Planting of the First Tree
It is said that when Esi-kurre first came down from the High Forests he was sore disappointed not to find any trees to climb and jump from. Seeing many of the ancient squirrels fleeing from predators and having nowhere to hide when the moles and rabbits filled every hole in the ground, Esi-kurre asked the Allfather for leave to plant trees so that the squirrels could take its seeds across the world so they would always have safe havens like the rabbits and the moles. Allfather bestowed a golden fircone on Esi-kurre and gave him wings that he could fly across the world and spread the seeds to grow grandfather trees for all to enjoy shade and protection.
As Esi-kurre flew across the northern reaches, the seeds fell from the cone and where they landed grew giant golden trees. Marveling at the trees, Esi-kurre stopped to perch on a branch but the seeds kept falling from the cone, causing copses of smaller trees to spread around the grandfather tree while he wasn't looking. By the time Esi-kurre made it to the savannahs in the south the cone was spent. When he was done planting the grandfather trees, Esi-kurre returned to the tallest of them and looked out over all the northern reaches and laughed, jumping from branch to branch, joyous that some of the beauty of the High Forests had been brought to the world below.
Summary
Esi-kurre planted the golden fir trees (grandfather trees) to give the squirrels and other climbing/flying animals places to hide from predators.
Variations & Mutation
Several different tribes have their own version of the story with Esi-kurre replaced with one of their gods, but the details remain mostly unchanged.
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