Irminsul

Irminsul refers to the primordial, silver-white world tree of Teyvat which grows deep underground, sends its roots to the surface, and is connected to the Ley Lines of the world that course with elemental energy.

It has existed since the time of the ancient Dragons, and its roots used to course with Light Realm energy.^[1] When the Heavenly Principles descended upon Teyvat, they greatly modified Irminsul's abilities, allowing it act as a repository of information collected from all over the entire world. It is said that the Dendro Archon's consciousness is directly connected to Irminsul,^[2] and that it itself is the root of Dendro power.^[3]

In the Archon Quest Song of the Welkin Moon: Act X - Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana, after being corrupted by Dottore, a physical manifestation of Irminsul appears in Lokapala Jungle and is later burned and destroyed by Nahida using the power of the Pyro Gnosis, leaving behind only the carbonized underground parts. Subsequently, its role and functions were all assumed by the Aaru system.^[4]

Overview

Irminsul was the repository for all of the information and memories of Teyvat,^[5] which were collected via the Ley Lines.^[6] It is unclear exactly how the repository works, as there was no information on the Traveler in Irminsul by the end of Chapter III^[5] even though many people in Teyvat know of them, whereas information about their sibling was collected. However, the Traveler seems to correctly understand how the repository works.^[5]

Irminsul has existed in Teyvat since before the arrival of the Heavenly Principles.^[1] In the age of the dragons, Irminsul was the first fern to sprout within the lush verdant world of Apep's court, stretching freely toward the sky. As time passed, those first ferns gave rise to trees, roots, leaves, and vines that eventually blanketed the world.^[7] Originally, the Ley Lines flowed with a primitive form of elemental energy known as the power of the Light Realm, and both the appearance and function of Irminsul differed greatly from those of the present day.^[1]

After the arrival of the Heavenly Principles, Irminsul was usurped and refashioned, the power of the Light Realm was diluted into elemental energy of the Human Realm, and the tree itself was transformed into a device meant to record and preserve all information in Teyvat. In addition, it was used as an anchor for the fate of the world, to maintain the constant flow of erosion through the Ley Lines, and to serve humanity.^[1][8] For example, the prophecy of Fontaine was "carved" into Irminsul, which made it, at least nominally, immutable.^[9]

In Teyvat, Irminsul is connected to Petrified Trees (Domains), Ley Line Outcrops and Ley Line Blossoms, which can be revitalized with Original Resin or Condensed Resin.^[10][11] Irminsul's roots also pierce through the surface in a few select areas of Teyvat.

Tighnari states that Irminsul grows downwards rather than upwards, from a cavern located deep underground, and that Ley Lines — described as the roots of Irminsul — spread and extend from the cavern all the way to the surface.^[6] Judging from this description, any part of Irminsul that reaches the surface is presumably the very ends of the tree's roots. It's possible that Irminsul itself was located either in or near the abyss, given how branches of Irminsul can be found there,^[12] and branches would typically be found after falling from/breaking from a tree.

The innermost region of Irminsul consists exclusively of torrents of information. Physically navigating it requires great caution, as it is possible to get "lost" among the currents. Additionally, small saplings — packets of information — will sometimes spontaneously sprout out of the ground. Touching these can teleport someone to a different location in the space.^[13]

The "heart" of Irminsul is a giant glowing tree at the "center" of the inner region. It appears to sprout out of a cleft in the ground, and its branches visually resemble the connections on a circuit board.

