Most trees are admired. Very few are genuinely loved for their history, strength, usefulness, and memories of home. It is a blessing for man, beast, bird and butterfly at some point in every season as it supplies food, protection, and tools. The rowan tree is widely known in European folklore as a powerful symbol of protection against witchcraft, evil spirits, and enchantment. Steeped in mist and mystery, the Rowan tree holds a special place in Celtic folklore. In some versions of Druid and Norse mythology, it was the tree created from dripping blood and tangled feathers of an eagle. The tree is connected to protection from witchcraft, enchantment, danger, or sickness, its pentagram symbol on each fruit (Rosaceae by any other name) a representation of its powers.
Also called mountain ash, you will find it in mannered gardens or deep in the forest. It thrives on cold and exposed hillsides, but bears flowering delicate white blossoms each spring and erupts into red berries in summer. Other names depending on locality are Flying Rowan or The Lady of the Mountain.
Protective Folklore and Charms
- The Pentagram Berry: Each rowan berry features a tiny, natural five-pointed star (pentagram) opposite its stalk, which ancient traditions viewed as a potent protective symbol.
- Red Color Magic: The bright red color of the berries was believed to hold defensive magic against malevolent forces.
- Doorway Crosses: People in Britain and Ireland tied rowan twigs into small crosses using red thread and hung them above doorways or in barns to ward off bad luck, fire, and blight.
- Livestock Safeguards: Farmers stirred milk with rowan wood or placed sprigs over cattle pens to stop milk from curdling and protect animals from spells.
- The Traveler’s Tree: Celtic tradition calls the rowan the “traveler’s tree” because carrying a small piece or staff prevents travelers from losing their way.
Myths and Legends
Taboos: In Scotland and Ireland, cutting down a living rowan tree was strictly considered severe bad luck.
Norse Mythology: A rowan tree famously bent over a fast-flowing river in the underworld to save the god Thor from drowning, allowing him to pull himself to safety.
Flying Rowans: A rowan seed germinating high up in the crevice of another tree or rock was called a “flying rowan” and was thought to possess double the magical power.
Creation and Fairies: Some legends claim the first woman was made from a rowan tree, and the tree itself is deeply tied to fairy folk, who were said to dance beneath its white blossoms.
Now try to sing along without tearing up just a bit.
The Rowan Tree
by Carolina Oliphant
O rowan tree, o rowan tree,
Thou’lt aye be dear tae me,
Entwin’d thou art wi mony ties
O hame and infancy.
Thy leaves were aye the first o spring,
Thy flow’rs the simmer’s pride;
There was na sic a bonnie tree
In aw the countrie side.
O rowan tree.
How fair wert thou in simmer time,
Wi aw thy clusters white,
How rich and gay thy autumn dress,
Wi berries red and bright.
On thy fair stem were mony names,
Which now nae mair I see;
But they’re engraven on my heart,
Forgot they ne’er can be.
O rowan tree.
We sat aneath thy spreading shade,
The bairnies roond thee ran,
They pu’d thy bonnie berries red,
And necklaces they strang;
My mither, O I see her still,
She smiled our sports tae see,
Wi little Jeanie on her lap,
And Jamie on her knee.
O rowan tree.
O there arose my faither’s prayer
In holy evenin’s calm;
How sweet was then my mither’s voice
In the Martyr’s psalm!
Noo aw are gane! We meet nae mair
Aneath the rowan tree,
But hallowed thochts aroond thee twine
O hame and infancy.
O rowan tree.
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