The Old Saxon word compound means 'great pillar'. The first element, ('great') is cognate with terms with some significance elsewhere in Germanic mythology. Among the North Germanic peoples, the Old Norse form of is , which just like is one of the names of Odin. Yggdrasil (Old Norse 'Yggr's horse') is a cosmic tree from which Odin sacrificed himself, and which connects the Nine worlds. 19th century scholar Jakob Grimm connects the name with Old Norse terms like (great ground, i.e. the Earth) or (great snake, i.e. the Midgard serpent).