In the event that Irminsul's functions are threatened, the Heavenly Principles ensured that a portion of its power would be reserved to isolate Sumeru in the event of its destruction, buying time for the rest of Teyvat.^[14]

Modifications

Information is normally added to Irminsul via the Ley Lines, which continually absorb the world's memories.^[6] Those who are not from the world of Teyvat, such as Descenders, do not have records in Irminsul.^[5][13] Individuals who can connect to Irminsul can directly access the information stored in its repository.^[5][13]

Information can be purged from Irminsul. Doing so removes all traces of that information from Teyvat as it originally existed. The purging of information requires power on the level of a god. Beings, including gods, can be purged, but a being cannot successfully purge itself from Irminsul owing to the logical paradox of self-deletion.^[15][16] Irminsul may also manipulate certain information when an unrecordable entity tries to compete for a name tied to a predetermined fate in Teyvat. In the event this occurs, information about the deviant entity's nature will be slowly forgotten - first from strangers, and then by its close friends, and ultimately by its own self - until its behaviour and memories comes into line with what fate originally decreed.^[17]

To accommodate the loss of information, anything pertaining to information that belongs to the world of Teyvat may be changed, ranging from people's memories to physical objects such as books and letters. However, the actual events, their overall results, and overarching historical impacts remain unchanged. Those who belong to the world of Teyvat, including the Archons, can have their impressions of Teyvat's history altered; they will be unaware of any such changes. Notably, Paimon is also affected.^[5][15]

Steps can be taken to ensure that lost information is preserved or retrieved, such as abstracting information in a way such that the information "still resonates with the present information recorded in Irminsul."^[16] The successful preservation and retrieval of information that is purged from Irminsul is presumably difficult to do without the aid of someone who never lost that information, such as the Traveler. To this end, much information could have been purged from Irminsul without anyone remembering (apart from other Descenders) prior to the Traveler's arrival in Teyvat.

If the information removed is that of an entire being, then the consequences of their actions and existence remain in the world. For example, the rainforests of Sumeru created by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata remained after she was purged from Irminsul, and the history of the tradition of forest dwellers offering Rukkhashava Mushrooms to Sumeru Akademiya was preserved even though it is implied through the updated Archive description that the reason behind the Akademiya's receipt of Rukkhashava Mushrooms no longer exists. In addition, immediately following Nahida's removal of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Nahida still felt sad even though she only remembered that she had just successfully removed the pollution from Irminsul.^[15] Later, Nahida is also able to tell that she was once supported by a certain "warmth" that is implied to be Greater Lord Rukkhadevata or her memory.^[18] In addition, after Scaramouche attempted to purge himself from Irminsul, the Traveler personally verifies that the consequences of all that he did still remained, but are remembered to have happened for different reasons or with different actors.^[19]

The removal of information appears to only happen once. Removed information that is preserved or retrieved by those who belong to Teyvat does not disappear again.^[16]

Likewise, steps can be taken to ensure that the Ley Lines will accept information of a specific entity. Andersdotter's Durin was initially rejected by Irminsul and scripted to share the same fate as the one created by Rhinedottir upon physically entering Teyvat, as he was unaffected while in Simulanka. Steps taken by the Hexenzirkel and the Traveler allowed Andersdotter's Durin to become accepted by Irminsul as a different entity.^[20]

Unlike item descriptions, Weapon and Artifact descriptions seem to be immune to changes in Irminsul's repository.^{[Note 1]} Presumably, they exist solely for players.

Notable Parts of Irminsul

This is a list of parts of Irminsul's roots that players can find in the current version of Teyvat, referred to as "withered trees" by Paimon due to their appearance (although they could also be referred to as "Petrified Trees", "Irminsul Trees" or "Irminsul Roots").

Their wood is silver-white colored with glowing blue streaks running throughout. The areas where these roots are located also all seem to have strong Ley Line disorders which change the surroundings in various ways, likely connected to the presence of the roots. Interestingly, the locations of these withered trees are also all in the same locations that Celestial Nails are implied to have once landed.

