RUNE LORE

News - Added 11/05/20

Hallo, 
a lot has changed since I originally wrote the following post. In the time since then I explored the runic origins and their use in early magic. The result of this research is my book, Stone Mad Runes; Drinking at Mimir's Well.

It goes into some depth about the history and use of the futhark runes, and each symbol is pared back to its origins. It is also filled with my illustrations from various sketchbooks. 

Available here:

Reviews are encouraging :>

"A thorough and enlightening journey through the runes, this has revived my interest in these symbols. While most people think of the runes as a divination system and modern interpretations have been layered onto the symbols, this book provides the older, deeper, broader meanings, allowing for greater understanding of the symbols, and their power."



And now, after the hard sell,  back to the post :>

One of my carved rune sets - see link below for more details

I know that I hung on the wind battered tree

Nine full nights,

Pierced with the spear

And given to Odin,

Myself to myself

On that tree which no one knows

Whence the roots come.

They did not comfort me with the loaf

Nor with the drinking horn,

I glanced down;

I took up the runes,

Crying out their names,

I fell back from there.

Nine mighty songs I took*

This is how the discovery of the sacred runes is described in the Havamal, an ancient poem that tells of Odin’s self sacrifice on the world tree and how, in a state of religious ecstasy, he ‘discovered’ the runes. But what is a rune?  Etymologically speaking runár was an  old Germanic and Celtic word that designated magic secrets, while Gothic runa indicated a sense of a secret decision,  rūn is old Irish for  mystery, secret purpose, and Finnish runo refers to epic and magical chants. These appear to stem from the Proto  Indo-European Reu - to roar and to whisper.

Orkney futhark

There is little doubt that before they were transcribed runes were linguistic tools. The earliest records of symbolic runes, as we know them today, come in the form of runestaves that were in use from about 50 CE. Though the runic system mutated considerably, it was still being used in Iceland in the 1700's (The Icelandic book known as the Galdrabok details various spells and charms featuring the use of runes and runic talismen).

Page from the Galdrabok

However there are different versions concerning the origin of the runes - one is that it developed via Roman trade routes in Germanic tribal locations, and was a system based upon Latin - another is that it developed during a period of Hellenic influence, or that it developed in the north of Italy, via  Etruscan and Italic tribes, and went north. Each theory is valid, and each has its drawbacks, but I’m not going to go into them as all are fairly speculative. Perhaps the myth of how Odin hung on the world tree for nine days and nights is sufficient enough. *

Etruscan alphabet

The Roman author Tacitus wrote about the Germanic tribes and wrote :

“Augury and divination by lot no people practice more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment. The public questions the priest of the particular state, in private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes toward heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according to the mark previously impressed on them.”

We cannot be sure if the marks were runes but the passage is certainly evocative of such. 

The original 24 runic symbols became known as the elder futhark (the name futhark/futhorc deriving from the first letters of the runic sequence). However younger futhark developed around the  7th c. AD from the elder. The Anglo Saxons also had their own runic alphabet too, but obviously runes  mutated depending on region. In the megalithic tomb known as Maeshowe, on the island of Orkney, there is some brilliant examples of runic graffiti. Some are carved in a form known as ‘twig-runes’. 

In Northumbria the runic inscriptions that survive are mainly of Christian subjects, such as the Rood poem on the sandstone cross at Ruthwell, Dumfries and Galloway. So even though their origins are most certainly pagan, they were used by Christians too. 

Orkney twig runes

Runes were also carved on more perishable material that no longer survives. They also  appeared on weapons such as the spearheads from Dahmsdorf and Kovel - early examples of the symbolic power associated with the runes: just as one might engrave a wolf onto a sword to invoke the power of the wolf, so too runes invoked different meanings.  They were used to protect, to give power and to curse. 

Runes were often carved into staves and then reddened with sacrificial blood, thus enhancing the potency of the device. This is evidenced by certain inscriptions that appear to be meaningless barrages of repeated letters: the repetition of a particular rune was meant to enhance its power.

