Don't know if this has been pointed out already, but:
The story of Master Ash, his house, and Ragnarok is tied very much to Norse mythology. The house compares with, as someone earlier said, the world-tree Yggdrasil(sp?). In Norse mythology, it was said that the world would end when a dragon eats the sun. In Dr. Talos' Play, the Prophet says a worm devours the heart of the sun, or something to that effect. "Worm" is an old term for "dragon" in English.
Christopher R. Culver <crculver at aol.com>
http://members.aol.com/crculver/index.html