Learnings: The Elk, or Elgr

An elk carved into stone in Scandinavia / Neolithic

The elk's antlers both resembled tree branches and were symbolically connected to them. Just like leaves, the elk's antlers would fall each autumn only to be reborn the following spring. This association with the cycle of life also appeared in algiz, the rune of life, nicknamed "the rune of the elk."

Legendary among elks was Eikþyrnir, a magnificient beast that stood on top of Valhalla, Odin's hall that housed the glorious dead. Waterfalls and rivers were born from his impressive antlers.

Elks and other cervids like reindeer commanded a lot of respect and spiritual reverence from those who lived long before the Viking Age, as this Neolithic engraving shows.