape can think:
Góinn and Móinn | (they're Grafvitnir's sons),
    Grábakr and Grafvölludr;
Ófnir and Sváfnir | I think shall aye
    Tear the trunk's twigs.