WHY WAS THE ASH SACRED TO THE ANGLO-SAXONS?

The aesc (in Anglo-Saxon) was a sacred tree to our forebears because Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, was said to be an ash. It stood on an island with its roots deep in the underworld and crown in the heavens, although by the settlement era the Anglo-Saxon worldview had modified and the tree had become a column called irmunsul that upheld the world.

If yew represented endurance, oak strength and beech beauty then the ash was the embodiment of life force or ‘healu’. There is coppice stool in Suffolk (eastern province of the angles) that is dated to be over a thousand years old. It is eighteen feet wide and still vigorously productive.

The timber from the ash tree was essential to Anglo-Saxon technology, it furnished weapons for conquest as the spear was made with an ash shaft, indeed, one word for a spear is simply aesc.

Whenever strength was needed in combination with flexility, from wagon axles to tool handles to bows (before yew, ash was used), ash was the wood of choice. Then, as now, it is likely that ash wood was burnt green at hearth and forge, as there was no need to stack and season the timber.

A map of England shows the significance and prevalence of the ash tree, as it is one of the most common component in place names, for example, Ashurst, Ashton (under Lyme), Ashington and Ashford.