Berkano Rune Meaning — the Birch and the ᛒ Rune Explained
Berkano (ᛒ) is the eighteenth rune of the Elder Futhark and it means "birch" — the birch tree, one of the first to leaf out each spring. It carries the sound b and appears in all three historical futharks: as Berkano in the Elder Futhark, Bjarkan in the Viking-Age Younger Futhark, and Beorc in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
ᛒ
What does Berkano mean?
The name is a straightforward Proto-Germanic word for the birch tree, and all three rune poems keep that same reading — unlike many runes in this row, Berkano's meaning did not fracture between the Norse and Old English traditions. Birch is a pioneer species: it is often among the first trees to take root in cleared or burned ground, growing quickly and putting out catkins before most other trees have leafed out. That biological fact made it a natural symbol of growth, renewal and new beginnings.
The Old English poem adds a detail worth noting honestly: it says the birch "bears no fruit" yet still "puts out shoots without seed," which puzzled early translators, since birches do produce seed. Read charitably, the poet is most likely describing how a birch sends up new shoots from its root system even without visible flowering or fruiting — an image of resilience and renewal rather than a literal botanical claim.
Berkano in the three rune poems
Bjarkan er laufgrønstr líma; Loki bar flærða tíma.
"The birch is greenest-leaved of boughs; Loki brought the luck of lies." — Norwegian Rune Poem, c. 13th century
Bjarkan er laufgat lim ok lítið tré ok ungsamligr viðr.
"The birch is a leafy twig, a little tree, a wood still young." — Icelandic Rune Poem, c. 15th century
Beorc byþ bleda leas, bereþ efne swa ðeah tanas butan tudder, biþ on telgum wlitig, heah on helme hrysted fægere, geloden leafum, lyfte getenge.
"The birch bears no fruit, yet puts out shoots without seed; fair in its boughs, tall and crowned, laden with leaves against the sky." — Old English Rune Poem, c. 8th–9th century
Both the Norwegian and Icelandic poems dwell on the birch's youth and abundant leaves, but the Norwegian poem's second line — pairing the tree with Loki and "the luck of lies" — is a genuine puzzle; most scholars read it as a rhyme-driven pairing rather than a real mythological claim about the tree. The Old English poem instead focuses purely on the tree's vigorous, fruitless growth.
How to write Berkano
Berkano stands for the sound b. Any name or word containing a B will use ᛒ when transliterated — try it in our free rune translator, which writes your name in the Elder, Younger or Anglo-Saxon rows and lets you download it as a poster. The full texts of all three rune poems, with our translations, are on the same page.
Berkano, growth and renewal
Because the birch is one of the first trees to green each spring, Berkano is consistently read as a rune of growth, renewal and new beginnings — and, by extension, fertility and the maternal, given the tree's fast-multiplying, seed-scattering habit. You can read every rune in order in our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide, and runic inscriptions appear across our Viking jewelry collection.
Berkano FAQ
What does the Berkano rune mean?
Berkano (ᛒ) is the eighteenth rune of the Elder Futhark and means "birch." It represents growth, renewal and new beginnings, and its sound value is B.
What letter does Berkano represent?
The consonant B. Its Younger Futhark form is Bjarkan and its Anglo-Saxon Futhorc form is Beorc — both also meaning "birch."
Why is the birch tree associated with renewal?
The birch is a pioneer species that is often among the first trees to take root in cleared ground and the first to leaf out each spring, which made it a natural symbol of growth and new beginnings in the Norse and Anglo-Saxon rune poems.