Rite of the Nine Roots

The myth

In the sources Yggdrasil has three roots, not nine. Yet nine is a sacred number in Norse tradition: at the start of the Völuspá the seeress says she remembers nine worlds and the glorious tree beneath the earth; Odin hung nine nights upon it; and Heimdall was born of nine mothers. The tree is also a house full of residents, from the squirrel Ratatoskr to the serpents and harts that gnaw it. The Rite of the Nine Roots is a MYTHENOR creation: those who live in the tree join together to awaken it.

Why it has this power

An Uncommon ritual: it offers Ratatoskr, the Yggdrasil Bark-Beetle and the Living Root of Yggdrasil to summon Yggdrasil Awakened, an Epic with DEF 3000. The squirrel, the beetle and the root, the card says: three modest cards, one with just ATK 400, call forth the tree that holds up the worlds.

Did you know

In Bellows's translation of the Völuspá, the seeress remembers nine worlds and the nine in the tree, a line whose meaning is still debated.

Connections

Where to get it

• Daily Offering: 0.45% per pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Welcome Pack: 1.1% per pack (Uncommon 30% per card)
• Traveler's Pack: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Bronze Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Silver Reliquary: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Golden Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 35% per card)
• Daily Showcase: Shows up on about 0.98% of days · 400 gold
• Craft with card dust: 100 dust

Sources

1. Yggdrasill — Encyclopaedia Britannica
2. Nine Realms of Norse Cosmology — Joshua J. Mark
3. The Poetic Edda: Voluspo — Henry Adams Bellows (trad./trans.)