Prose Edda — Old Norse facing a living language
Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hvat er fleira at segja stórmerkja frá askinum?" Hárr segir: "Margt er þar af at segja. Örn einn sitr í limum asksins, ok er hann margs vitandi, en í milli augna honum sitr haukr, sá er heitir Veðrfölnir. Íkorni sá, er heitir Ratatoskr, renn upp ok niðr eftir askinum ok berr öfundarorð milli arnarins ok Níðhöggs, en fjórir hirtir renna í limum asksins ok bíta barr.
Then Gangleri asked: "What other great wonders are there to tell about the Ash?" High said: "There's much to tell. An eagle sits in the Ash's branches, and knows a great deal, and between his eyes sits a hawk called Vedrfolnir. A squirrel called Ratatosk runs up and down the length of the Ash, carrying spiteful words between the eagle and Nidhogg.
Þeir heita svá: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Duraþrór. En svá margir ormar eru í Hvergelmi með Níðhögg, at engi tunga má telja. Svá segir hér: 24. Askr Yggdrasils drýgir erfiði meira en menn viti; hjörtr bítr ofan, en á hliðu fúnar, skerðir Níðhöggr neðan. Svá er enn sagt: 25. Ormar fleiri liggja und aski Yggdrasils en þat of hyggi hverr ósviðra apa.
Four stags run in the Ash's branches, biting the shoots — they're called Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, Durathror. And so many snakes lie in Hvergelmir with Nidhogg that no tongue can count them. So it says here: The Ash Yggdrasil / suffers more hardship than men know: / a hart bites it from above, / its side is rotting, / and Nidhogg gnaws it from below.
Góinn ok Móinn, þeir eru Grafvitnis synir, Grábakr ok Grafvölluðr, Ófnir ok Sváfnir, hygg ek, at æ myni meiðs kvistum má. Enn er þat sagt, at nornir þær, er byggja við Urðarbrunn, taka hvern dag vatn í brunninum ok með aurinn þann, er liggr um brunninn, ok ausa upp yfir askinn, til þess at eigi skuli limar hans tréna eða fúna.
And it also says: More snakes lie under Yggdrasil / than any fool could imagine: / Goin and Moin, sons of Grafvitnir, / Grabak and Grafvollud, / Ofnir and Svafnir — / these, I think, will always be gnawing / the tree's branches. It's also said that the Norns who live by Urd's Well take water from the well every day, along with the mud that lies around it, and pour it over the Ash, so that its branches won't wither or rot.
En þat vatn er svá heilagt, at allir hlutir, þeir er þar koma í brunninn, verða svá hvítir sem hinna sú, er skjall heitir, er innan liggr við eggskurn, svá sem hér segir: 26. Ask veit ek ausinn, heitir Yggdrasill, hárr baðmr, heilagr, hvíta auri; þaðan koma döggvar, er í dali falla; stendr hann æ yfir grænn Urðarbrunni.
And that water is so holy that everything that touches it in the well turns as white as the membrane inside an eggshell, as it says here: I know an ash standing, called Yggdrasil, / a tall tree, holy, drenched in white clay; / from it come the dews that fall in the valleys — / it stands forever green over Urd's Well.
Sú dögg, er þaðan af fellr á jörðina, þat kalla menn hunangfall, ok þar af fæðast býflugur. Fuglar tveir fæðast í Urðarbrunni. Þeir heita svanir, ok af þeim fuglum hefir komit þat fuglakyn, er svá heitir."
The dew that falls from it onto the earth, people call honeydew, and bees feed on it. Two birds are raised at Urd's Well — they're called swans, and every swan since has come from that stock."