Ask B 2 Embla as Arrow B 2 Bow.

Somewhere within a long & very, very speculative post I found, there was a supposition about Ask & Embla being made from Ash & Elm. Given the prehistorical scale of mythic time the NorsePlay was that they're the two types of wood that get paired up as the two Mesolithic hunter choices to make a bow & arrow. Ash grows straight and so is ideal for arrows. Elm is flexible and is used for bows. While I haven't seen this association repeated anywhere else, it does address the why behind the choices of those specific trees, why they compliment each other, and why the specific gender assignations are applied to types of trees via their uses.


This attractive speculation aside it could just more simply be a verbally alliterative reason, or a localized growth factor of those trees being complimentarily found together in a certain area, but perhaps it could be all three of the above.

[the Hedeby/Haithabu (825~850 CE) bow illustration above and actual find below]


By the Viking Age, Yew was the most choice material for bowmaking, but it's thought that whichever wood was locally at hand got used for bows & shafts, which is Viking pragmatism at work.

[tip of the hat to Digable Planets for this blog's titular lyrical reference, idea sourced from I Is God website here.]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

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