Eihwaz rune meaning: history, poems and modern reading

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

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Eihwaz is rune 13 of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, and the fifth rune of the second aett. It stands for the sound ï / æ, and its reconstructed name means “yew”. Modern readers link it with endurance and resilience. On this page I start with what the evidence says, then the three medieval rune poems, and only then the modern meanings, so you can always see which layer you are reading.

At a glance

• Shape: a vertical stave with a short branch slanting down to the right from the top, and another slanting up to the left from the bottom
• Sound: uncertain, a front vowel, usually written ï or æ
• Reconstructed name: *īhwaz or *īwaz, “yew” (probable); spellings vary
• Later names: Old English ēoh or īh, “yew”; the Norse yew name ýr passed to a different rune
• Position: second aett, rune 13

Reconstructed names carry an asterisk because no early source writes them out in full. Scholars work them out from the later Old English and Old Norse names and from related words in other Germanic languages. Where the reconstruction is uncertain, I say so below.

The shape

Eihwaz is an upright stave with a short branch slanting down to the right from the top and another slanting up to the left from the bottom, like a long, angular S. Draw the stave first, then the two small strokes at the ends. It looks the same when turned around, so most readers do not read it reversed.

A good way to learn Eihwaz is to draw it ten times in a row on scrap paper, saying its sound aloud each time. Then draw it once more beside its neighbors in the futhark, so your hand learns the differences as well as the shape.

In the record

Historical This rune is one of the puzzles of the Elder Futhark. Its name is usually reconstructed as meaning “yew,” on the evidence of Old English ēoh, “yew,” but the exact early form is debated, which is why you will see Eihwaz, Eiwaz, Ihwaz, Iwaz, and Eoh in different books. They are all modern attempts to write the same uncertain word. This site uses Eihwaz. Do not confuse Old English ēoh, “yew,” with eh, “horse,” which is the name of Ehwaz.

Its sound is even less certain. It clearly represented a vowel made at the front of the mouth, somewhere between i and e, but scholars disagree about exactly what. It is rare in inscriptions. It was dropped from the Younger Futhark, but the Norse name for the yew, ýr, was given to the last rune of the younger row, which developed from the Elder Futhark z-rune. That is why the Norwegian and Icelandic yew stanzas appear here only for comparison. On the Kylver stone, Eihwaz comes straight after Perthro; on the Vadstena bracteate the two change places, and this site follows Vadstena.

The yew is an evergreen tree that can live for well over a thousand years. Its springy wood was the best for longbows.

The rune poems

Historical Old English (author’s rendering): The yew is a tree coarse on the outside, hard and holding firmly to the soil, keeper of fire, braced from beneath by its roots, a delight on a homestead.

Old Norwegian, stanza for the younger rune ýr (author’s rendering): Of all trees, the yew keeps greenest through the winter; when it burns, it usually sizzles.

Old Icelandic, stanza for the younger rune ýr (author’s rendering): Yew: a bow bent tight, and iron that snaps easily, and the arrow’s harm-striker (fárbauti, which is also a giant’s name). The Latin gloss is arcus, “bow.”

The English stanza praises the yew as tough, deep-rooted, and useful, a “keeper of fire,” perhaps because its dense wood burns long, and a joy to have on one’s land. The Norse stanzas, though they belong to a different rune, show the yew as evergreen and as the wood of the bow.

All three poems have a stanza for Eihwaz, which is a help: when an English poet and two Scandinavian poets describe the same rune name, we can compare what they agree on and where they differ.

A word about these sources. The Old English poem survives only because George Hickes printed it in 1705, before the manuscript burned in 1731. The Norwegian poem was printed by Ole Worm in 1636, before its manuscript was lost in the Copenhagen fire of 1728. The Icelandic poem is usually dated to the fifteenth century. All three are medieval and Christian, so they tell us what the rune names meant to later readers, not what the first carvers believed. The renderings above are my own brief, literal ones.

Modern meanings

Modern Keywords: endurance, resilience, steadfastness, deep roots, transformation, life and death, protection, the world tree.

