Dagenham Idol of Scot's pine

The choice of this evergreen wood, the damage to the figure's eye and its ambivaalence could all be significant. In later Norse mythology, for example, the sacred tree Yggrrasil xas an evergreen and provided a framework for the cosmos and a ladder between sky, earth and underworld. The god Odin hung himself on the tree and sacrificed one of his eyes in order to gain wisdom from the springs that flowed from its foot. As a shaman, Odin was also perceived as sexually ambiguous. Viewed in this way, the pubic hole of the much earlier Dagenham figure would also have allowed it to be seen as plausibly female or, with the addition of a wooden peg or penis, as plausibly male. Found at Rainham Marshed in Dagenham, the original is now in the Colchester Museum.这种常绿木材的选用、雕像眼部的破损及其双重属性，均具备重要研究意义。例如在后世北欧神话中，神圣巨树尤克特拉希尔（Yggrrasil）为常绿树，它不仅构建了宇宙的框架，更成为连接天界、尘世与冥界的天梯。主神奥丁（Odin）曾悬于此树之上，献祭自身一目，以从树根涌出的泉水中汲取智慧。作为萨满形象的奥丁，亦被认为具有性别模糊性。以此视角观之，年代更为久远的达格纳姆雕像（Dagenham figure）耻骨处的孔洞，既可使其被合理地认定为女性形象；若加装木栓或阴茎造型构件，则可被合理地认定为男性形象。该雕像出土于达格纳姆的雷纳姆沼泽（Rainham Marshes），其原作现收藏于科尔切斯特博物馆（Colchester Museum）。