This article was first published on 21st January 2021 on #FolkloreThursday.com under the title Top 5 Trees in Celtic Mythology, Legend and Folklore by zteve t evans. This has been revised and edited 26 February 2024, and some of the images may have differ from the original.
Animism
The ancient Celtic people, as animists, believed that all objects, including trees, had consciousness to some degree. Furthermore, they considered each tree species to possess different properties, which might be medicinal, spiritual or symbolic. Wood was used for everyday needs, including fuel, shelter, tools, and weapons like spears, arrows, and many other items, and provided nuts and berries for food for themselves and their animals. Some species of tree are featured in stories from their myths, legends and folklore, and here we present five trees that played an essential role in these tales and lore.
Oak Trees
The oak was the king of the forest, having many associations throughout the Celtic world with religion, ritual, and myth, and had many practical uses. For the Druids – the Celtic priesthood – it was an integral part of their rituals and was also used as a meeting place. According to the 1st-century geographer Strabo, Druids in Galatia, Asia Minor, met in a sacred grove of oak trees they named Drunemeton to perform rituals and conduct other Druidic business. In 1 AD, Pliny the Elder, writing in Historia Naturalis, documented how a Druidic fertility rite on the sixth day of the moon involved a Druid cutting mistletoe from the branches of an oak and the ritual sacrifice of two white bulls.
Oaks also played essential parts in Welsh mythology. In the Math fab Mathonwy, the last of The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the sorcerers Gwydion and Math create a maiden they named Blodeuwedd or flower-faced from the blossoms of the oak, the broom and meadowsweet. She was made to be the bride of their nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, who could not marry a human woman due to a curse placed on him by Arianrhod, his mother. He married Blodeuwedd, who had never learned the social conventions, never having experienced the learning process of growing up. She had an affair with Gronw Pebyrv, and together, they plotted to kill Lleu. Gronw badly wounded him but, turning into an eagle, flew into an oak tree to escape being murdered. The oak appeared to be a refuge between the living world and the world of death, and he remained there until Gwydion found and cured him.
Ash Trees
The ash tree was the queen of the forest. Ash trees have significance in both Irish and Scottish mythology and folklore. It was believed to have been used in the rites of Beltane and formed part of the sacred trinity of trees with the oak and the thorn. Ashwood was thought to protect against fairies, and their seed pods were used for divination. The Gaels of Scotland used it for medicine and to protect against witchcraft. Its wood was considered especially good for making spears, staffs and wands and was believed to protect against evil. A Druid’s wand made from ash was found on the Welsh island of Anglesey and is thought to date from the early 1st century CE.
In Celtic Ireland, five magical trees protected the land, three of which were ash. The remaining two were an oak and a yew. The Bile Tortan, or the Tree of Tortu, grew in County Meath at Ard Breccan near Navan. This tree reputedly sheltered all the men of Tortu and was thought to have come down in AD 600. The Caeb Daithi, or the Branching Tree of Daithe, grew in County Westmeath at Farbill. The third sacred ash tree was the Craeb Uisnig, which grew on the hill of Uisneach and is considered the centre point of the island of Ireland.
Apple Trees
The apple tree and its fruit had numerous functions in Celtic myth, legend and folklore. Unsurprisingly, apples symbolised fruitfulness and a means to obtain immortality. In Welsh and Arthurian tradition, the Island of Avalon was King Arthur’s final resting place and the home of Morgan le Fay and her sisters. It was also known as the Insula Pomorum or Isle of Apples. In Irish tradition, the magical island of Emain Ablach was also known as the Isle of Apples. A story from the Ulster Cycle, Aided Chon Roí, or the Violent Death of Cú Roí, tells how the soul of Cú Roí was held in an apple that lay in the stomach of a salmon that only ever appeared once every seven years.
Hazel Trees
Hazel trees were significant in Celtic traditions, providing wood and edible nuts. Tara, the religious centre and royal seat in ancient Ireland, was once known as Fordruim and described as a hazel wood. In the Ogham alphabet of ancient Ireland, the letter “C” was represented by the hazel tree. According to Robert Graves, it represented the ninth month of the Old Irish calendar. The Fianna, an elite group of Irish warriors and poets, were expected to defend themselves using only a hazel stick and a shield. In many stories, the hazel without its leaves was considered evil and believed to ooze poison.
In Wales and Ireland, the hazel was considered a fairy tree. Its wood was sacred to poets and deemed inappropriate to use as fuel for fires. Hazel wands were used as badges of office by messengers and couriers. Witches also made their wands from hazel, which were and still are used as divining rods to find underground water sources. In Irish mythology, the poet Finn Eces, also known as Finegas, caught the Salmon of Knowledge. Later, the mythical Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill ate the salmon. The salmon had gained all the knowledge of the world after it had eaten hazelnuts that had dropped into the pool from nine hazel trees that surrounded it. This knowledge was passed on to Fionn after he ate the salmon.
Yew Trees
Yew trees are renowned for their longevity. Scientists use a scientific method called dendrochronology, which examines growth rings to date trees. Dating Yew trees is problematic because their annual growth rings decay in the centre, making it difficult to accurately determine their age by counting tree rings. New techniques have been worked out which may give greater accuracy, though these are sometimes contested. Even so, some people believe there are yews alive today that were growing in Celtic times and maybe earlier.
According to the Woodland Trust, the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is believed to be between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. Possibly an older tree is the ancient yew in the churchyard of St Cynog’s church in Defynnog, which may be up to 5,000 years old. Another yew of similar age grows in the churchyard of St. Digain’s Church in Llangernyw village, known as the Llangernyw Yew. According to legend, every Halloween, a voice from the tree names every one of the local people who will die in the following year. One man named Siôn Ap Rhobert refused to believe this. One Halloween, he waited under the yew to hear whose names would be called out. His name was called, and he died within the year.
The Druids were believed to have regarded yews as sacred and would have been aware of their longevity and regenerative qualities. The drooping branches of old yews, when in prolonged contact with the ground, can take root and form trunks which support the main tree, whose core may be rotting. The needles of the yew were poisonous and could cause death, but its longevity and renewal caused it to become associated with resurrection, consequently becoming associated with death and renewal.
A Threefold Reminder
The trees mentioned here are just a few species the Celts knew and admired. Like many other human cultures, they developed the idea of a Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledge or the World or Cosmic Tree. This unique tree connected the other, or underworld, to the heavens, passing through the earthly world. It was a powerful symbol of the existence of the three worlds and the connections between them. This threefold reminder emphasised the respect and reverence the Celts had for their trees, and many people in the modern world are inclined to believe that we could learn a thing or two from the ancients.
© zteve t evans
References, Attributions and Further Reading
Copyright zteve t evans
- Celtic sacred trees
- Oak To Quintessence (Celtic mythology and folklore)
- The Ash Tree | Ash Tree Books
- The Mabinogion – Sacred Texts
- Ancient yew trees: the UK’s oldest yews – Woodland Trust
- Celtic Dictionary – Article: Hazel – Lyberty
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