Withered Trees

• The "Frostbearing Tree" on the eastern side of Sal Vindagnyr (Dragonspine)
  • For reasons unclear, Celestia sent the Skyfrost Nail to destroy the tree long in the past, an event that turned the region's climate into that seen in modern-day Dragonspine. During the cataclysm five hundred years ago, Durin was slain over the region and his blood revived the tree. As a result, the streaks of the tree have turned red instead of blue.
• The withered tree on a small island further east of the Frostbearing Tree in Sal Vindagnyr (Dragonspine)
• The withered tree located in the green area of the map in the top right of The Chasm: Underground Mines
• The withered tree besides "Boatman" near Shirikoro Peak, Tsurumi Island
• The withered tree rooted behind the central island of the Orchard of Pairidaeza (Eternal Oasis), Mt. Damavand

Other Similar Trees

• The Dragon-Queller, the large tree atop Azhdaha in Nantianmen, looks similar to the other withered trees due to its blue streaks, but it does not have the signature silver-white bark, and so is not related to Irminsul or the other withered trees.
• The Sacred Sakura atop Grand Narukami Shrine is similar in appearance with blue streaks, but also has brown bark like the Dragon-Queller. We also see that the Sacred Sakura is planted using its own seed in Raiden Shogun's Story Quest, Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II - Transient Dreams, so it cannot be connected to Irminsul.
• The Weeping Willow of the Lake in Erinnyes Forest displays the same blue streaks once purified, but also lacks the silver-white bark of Irminsul trees.

Trivia

• The Prototype Crescent bowstring is made of Irminsul branches that were retrieved from the abyss.
• Irminsul is shown to have a clear sky above it after being purified.
• The Aranara refer to Irminsul as "Sarva" (Sanskrit: सर्व "whole, entire, all").^{[Note 2]}
• Truly Ancient Petrified Trees (the same trees found in Domains, presumed to be connected to Irminsul due to their association with Ley Lines & their visual appearance) usually grow to around one or two miles in height and a kind of large spider lives around their roots.^[26]
• The Irminsul trees and blossoms in the world are said to intertwine at the deepest, most hidden place in the earth, and the pattern the root system makes defines the Ley Lines of the world.^[10]
• The Hexenzirkel organization conducts Irminsul explorations.^[27]
• Irminsul trees can produce a crystalline fruit, as seen in the Energy Amplifier Initiation event. Hosseini, a Sumerian researcher, is currently studying these fruits.
• It is possible, though difficult, for people to connect their consciousness to Irminsul via meditation. However, many cannot handle the experience and end up going insane.^[28]
• The Wanderer confirms that he was originally constructed from the branches of a white tree using Khaenri'ahn mechanical engineering technology. When Albedo questions whether that tree was Irminsul, Wanderer clarifies that it was specifically a branch once connected to the main Irminsul tree.^[29]
  • Given Dottore used the same Khaenri'ahn techniques to construct his Segments,^[30][4] and the blue skin of the Heretic of the False Moon, Dottore's Segments are likely similarly constructed from Irminsul wood.

Etymology

• In Germanic paganism, an Irminsul is a sacred pillar-like object, typically made of wood.
• The proper noun "Irminsul" appears only in English texts among the four major supported languages. The Chinese text does not have proper nouns or consistent terms for these ancient silver-white trees. This results in inconsistent localizations among the other languages. See the table below for comparison.
  • All instances of "Irminsul" in Sumeru-related quests were referred to as "world tree" (Chinese: 世界树) in the East Asian languages.
  • The lore for the catalyst Frostbearer translates "silver-white tree" in Chinese (Chinese: 银白之树) literally instead of localizing it as "Irminsul." This may be due to the fact that the tree was not referred to as an "ancient tree" (Chinese: 古树).
  • All instances of "Irminsul" in the Energy Amplifier Initiation event were instead expressed as "Ley Line" in the East Asian languages.

Gallery

At the Irminsul, the decisive battle draws near...

Destruction of Irminsul initiated by the Dendro Archon using Pyro Gnosis

Innermost part of Irminsul tree

Petrified Tree

Concept art for a domain and its tree

Ley Line Blossom — Blossom of Revelation

Ley Line Blossom — Blossom of Wealth

Ley Line Blossom — Trounce Blossom

Ley Line Blossom — Trounce Blossom (Stygian Onslaught)

Ley Line Blossom — Infected by Dottore

Dead Ley Line Branch

Dead Ley Line Leaves

Ley Line Sprout

Wanderer's Core

Notes

Other Languages

Change History

References

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