Kovel spearhead

A scatter of runic poems survive to this day. Some are pretty cryptic. Sometimes they agree with each other, but not always. Below I have provided the verses of these  poems beneath each rune. 

1 - OE - Old English rune poem

2 - OI - Old Icelandic rune poem
3 - ON - Old Norwegian rune poem

FEHU/ FE

Wealth is a comfort to any man

yet each person

must share it out well

if he wants to win

a good name before his lord

OE

Wealth is kinsman’s quarrel

the flood-tide’s token

and necromancy’s road

gold

OI

Money/wealth causes kinsen’s quarrels;

the wolf is reared in the forest

ON

URUZ/UR

Aurochs are fierce and high-horned

the courageous beast fights with its horns

a well-known moor-treader

it is a brave creature

OE

Drizzle is the cloud's tears

and the harvest’s ruin

and the herder’s hate

Shadow

OI

Slag is from bad iron;

oft lopes the reindeer over the frozen snow

ON

THURISAZ/THURS

Thorn is painfully sharp to any warrior

seizing it is bad,

excessively severe

for any person who lays among them

OE

Giant is women’s illness

and a cliff-dweller

and Vardhrun’s husband

Saturn

OI

Giant’s cause women’s sickness;

few are made cheerful by adversity

ON

ANSUZ/ASS

God (Odin) is the origin of all language

wisdom’s foundation and the wise man’s comfort

and to every hero a blessing and hope

OE

God (Odin) is progenitor
and Asgard's chief
and Valhalla's leader

Jupiter

OI

Estuary is the way for most onward journeys:

and the scabbard is the sword’s

ON

RAIDO/REITH

Riding is for every man in the hall

easy and strenuous for he that sits upon

a powerful horse along the long paths

OE

Riding is sitting joyful

and a speedy trip

and the horse's toil

Journey

OI

Riding they say is for horses worst;

Reginn hammered out the best sword

ON

KENAZ/KAUN

Torch is known to each living thing by fire

radiant and bright

it usually burns where nobles rest indoors

OE

Sore is children’s illness

and a battle journey

and putrescence’s house

Whip

OI

Sore is the disfiguring of children;

adversity renders a person pale

ON

GEBO

Gift is an honour and a grace of men

a support and adornment

and for any exile

mercy and sustenance when he has no other

OE

WUNJO

Happiness he cannot enjoy who knows little woe,

pain and sorrow

and has for himself

wealth and joy

and sufficient protection too

OE

HAGALAZ/HAGALL

Hail is whitest of corn

from heaven’s height it whirls

wind blown 

it becomes water after

OE

Hail is cold seed

and a sleet shower

and snake’s illness

Hail

OI

Hail is the coldest of seeds;

christ shaped the heavens in fore times

ON

NAUTHIZ/NAUTH

Need is hard by the heart

yet for men’s sons it often becomes

a help and healing if they need it before

OE

Need is a bondswoman’s yearning

and a difficult circumstance

and drudging work

work

OI

Need renders little choice; 

the naked will freeze in the frost

ON

ISA/ISS

Ice is too cold and extremely slippery

glass clear it glistens most like gems

a floor made of frost

fair in appearence

OE

Ice is a river’s bark

and a wave’s thatch

and doomed men’s downfall

ice

OI

Ice is called a bridge road;

the blind need to be led

ON

JERA/AR

Harvest  is Men’s hope when god allows

- holy king of heaven

the earth to give up

fair fruits to warriors and to wretches

OE

Year/harvest is men’s bounty

and a good summer

and a full grown field

year

OI

Year/harvest is men’s bounty;

I guess that generous was Frodhi*** 

ON

EIHWAZ/YR

Yew is an unsmooth tree outside

hard, earthfast, fire’s keeper

underpinned with roots

a joy in the homeland

OE

Yew is a bent bow

a fragile iron

the arrow’s Farbauti ****

OI

Yew is the winter-greenest wood;

and is found wanting, when it burns, to ignite

ON

PERTH

Gaming is always play and laughter

to proud men… where warriors sit

in the beerhall happily together

OE

ALGIZ

Elk-grass most often dwells in a fen,

grows in water, harshly wounds,

marks with blood any warrior

who tries to take it

OE

SOWILO/SOL

Sun to seamen is always a hope

when they travel over the fish’s bath

until the sea-steed brings them to land

OE

Sun is the cloud’s shield

and a shining ray

and ice’s old enemy

wheel

OI

The sun is the land’s light;

