Driftwood

As driftwood is called wood floating on water or has been driven by wind, tides, circulation or general sea to the shore.

Driftwood can be:

• A tree, or part of a tree that has been torn by natural exposure of the substrate and rinsed in water
• Parts of the building or household who is advised by flood, tsunami or wind into the water
• Wood, which was intentionally placed in the water, but has dissolved from its mounting
• Remains of wooden ships or boats
• Shipment that has gone overboard

In the area of the Arctic driftwood was often the only source of wood for Inuit and other peoples living beyond the Arctic tree line before a more intense commercial contact with southern countries arose.

In Germanic story of creation, the first man of Odin, Honir and Lodur were carved from driftwood. From an ash tree they carved the man Ask and the woman Embla from an elm. Ask and Embla were the first parents of the human race.