Meaning: Male energies, A Bow
(made of Yew)
Symbolises: Archery, single combat,
Skiing, Skating
Mythology: Ull – The God of Winter
Fylgja: Bear, fox
Class: Yarl
Tree: Yew
Old Norwegian Rune Rhyme:
Yew is the greenest wood in the winter;
There is usually, when it burns, singeing.
Yr is associated with Ull, the god of
winter. He plays very little part in the
stories available to us so that we do not
know all that much about him. We do know his
hall is Ydalir, which means dales where the
yews grow. Yew is the direct meaning of this
rune, the tree is a poisonous evergreen
which commonly grows in country churchyards.
It is a very long lived tree and some
specimens predate Christianity in Northern
Europe. One interpretation of the shape of
the Yr rune is that it represents the three
roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil, usually
referred to as an Ash, but these things are
flexible in mythology. It is thus a doorway
to the underworld of the dead where
knowledge can be obtained which is only
available to the denizens of that region. We
learn most about this rune from the
characteristics of the Yew tree and the best
known product of its timber, the long bow.
As the rune rhyme suggest the yew is a very
important tree in winter, it remains green
throughout and is very securely rooted. This
means that it is a great protector against
winter storms. Other evergreens such as pine
are not strong enough to stand the driving
wind and snow. Yr is a rune of paradoxes,
combining life and death, with its roots in
the graveyard yet living a very long time.
Green leaves which survive even the
bitterest winter storms. Immense resilience
from a combination of outer hardness and
inner flexibility. A poisonous tree which
provides a most efficient method of hunting
fresh food. A timber that burns with an
intense heat yet sustains the fire longer
that any other. It is a rune that symbolises
death, yet it is in facing death with a clam
acceptance that gives the best hope of
surviving single combat. |