I bow to holy judgement

ON

TIWAZ/TYR

Tyr is one of the signs, holds faith well

with noblemen, on a journey is always

above night’s gloom, never fails

OE

Tyr is a one-handed god

and the wolf’s left-overs

and the temple’s chief

Mars

OI

Tyr is the one-handed god;

oft will a smith be blowing

ON

BEORC/BJARKAN

Birch is fruitless, yet bears

shoots without seeds, 

is pretty in its branches,

high in its spread

fair adorned

laden with leaves

touching the sky

OE

Birch is a leaf covered limb

and a slender tree

and a spritely wood

fir tree

OI

Birch is leaf-greenest of limbs;

Loki bore treachery’s fortune

ON

EIHWAZ

Steed is nobleman’s joy before heroes

a hoof-proud horse

where about it warriors

rich in stallions

exchange words

and is always a comfort to the restless

OE

MANNAZ/ MATHR

Man is clear to his kinsmen in mirth

yet each one must fail the others

since by his judgement the lord wishes

to commit the poor flesh to earth

OE

Man is man’s pleasure

and mould’s increase

and a ship's embellisher

man

OI

Man is mould’s increase;

great is the grip of the hawk

ON

LAGUZ/LOGR

Water is seemingly endless to men

if they must fare on a tilting ship

and sea-waves frighten them mightily

and the sea-steed does not heed the bridle

OE

Sea is a welling water

a wide kettle

and a fish’s field

lake

OI

Water is, when falling out of a mountain, a cascade;

and costly ornaments are of gold

ON

INGWAZ

Ing was first among the East Danes

seen by men until he later eastwards

went across the waves

the waggon sped behind them

thus the hard men named the hero

OE

OTHALA

Homeland is very dear to every man

if there rightfully and with propriety

he may enjoy wealth in his dwelling generally

OE

This list is not exhaustive, but the main runes are covered in all these poems. 

You should also keep in mind that  runic symbols have often been appropriated by less savoury elements of the political spectrum. The Nazis famously used the Sowilo symbol, just as they staked a claim on the swastika and perverted its  significance. Today right-wing groups still like to think that Norse mythos bears something in common with the dumb racial doctrines they aspire to, but these ideas are a throw-back to Germanic nationalism of the 1800's - equally as blind and untrue as they are nowadays. 

Runes also feature in loads of fantasy, and were  brought into the public imagination by the fantasy author J.R.R Tolkien, who used a form of runic script for the Dwarfs. He borrowed heavily from Norse and Germanic literature for Lord Of The Rings.  

Personally I like the runes, I find that they work for me. Like any form of divination or augury  I use them with caution, sometimes skeptically, and never too often. I have carved them for years and they always feature at my stall as wee charms. I find many people identify with them, from all cultures and all ages, and that's the way it's meant to be. 

I recommend the books  below and that you check my FaceBook page, like it and have a look at what I do.

notes:

* 
(or in Larrington’s version)

I took up the runes. screaming I took them

Then I fell back from there.

Nine mighty spells I learned from the famous son**

Of Bolthor, Bestla’s father

And I got a drink from the precious mead

Poured from Odrerir

** it is interesting to note that, in the poem quoted above, Odin takes nine mighty spells from the giants. It was also another giant, Alsvidr, who knew the secrets of the runes. 

***One of great knowledge - might refer to Christ at the time but was used in relation to older pagan deities originally.

****Loki’s father - a ref to the action of the bow’s flinging the arrow.

Reference

Gods Of The Ancient Northmen - Geoges Dumèzil  

Runelore - Edred Thorsson 
The Rune Primer - Sweyn Plowright
Rudiments of Runelore - Stephen Pollington
Runes - Martin Findell