Yew

General Information

Yew is a tree or shrub which belongs to the taxaceae family, and there are about eight species natives to the Northern Hemisphere [1]. The yew needs a nutritious soil and prefers mixed forests. The height of the yew is between 10 to 18 meters [2]. The yew is a conifer which is always green and the needles of the yew are soft and relatively wide. There are trees which have male blossoms and others that have female blossoms. Its poisonous seeds ripen in fall, first in a green fleshy seed coat, which later turns red. Both the seeds the needles are poisonous as well for humans and also to many animals. Only the fruit surrounding the seed is not poisonous. The poison of the yew can kill a human within one and one and half hours [3]. Europe’s oldest yew is in Scotland it is estimated to be around 5000 years old [4].

Symbolic

It has to be considered whether Yggdrasil, the Nordic tree of life from the myth "Edda", is a yew. Yggdrasil is the most beautiful and sacred tree in the myth “Edda”, whose branches spread from heaven to earth, thus connecting the earth with the land of the gods. Yggdrasil is described as "wintergreen needle ash", so that lead to the assumption that Yggdrasil is an ash. But an ash is not always green, so a presumption was made that it was actually a yew, which is always green [5].

Reincarnation through regeneration is the renewal of trees that are old and reach the ground to turn into new tree stumps and form new trees. That would make the yew immortal. The tree connects the dead with the living and thus forming a pathway into the underworld. However evil is not able to hold on to the trees and the yew guards the underworld and protects the souls from evil spirits. On the other side, Romans saw the tree as a symbol of death [6].

Interpretation of the yew regarding the short story Mr. Jones

„ […] gardens with clipped yews as ornate as architecture as ornate as architecture“([7] p.595) shows how important the tree is for Mr. Jones and the people living there. The gardener has to put a lot of work into it.

The tree could be Mr. Jones pathway into the mortal world. In this regard, the tree of life this could be what keeps him alive. Lastly, the tree symbolizes death.

[1] “Yew”, Encyclopaedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/plant/yew (05.04.2019)

[2] Hofmann, Helga (2012): Bäume und Sträucher. Die wichtigsten Arten entdecken und bestimmen. Gräfe Und Unzer Verlag, München.

[3] “Eibe”, Botanikus.

https://botanikus.de/informatives/giftpflanzen/allegiftpflanzen/eibe/ (05.04.2019)

[4] “5000 Jahre: Europas ältester Baum in Wales gefunden”, AvenitaNet.

https://www.avenita.net/medien-5000-jahre-europas-altester-baum-in-wales-gefunden /?fbclid=IwAR1qyx2_uf_AhLTGAnPui4JJ8dkRdzAYrVlceyyv2Bmw9-bFReHkyE7iczg (05.04.2019)

[5] “Mythen”, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. http://www.unigoettingen.de/de/mythen/60944.html (06.04.2019)

[6] “ Mythologie und Bedeutung der Eibe”, Engel und Elfen. https://www.engelundelfen.com/natur/ueber-baeume/die-eib (06.04.2019)

[7] Lewis, Richard Warrington Baldwin (1968): The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton – Volume 2. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.