Editing World tree (section)

=== Motifs ===
The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Paliga|first1=Rodica|title=Le motif du passage. La sémiotique de l'impact culturel pré-indoeuropéen et indoeuropéen|journal=Dialogues d'histoire ancienne|date=1994|volume=20|issue=2|pages=11–19|doi=10.3406/dha.1994.2172|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/dha_0755-7256_1994_num_20_2_2172.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Lintrop2001/> As George Lechler also pointed out, in some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree.<ref name="The Tree of Life in Indo-European a">{{cite journal|last1=Lechler|first1=George|title=The Tree of Life in Indo-European and Islamic Cultures|journal=Ars Islamica|date=1937|volume=4|pages=369–419|jstor=25167048}}</ref>

==== Zoological imagery ====
According to [[Vladimir Toporov]], animal species are commonly distributed along the parts of the tree: between its roots, figure "chthonic animals", such as snakes and frogs, but he also mentions [[aquatic animals]] such as otters, beavers, and fishes, as well as dragons; the middle part of the tree is reserved for hoofed animals such as deer or elk (sometimes bees), and on the topmost part perches the "principal" bird, or a pair of birds sat on either side of the tree crown.<ref name="Toporov 1990 46–63 48"/>

A bird perches atop its foliage, "often .... a winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm.<ref name="Annus, Amar 2015. pp. 289-290">Annus, Amar & Sarv, Mari. "The Ball Game Motif in the Gilgamesh Tradition and International Folklore". In: ''Mesopotamia in the Ancient World: Impact, Continuities, Parallels. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium of the Melammu Project Held in Obergurgl, Austria, November 4–8, 2013''. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH. 2015. pp. 289–290. {{ISBN|978-3-86835-128-6}}.</ref><ref name=Lintrop2001/> The [[eagle]] seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity.<ref name=Norelius2016>{{cite journal|last1=Norelius|first1=Per-Johan|title=The Honey-Eating Birds and the Tree of Life: Notes on Ṛgveda 1.164.20–22|journal=Acta Orientalia|date=2016|volume=77|pages=3–70–3–70|doi=10.5617/ao.5356|s2cid=166166930|doi-access=free}}</ref> Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld".<ref name="Annus, Amar 2015. pp. 289-290"/><ref name=Lintrop2001/>