Tree Top Trumps: Cedar, Oak, Elder

27th November 2023

Seona Anderson

If the Tudors or the Stuarts had played Tree Top Trumps they would definitely have wanted to be holding the Cedar Tree in their hand. It would win on size, strength, building qualities, scent of the wood and hands down on religious significance. Oak trees were also high-status trees with a range of valuable qualities, but they rank below Cedars in Shakespearean cultural tree ratings. Elder would be held in lower esteem, certainly in terms of religious status, but it would gain some points for the elderflower blossoms and also for some practical uses.

The Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) is native to the Eastern Mediterranean and is particularly associated with Lebanon, appearing on the national flag. It is widely planted as an ornamental tree but it is considered Vulnerable (VU) is its native range. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ouadi Qadisha and the Forest of the Cedars of God holds one of the few remaining fragments of the Cedar forests of the ancient world. There are two other Cedar species, the Endangered (EN) Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) of North Africa, and the Deodar or Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara) which is native to Afghanistan, Nepal, North-West India, Pakistan and Tibet.

Shakespeare’s Cedar is the Cedar of Lebanon and, as far as we know, there were no Cedars growing in England during his lifetime. The first Cedar in England was probably supplied by Edward Pocock in the late 1630s, and planted in Wilton, Wiltshire. Cedar trees became increasingly popular additions to the landscape of stately homes and parks in the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the Cedars of Highclere Castle featured in the opening credits of Downton Abbey and the ‘Groby Tree’, a historic Cedar, is cut down and burned in the final episode of the TV adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End. However, for the majority of Shakespeare’s audience this majestic tree was a tree of the mind not of the landscape.

Shakespeare’s contemporary, the herbalist John Gerald, writes of the Cedar in his Great Herbal of 1597, “The Cedar trees grow upon the snowy mountains, as in Syria upon Mount Libanus, on which there remaine some even to this day, saith Bellonius, planted as is thought by Solomon himself.” Even if they had never seen a Cedar the Elizabethans could image the possibility of touching a living tree which had been planted by King Solomon himself, a living link with the Bible.

Why was Cedar so highly esteemed? Cedars appear in many contexts within the Bible. In the Geneva Bible they appear in over 70 verses. In Leviticus Cedarwood is used in ritual purification, King David builds a house of Cedar and his son Solomon builds the temple at Jerusalem from the Cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 104 celebrates the wonders of the natural world and includes the line “the high trees are satisfied, even the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted that the birds may make their nest there”. Cedars were used as metaphors of height, strength and status: Song of Solomon (5:15) “His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.” In Ezekial 31 the Cedar is compared with the power of the Assyrians and the Pharoah of Egypt, “Behold, Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches and with thick shadowing boughs… all the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all mighty nations.” The moral of the chapter is that even the mighty can be brought down by God, even the imperious, lofty Cedar.

Shakespeare brings all of these qualities of the Cedar into his works. Only the highest status individuals are compared with Cedars including Cymbeline and the future King James in Henry VIII. Richard III, Warwick and Coriolanus all compare themselves with Cedars, and Lucrece begs Tarquin to behave more like a king than a brute, “the cedar stoops not to the base shrub’s foot”. There are similarities with the Ezekial verse where the might warrior is brought low by his own arrogance. In Henry VI Part 2 Warwick goes into battle proudly with his crest displayed “as on a mountaintop the cedar shows that keeps his leaves in spite of any storm” (5:1) but in Henry VI Part 3 he is defeated, “thus yields the cedar to the ax’s edge, whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle, under whose shade the ramping lion slept, whose top branch overpeered Jove’s spreading tree and kept low shrubs from winter’s pow’rful wind… Lo,  now my glory smeared in dust and blood! My parks, my walks, my manors that I had even now forsake me; and of all my lands is nothing left me but my body’s length.” (5:2)

Oaks are also high status in Shakespeare and are always used in a positive sense. Oaks appear in 18 of Shakespeare’s plays and poems. They are landmarks in Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Merry Wives of Windsor, they survive thunder storms, they provide timber for ships, they crown brave warriors for saving citizens in ancient Rome, they provide a wild foodstuff, they are the tree sacred to Jove and a place for elves to hide or for Prospero to imprison Ariel. “Though to myself forsworn, to thee I’ll faithful prove. Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers bowed.” (Loves Labours Lost, Act 4, Scene 2: Nathaniel). “Once remove the root of opinion, which is rotten as ever oak or stone was sound.” (Winter’s Tale, Act 2, Scene 3: Paulina)

Oaks continue to be important cultural symbols in many countries. Oaks were sacred to Zeus, Jupiter and Thor and oak symbols are often found in heraldry, military insignia and all types of decorative arts. There are twenty references to oaks in the Geneva Bible of 1599 and it is described as a tree of strength and nobility. AMOS 2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks.

Oaks still important part of our landscape and are found in many parts of Britain and Ireland. English Oak (Quercus robur) and Irish or Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea) are the native species and there are numerous ornamental Oaks in gardens and parks. Many of our most important heritage trees are Oaks including the Birnam Oak in Perthshire.

Elder (Sambucus nigra) on the other hand is often used in a negative sense in Shakespeare. It is the ‘stinking Elder’ of grief in Cymbeline, and Nettles and Elder fringe the grave of the murdered Bassianus in Titus Andronicus. In Love’s Labours Lost Berowne quotes the legend that Judas was hanged on an Elder tree. This is another Biblical tradition which is not found in the texts of the Bible. This Elder legend is found in William Langland’s late 14th century poem, Piers Plowman. The Elder is a low growing shrub which would seem an unlikely choice for Judas. The Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum) is native to Southern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and is said to be named because its petals turned from white to pink when Judas hanged himself from it.

Shakespeare’s trees have a range of cultural associations including Christian texts and traditions, Greek and Roman Mythology, practical uses and observations from daily life. Different elements of the audience may have had slightly differing understandings of these associations but the compulsory, weekly attendance at church would have instilled a strong understanding of the Protestant associations of particular trees.  

More Information

Geneva Bible 1599 Online: Bible Gateway

Gerard, J. 1597 The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, access via Archive.org

IUCN Red List: Cedrus libani, Cedrus atlantica

Oxford Plants 400: Cedrus

Woodland Trust Trees: Cedar, Oak, Elder

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Ouadi Qadisha & the Forest of the Cedars of God