In one embodiment a variable barrel shifter includes a shifter operable to apply a cyclic shift to each of a number of portions of a data word, a pivot circuit operable to swap sections of the data word around at least one pivot point in the data word, a first multiplexer operable to select between an input of the variable barrel shifter or an output of the pivot circuit as an input to the shifter, a second multiplexer operable to select between the input of the variable barrel shifter or an output of the shifter as an input to the pivot circuit, and a third multiplexer operable to select between the output of the shifter or the output of the pivot circuit as an output to the variable barrel shifter.