Ask & Embla

The First Man is named 'Ask' and the First Woman is named 'Embla'; these are said to be trees which is rather a hard concept for most people to understand, not making sense to the intellect. They are usually seen as the Ash and the Elm, respectively, although 'Embla' also suggests 'fire' (embers). But, for now, let us see these as being two trees, and connect them to the End-Times when 'New Life' is hidden in the bole of the World Tree - Yggdrasil. 

It is the Triple Godhead - Woden, Will & Weoh - who form Man out of the already-present living organic matter here symbolised by the two trees. Here we should emphasise that Man is not 'mankind' as we know it today, proven by this Aryan Myth, since there are other races which are not made from the same material. This is made clear in the lore of the Judaeo-Christian Bible where 'man' (small 'm') is created from the clay of the ground which is inert matter. Clay is the soil beneath our feet, but the tree is rooted in the ground, and yet reaches high into the heavens - especially the Ash-Tree. Woden is the Ecstatic Energy, Will is the Will, and Weoh is Holiness. 

Here the important point is that 'man' (lower species) is made up of the inert matter of the Earth, but 'Man' (The High Race) is made from the living, organic matter which is rooted in the Earth, but which is also able to grow upwards towards the heavens - towards the Home of the Gods. This High Race partakes of the past and the future, of the Earth and the Divine, of OS ('God') and AESC ('The Ancestors'). The Man-Rune or 'Rune of Man' is the Rune of our Folk and not of the whole of 'mankind' - it is the Rune of the Thinking Man - Creative Man. The 'High Race' is both the Serpent and the Eagle - the Serpent and the Winged Coiled Serpent.

Likening 'Man' to the trees also suggests mortality, since the trees are not immortal, having a span of life which ends in decay and death. This 'Man' is thus Aryan Man (Race of Hope) and not the 'Shining Ones' or 'Elves' who are immortal, and who were the original Spiritual Race on Earth but who now dwell in the Land of Immortals, outside the material world in another world, a world removed after the Great Catastrophe. In a sense these are the Asmegir (Asa-Powers) who dwell in Odainsacre. They are the 'Coming Race'. 

In regard to 'Embla' and the idea of 'embers' this is merely an idea and has no real basis in Norse Mythology which does not explain the word. However, trees die off and return to the Earth, but wood is also the main fuel used for 'Fire', hence there may be a link here, albeit a very subtle one. If so this is the Feminine Fire and may also be linked to the Elmes-Fire which became Christianised into 'St. Elmo's Fire', this personage being a blacksmith I believe. The smith is the 'Wielder of Fire' and the 'Tamer of Fire', the creative-spirit whose energy is Fire. 

In the Ar-Kan Runes we use the Os-Rune as the 'Rune of Woden' and the AEsc-Rune as the 'Ancestral Rune', linking the latter with the Ash-Tree and with 'Ash' - the 'First Man'. 'Ask' is the Divine Ancestor of the Aryan Race. But, we have no rune for 'Elm' as far as we know. There are certain 'Tree-Runes' within the Ar-Kan Runes -

Ken/Kan - Pine

Feoh - Fir (?)

Thorn - Hawthorn/Blackthorn

Eoh - Yew

Beorc - Birch

Ac - Oak

AEsc - Ash

These are the most obvious but there may be more hidden away within the rune-names or rune-meanings. (Feoh as 'Fir' is merely speculation). The Cweorth-Rune may also be 'Apple' since the Celtic Ogham has 'Quert' meaning 'apple'. This fits with the idea of the 'Way of the Gods' and with 'Immortality' and the 'Tree of Life'. 

This is a very short post but one which is needed to help explain the symbolism of Ask and Embla. When we recognise that 'Ask Yggdrasil' - the World Tree - is at one level the 'White Tree' and represents the White Race then this makes it even more likely that what I have said here is right.