Runes: a brief description

Runes are the letters of some Germanic languages, used before the adoption of the Latin script and Christianity. The runes were also used for divination. According to Hovamol [Hávamál] (Sayings of the High, the old Edda), Odin learned the secret of the Runes while hanging from the ancient oak Yggdrasill for nine days and nine nights, pierced by the spear. Gungnir as a sacrifice to himself:

Wounded, I hung from a windswept gallows

For nine long nights

Pierced by a spear, promised to Odin,

Offered, myself to myself

The wisest do not know where it springs from

The roots of that old house

They gave me no bread

They didn’t give me mead

I looked down;

with a loud cry

I took runes;

I fell from that tree.

Out of his desire to become the wisest God, Odin also sacrificed his eye. The importance of Odin’s sacrifice to himself is best seen in the fact that victims of ritual human sacrifice to this god were often pierced by the spear, and ritual hangings were of particular importance in the worship of Odin. Odin was often known as the Lord of the Gallows or the Hanging God (Hangadrott).

There are two versions of how mortal men learned the secret of the Runes.

According to Rigsthula (Rigsþula, the old Edda), Heimdal [Heimdallr] raised three children, ancestors of three classes: servants (Thrall), farmers (Karl) and nobles (Jarl). Jarl passed the secret of the Runes.

Another version tells of a man named Kettil Runske who stole three rune staves from Odin, thus learning runic magic. The story was presented by the exiled Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus in his History of Gentibus Septentrionalibus (1555).

The three best known runic alphabets are Elder Futhark [Fuþorc] (150 to 800 AD), the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc [Fuþark] (400 to 1100 AD) and the Young Futhark (800 to 1100 AD). The Futhark Younger would later evolve into three runic systems: Marcomannic Runes, Medieval Runes, and Dalecarlian Runes.

The name Futhark is an acronym for the first six Runes (Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raidho, Kenaz). The difference in pronunciation (Futhark and Futhorc) is due to the different voices of the vowels in the Germanic languages.

Runes were widely used for divination, healing, and many other magical purposes. Runic magic is called Seid [Seiðr]. Female runic magic practitioners were called Völva (plural Völur), while some Anglican sources refer to them as Spakona (plural Spakonur) gold Seiðrkona. The men practicing runic magic were called Seiðrmadr. The literal translation of the word Völva is “the one who carries the staff of the Rune”. The term was sometimes used for Seiðrmadr too. Archaeological discoveries show that Völur were members of high society, which is clearly seen in the rich tombs in which they were buried.

The meaning of the Runes is described in Hávamál (stanzas 147-165). Today, there are three interpretations of the Runes (runic poems): the Icelandic rune poem, the Norwegian rune poem, and the Anglo-Saxon rune poem.

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