The Anglo Saxon Rune poem verse, taken from the translation by Dickins

The Poplar bears no fruit yet without seed it brings

Forth suckers for it is generated from its leaves

Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned its lofty crown which reaches to the skies

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The customary meaning of birch is unsuitable here, but according to the glosses it can mean ‘poplar’ too: Epinal-Erfurt, 792, <i>poplus: birciae</i>

Corpus, 1609, <i>poplus: birce</i>

Wright, Voc I. 33.2 80.13 <i>byrc:populus</i>

Anecdota Oxon, 56, 364, 365 <i> byric:populus, betula</i>

The grey poplar (<i>populus canescens</i>) is indigenous to England and Western Europe, and is a large tree attaining 100 ft or more in height and 15ft in girth.

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The Norwegian Rune Poem verse (trans: Dickins)

Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub

Loki was fortunate in his deceit

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<i>Bjarkan = Bjork</i> - birch, found only as the name of the letter B in the runic alphabet.

The reference to Loki is doubtless reference to his responsibility for Balders death.

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The Icelandic Rune poem verse (trans: Dickins)

Birch = leafy twig

And little tree

And fresh young shrub

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Bugge reads ‘glorious’ in place of ‘fresh’ which is not found in either Old or Modern Icelandic.

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Blum understands this as a rune of fertility and growth.  Growth may occur over family matters, affairs of the world or relationships.  A rune that leads to blossoming and ripening, it is concerned with the flow and gentle opening of your curious self.  Go into things with care and awareness.  Any dark corners must be cleansed, this must be done diligently and sometimes with professional help.  Use modesty, patience, fairness and generosity as your watchwords.  Feel yourself blossom, slowly and carefully.

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Cooper adds to this by understanding that one of the pagan rites included flagellation with a bundle of birth twigs.  Which makes no surprise that this rune was also used for fertility.  A rune of healing, regeneration and the atonement of past deeds.  In parts of Scandinavia it is still normal for someone coming out of the sauna to roll in the snow and then be beaten with a bundle of birch twigs, which shows how hard some habits die.  It is also a rune of atonement.  A person who has done wrong must be given something to make up for that wrong.  In pagan times, wrongdoing and disease were normally connected.  Both society and body were seen as having a normal state of good health, were this was lacking it was because there was some inhibitor at work. 

The rune is symbolic of all those attitudes.   It is the negation of pollution, carrying the tones of healing, fertility and atonement.

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Svensson interprets this rune as a symbol of fertility drawn to resemble a woman’s breasts.  The birch was a symbol of fertility.  The phallic maypole was traditionally made out of birch and danced around as a symbol of new life.  It symbolises the mother, by that also the child and nourishment.  Effort and attention is required for success and only then if the application is genuine. 

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Aswynn adds to this that in most of the Germanic language this translates as birch, however the Anglo Saxons translated it as ‘poplar’.  The strongest connections are with the Earth Mother style Goddess, connected with mothers, children and fertility.  Birch is one of the sacred trees, the Germanic tribes were nature worshippers.  In Northern thinking it represents the emergence of the agricultural society over the nomadic hunters.  To the Lapps the birch was a tree of life.  Below the birch tree sometimes grows the <i>amanita muscaria</i>, a well known magic mushroom used in rituals to achieve altered states of consciousness.  The bush was seen as a magical tree in medieval Christian society.  Witches were accused of flying on broomsticks made of birch branches and twigs.   This rune represents a process of growth, creativity and maternal growth.

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Willis takes a slightly different view: The moon is a symbol of the Great Mother, it is not surprising to find a keyword for this rune is ‘generation’, both in the sense ‘to give birth to’ and to denote between one age group and the next.  To the Celts the birch was the first month of the new year as Robert Graves points out in <i>The White Goddess</i>.  A rune of birth rather than conception, a fertility rune, indicates a physical birth of an idea or child.  This is always indicative of a tangible result i.e. a birth, increase in livestock or crops.  A rune which governs mother and child.  In particular the period of infancy were the mother guides and controls her child.  All matters to do with infants and the very young.  Such meanings as to nourish, nurse, feed, tend, care for or look after.  With Jupiter being a ruler, the rune generally indicates a positive outcome to any scheme perhaps one which will need to be nursed, although no active opposition is present.  Can represent a member of the immediately preceding generation.  Generally signifies the mother, reinforcing the idea of mother and child.   May also represent a member of the succeeding generation i.e. the questioners children.  Indicates a fortunate happening within the family circle – a family celebration of birth, christening, engagement or wedding.  Something that happens to cause rejoicing within immediate family.  Often indicative of the homemaker.   May describe wife or mother.  Represents the family home.  Stands for the concept of home rather than the house.  ‘home is were the heart is’.  Whether the parents house or their own house.  Family to an unmarried person denotes parents and siblings although to a married person it means spouse and children. 

