CHAPTER II.
PRIMITIVE AND SAVAGE NOTIONS RESPECTING PLANTS The descent of the human race from a tree--however whimsical such a notion may seem--was a belief once received as sober fact, and even now-a-days can be traced amongst the traditions of many races.[1] This primitive idea of man's creation probably originated in the myth of Yggdrasil, the Tree of the Universe,[2] around which so much legendary lore has clustered, and for a full explanation of which an immense amount of learning has been expended, although the student of mythology has never yet been able to arrive at any definite solution on this deeply intricate subject.

Without entering into the many theories proposed in connection with this mythical tree, it no doubt represented the life-giving forces of nature.

It is generally supposed to have been an ash tree, but, as Mr.Conway[3] points out, "there is reason to think that through the confluence of traditions other sacred trees blended with it.

Thus, while the ash bears no fruit, the Eddas describe the stars as the fruit of Yggdrasil." Mr.Thorpe,[4] again, considers it identical with the "Robur Jovis," or sacred oak of Geismar, destroyed by Boniface, and the Irminsul of the Saxons, the _Columna Universalis_, "the terrestrial tree of offerings, an emblem of the whole world." At any rate the tree of the world, and the greatest of all trees, has long been identified in the northern mythology as the ash tree,[5] a fact which accounts for the weird character assigned to it amongst all the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations, frequent illustrations of which will occur in the present volume.

Referring to the descent of man from the tree, we may quote the Edda, according to which all mankind are descended from the ash and the elm.