Trees have played an important role in many of the world's mythologies and religions. They have come in a variety of different forms and seem to have many different meanings. The most ancient cross-cultural symbolic representation of the universe's construction is the world tree. Other examples are Yggdrasil and the modern tradition of the Christmas Tree in Germanic mythology, the Tree of Knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, and the Bodhi tree in Buddhism. In some religions, such as Hinduism, trees are said to be the homes of tree spirits.
Various forms of trees of life also appear in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. These often hold cultural and religious significance to the peoples for whom they appear. For them, it may also strongly be connected with motif of the world tree.
The tree, with its branches reaching up into the sky, and roots deep into the earth, can be seen to dwell in three worlds - a link between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is also both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance; and a masculine, phallic symbol - another union.
Fictional trees
A number of fictional "tree-beings" were also inspired by folklore and mythology, or taken directly from them. Some examples are:
- Telperion & Laurelin (Tolkien's Middle-earth)
- Ents and Huorns (The Lord of the Rings)
- Treant (Dungeons & Dragons)
- Unnamed Talking Trees (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
- The Great Deku Tree (The Legend of Zelda Series)
- Justin Tree (Piers Anthony's Xanth)