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Description
Ratatoskr (Ratr) is a squirrel who carries messages along Yggdrasil, the tree of life. The most regular subscribers to his messaging service are the wise eagle who sits at the top of Yggdrasil, and the hungry dragon, Nidhoggr, who lies coiled among the tree’s roots. Ratatoskr relishes the chance to ferry an insult between these two mighty beasts, and by doing so, he is continually stirring the animosity between them.

Physical Description

Ratatoskr is described as a red squirrel. In ancient artwork, he is depicted with extremely long ears, but this could be an artifact of the art style of the time, rather than a meaningful statement about Ratr’s physique. Texts that describe Ratr don’t mention him having any features that set him apart from your typical bright-eyed and bushy-tailed red squirrel.

Personality

Ratatoskr is regarded as a troublemaker. He enjoys fueling spiteful relationships, and he may sometimes add his own embellishments to the messages sent between the eagle and Nidhoggr the dragon.

Some scholars believe that Ratatoskr may have higher ambitions than just inflaming the fraught relationship between the eagle and Nidhoggr. In some interpretations, Ratatoskr is intent on destroying the tree of life. Because he lacks the strength to do much damage to the tree by himself, Ratatoskr manipulates the eagle and the dragon into attacking the tree, which stands between them and the opportunity to fight each other. Ratr tells Nidhoggr of a particularly vicious comment the eagle made about him, and the dragon gnaws at the roots of the tree, hoping to cause it to fall and crush the eagle. Then, Ratr returns to the eagle with the news that Nidhoggr is gnawing at the tree, in an attempt to do him harm. The eagle begins to pluck branches from the tree and rain them down on Nidhoggr. With his well-placed accusations, Ratatoskr succeeds at doing great damage to the tree of life. Occasionally, the squirrel might even chip into the effort with his reputed “gnawing teeth.”

Ratatoskr - Mythical Creature in Norse Mythology | Mythology.net. Retrieved July 3, 2022, from mythology.net/norse/norse-crea…

P.S. Updated his looks a bit.

Description
Ratatoskr (Ratr) is a squirrel who carries messages along Yggdrasil, the tree of life. The most regular subscribers to his messaging service are the wise eagle who sits at the top of Yggdrasil, and the hungry dragon, Nidhoggr, who lies coiled among the tree’s roots. Ratatoskr relishes the chance to ferry an insult between these two mighty beasts, and by doing so, he is continually stirring the animosity between them.

Physical Description

Ratatoskr is described as a red squirrel. In ancient artwork, he is depicted with extremely long ears, but this could be an artifact of the art style of the time, rather than a meaningful statement about Ratr’s physique. Texts that describe Ratr don’t mention him having any features that set him apart from your typical bright-eyed and bushy-tailed red squirrel.

Personality

Ratatoskr is regarded as a troublemaker. He enjoys fueling spiteful relationships, and he may sometimes add his own embellishments to the messages sent between the eagle and Nidhoggr the dragon.

Some scholars believe that Ratatoskr may have higher ambitions than just inflaming the fraught relationship between the eagle and Nidhoggr. In some interpretations, Ratatoskr is intent on destroying the tree of life. Because he lacks the strength to do much damage to the tree by himself, Ratatoskr manipulates the eagle and the dragon into attacking the tree, which stands between them and the opportunity to fight each other. Ratr tells Nidhoggr of a particularly vicious comment the eagle made about him, and the dragon gnaws at the roots of the tree, hoping to cause it to fall and crush the eagle. Then, Ratr returns to the eagle with the news that Nidhoggr is gnawing at the tree, in an attempt to do him harm. The eagle begins to pluck branches from the tree and rain them down on Nidhoggr. With his well-placed accusations, Ratatoskr succeeds at doing great damage to the tree of life. Occasionally, the squirrel might even chip into the effort with his reputed “gnawing teeth.”

Ratatoskr - Mythical Creature in Norse Mythology | Mythology.net. Retrieved July 3, 2022, from mythology.net/norse/norse-crea…

P.S. Updated his looks a bit.