Note 217 — SECTION VII. ZOOLOGICAL NOTES (ANIMALS WILD AND TAME)—NOTES ON FLORA—AGRICULTURE AND CATTLE-BREEDING—FISHERIES AND FISHING—INDUSTRY AND EMIGRATION.

Etymologically, Reynir is applied to a cousin, the rowan tree, or mountain ash (Pyrus aucuparia), especially sacred to Thor. Hence the Vikings were called ash-men, because they sat under the sacred ash, which defended them from the evil eye.