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Peschel adds that this is seen as a fertility rune of birth and the family.  An event which brings joy.  Represents your true home – not necessarily where you live.  A new beginning.    

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Baggott understands the rune as that of new beginnings and fresh adventures.  When forest or scrubland is destroyed by fire, birch is one of the first trees to re colonise.  Symbolic of new birth and beginnings, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.  The birch has long been associated with purification a birch broom was used to sweep negativity from the house whilst the punishment of birching was said to drive evil from criminals.  The old pagan ritual of beating the bounds to mark land boundaries also utilised birch.

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Osbourne and Longhand:  This is the second plant to appear as a rune in the poem although the identity of the tree is a puzzle at first.  Although it translates as birch in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems, birch does not fit the description given in the verse.  The verse describes a tree whose reproduction does not follow the usual cycle of flower, seed, sapling, tree.  This rune is glossed as populus in some medieval rune lists and indeed the tree described could fit the poplar.  The Black Poplar is a native British tree whose pre-Chaucerian name is not known.  In general poplars produce no seeds in cold northern climates and reproduce completely by suckers.  In the poem it is described as having shining branches, birch bark in young trees is silver coloured, but the leaves of the poplar throughout it’s life shimmer silver in the breeze.  The tree is in touch with the sky, this is of important symbolic value were stars are used as guides.  Black Poplars grow to a height of 80ft were birch grows to an average of 50ft, perhaps less in a cold climate.  This verse contains a warrior image helmet describing a masculine tree whereas the birth is essentially feminine.  The warrior image is that of a Scandinavian –English helmet, like those described in Beowulf and found at Sutton Hoo.  A high made helmet having plates of gold leaf round the crown.  The crown of such helmets would have shone out like beacons.  The trunk of a mature Black Poplar is clear of branches which are confined in a dense crown at the top of the tree.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_poplar)

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Pennick (1995) sees it as the eighteenth rune representing the birch tree.  In Northern traditions eighteen is symbolic of completion ad new beginnings.  Birch is symbolic of regeneration, the female side of magic.  Symbolises purification, powerful in dealing with womens problems.  Birch twigs are used for the brush part of a broomstick and also the maypole.  Its shape represents a womans breasts.  This rune is identified with Belk, the first character of the Ogham alphabet..

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King sees the birch tree, associated with spring fertility rites.  The Anglo Saxon poem describes a poplar rather than a birch.  Norwegian poem attains more to mistletoe..

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Ravenwolf: In Russia birches were tapped and their sap fermented to make alcoholic birch wine.  It is associated with birth, feminine healing and intuition.  New beginnings and possibilities.  Small beginnings with great creative potential.  The rune of health, beauty and love.

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Pennick (1999)* understands it as representing the birch tree (Betel pendulum).  Has connections with the Earth mother, nerthus, Berchta or fran Percht.  The birches white bark is traditionally associated with purification, regeneration and springtime.  Stands for new beginnings, especially in the female sphere.  In folk tradition, birch branches are used for the branch section of a besom broom, sweeping away any bad luck.  In some parts of Europe, whole birch trees are used as maypoles.

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Fenton understands it as being associated with fertility cults, pagan rituals, particularly in spring with the awakening of life force.  New beginnings, expansion, growth and fertility.  The family unit, community parties, celebrations, weddings and births.  Joy in the family.  Also ritual, repetition and familiarity.

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Luxon: Birth regeneration, new beginnings, healing and recovery.  A new project, baby, idea or period of revitalisation is about to come into being.

And finally me:

Interpretation

* = Pennick 1999 is essentially a reworking of his earlier work…

<u>Bibliography</u>

Aswynn, F        1988 <i>Leaves of Yggdrasil</i> ASWYNN

Baggott, A        1999 <i> Runes,</i> Lorenz Books

Blum, R            1991 <i>The New Book of Runes</i> Headline Publishing Plc

Cooper, D J     1987 <i>Using the Runes</i> The Aquarian Press

Dickins, B        (ed) 1915 <i>Runic and Heroic Poems</i> Cambridge University Press

Fenton, S         1988 <i>The Fortune Tellers Handbook</i> Thorssons Publishing Group Ltd

King, B            1997 <i>The Elements of the Runes</i> Element Books Ltd

Luxon, B          1997 <i> Rune Stones</i> Greenwich Editions

Osbourne, M and Longhand, S    1982  <i> Rune Games</i>  Thetford Press Ltd

Pennick, N       1995 <i>Rune Magic</i> Thorsons; an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers

Pennick, N       1999 <i> The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Runes</i> Element Books Ltd

Peschel, L        1988 <i>A Practical Guide to the Runes</i> Llewellyn Worldwide

Ravenwolf, S and Jackson, N  1996  <i>Witches Runes</i> Llewellyn Publications

Svensson, H     1995 <i> The Secret of the Runes</i> Virgin Books

Willis, T            1986 <i>The Runic Workbook</i> Aquarian Press