Modern readers read Eihwaz as endurance and resilience: something that holds firm, like a deep-rooted evergreen. Because the yew is long-lived, evergreen, and poisonous, and is often found in churchyards, many modern readers associate it with life and death, the cycle of transformation, and the connection between worlds. Some identify the yew with Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse myth, which the poems call an ash; this is a modern and much-debated idea. A thoughtful reading might ask what is helping you stand firm, or what is ending so that something else can begin.

Reversed: Eihwaz looks the same when turned upside down, so it has no reversed form.

Eihwaz in a reading

Modern Here is how Eihwaz might speak to three common kinds of question. These are examples of modern reading, not rules, and your own response to the rune comes first.

• A question about change. Eihwaz points to endurance through change, like the yew that stays green all winter. Ask what in you stays steady while things move.
• A question about a long project. Eihwaz can suggest slow, deep growth. Yew trees take centuries. Some good things take years.
• A question about an ending. Eihwaz is often linked in modern reading with life and death, but it never predicts a death. It can point to a natural turning point and the strength to meet it.

If you draw Eihwaz with other runes, read them together. Ask what Eihwaz adds to the picture, then look at its neighbors in the spread. A rune reading is a prompt for reflection. It does not predict events, and it never replaces medical, legal or financial advice.

Eihwaz in a three-rune spread

In a simple three-rune spread of situation, challenge and next step, Eihwaz changes its voice with its place. As the situation, it describes where things stand, with endurance in the foreground. As the challenge, it asks whether something about resilience is missing, overdone or out of balance. As the next step, it suggests one small, practical action in the spirit of resilience. Read the other two runes first, then come back to Eihwaz and ask how it changes their story.

Eihwaz as a tattoo or symbol

On its own, Eihwaz is a letter for the sound ï / æ and the name of a thing, “yew”. Anyone who reads runes will see it that way first. If you want it as a tattoo, a piece of jewelry or a mark in your journal, take your time: check the form against a reliable chart, because a small change of angle can turn one rune into another. Eihwaz is easy to confuse with Sowilo, so compare the two before you decide. Because this rune has a history of misuse, read the note below first, and use the plain historical form.

Reflection questions

• What keeps me rooted when life is difficult?
• Is something in my life ending, or changing form, rather than disappearing?
• Where do I need to bend, like a good bow, rather than break?

A week with Eihwaz

Draw a simple tree with deep roots. Label the roots with the things that sustain you: people, places, habits, beliefs. Label the branches with what you hope to grow. Keep the drawing in your journal.

To get the most from the week, keep the entries short and honest. On the first day, write what Eihwaz means to you before you read anything else. On the last day, read that first note again and add one line about what changed. You do not need special tools: a notebook, a pen and the rune drawn at the top of each page are enough.

Cautions and a note on misuse

Because of the link between Eihwaz and the yew, some people want to make rune sets or rune staves from yew wood. Please do not. No rune set needs yew; if you want the connection, draw Eihwaz on a card or on a disk of birch or beech. Every part of the yew except the red flesh around the seed is poisonous, and the seeds are especially toxic. Swallowing yew can cause a slow, fast, or irregular heartbeat, seizures, breathing trouble, and collapse. Keep yew leaves, seeds, and shavings away from children and pets. If someone may have swallowed any part of a yew, seek emergency medical help at once.

Eihwaz itself has rarely been used as a hate symbol, but it is often confused with signs that have. The Wolfsangel, a heraldic sign used by some Nazi units and by some extremist groups today, has a similar hooked look. It is a heraldic device, not a rune, and it has no place in the historical futhark. If you wear or display Eihwaz, use its plain historical form, avoid combining it with other symbols associated with hate groups, and be ready to explain what it means to you. Context decides.

I explain the wider history, and how to tell innocent use from hateful use, on runes and misused symbols.

Related runes

• Jera comes just before Eihwaz in the futhark. Modern keywords: harvest, reward, cycles.
• Perthro comes just after Eihwaz. Modern keywords: mystery, the unknown, chance.

To see all twenty-four runes side by side, with their sounds and the three aettir, go to the Elder Futhark. For where the runes came from, read the history of the runes, and when you are ready to draw runes for reflection, start with how to cast runes. Everything else is on the runes hub.