Category: Norse Magick

Discussing the vast world of Nordic magick such as Seiðr, Galdur and the lesser known.

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Web of Wyrd: The Symbol of Fate Explained

I have been asked a lot lately about the more modern symbol used within the Norse Pagan community known as the Web of Wyrd so today I will do just that. The symbol itself first appeared in print in the 1990s but the term Web of Wyrd or spining the web of Wyrd (fate) can be found mentioned in several poems and Sagas such as the Helgakviða Hundingsbana I – The First Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer, Darraðarljóð (Song of Darraðar) and Völundarkviða – The Lay of Völund. It can also be said that this symbol is made up of the entire Elder Futhark Runes which can easily be seen.

The first known appearance of the symbol occurs in German occultist Jan Fries’s Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick (1993, Mandrake of Oxford). Two versions of form A occur within the book: Form A.1. appears on the book’s cover, A.2. on its title page, and A.1. appears again on page 326.

The book itself contains a variety of references to English occult figure Aleister Crowley, typical of English language European occult circles in the early 1990s. While Fries’s book contains three instances of the symbol, nowhere in Helrunar does Fries mention or otherwise discuss it. Whether the symbol originates from this text or was otherwise known in occult (and modern pagan circles) at the time remains unclear. Continue reading HERE.

Wyrd is a concept at the theological heart of Ásatrú and Heathenry. For many of those who practice one of the modern forms of the Old Way, wyrd is a core element of worldview. It stands behind, runs through, and supports our words and deeds. It connects each individual’s present moment to her past actions and to the actions of those around her. It forms a constantly shifting matrix that connects us all as we move through our intersecting lives.

The word wyrd itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon. In the main volume of An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller, the first translation given for wyrd is “what happens,” followed by “fate, fortune, chance.” In the dictionary’s supplement, additional translations are presented: “what is done, a deed, an action.”

The Old Norse cognate for the term is urðr, which An [Old] Icelandic-English Dictionary by Richard Cleasby and Guðbrandur Vigfússon translates as “a weird, fate.” The same word is used in medieval Icelandic literary sources as the name for one of the three Norns who sit at the well under a root of the World Tree and “shape men’s lives.”

The Oxford English Dictionary entry for weird gives a wide range of definitions, including “the principle, power, or agency by which events are predetermined,” “that which is destined or fated to happen to a particular person,” “what one will do or suffer,” and “a happening, event, occurrence.” SOURCE.

Fate – Wyrd/Urd

Further Resources

The web of Wyrd, the matrix of fate (Skuld’s Net)

The Web of Wyrd Symbol, Meaning And Origins Explained

The Web of Wyrd

Web of Wyrd & Fate

The Web of Wyrd – Yggdrasil – The Tree of Life



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Bindrunes and the Ægishgjálmr

A practical bindrune may combine two or more runes to form a single design representing the runic powers of the included runes. The purpose of the bindrune is to enable a controlled release of those runic energies for the benefit of the user, or someone he or she wants to help or influence.

Bindrunes can only be used to help people, not to harm them. Any attempt to place a curse, prevent a person doing something, or to make something nasty happen to them will inevitably backfire on the user. However there are some Galdrastafurs that exist with the sole purpose of causing damage to others or things but unless you are a skilled practitioner of Norse magick I highly suggest you do not attempt to use them.

Although a bindrune is a blending of runic characters, each rune included in the design has to retain its own individuality, it has to be visible as an entity within the whole. I find it is best to limit the design to no more than four, or maybe five characters at the most, so that it can still be symmetrical, balanced and pleasing to the eye.

There are exceptions to this rule, however. Some very ancient and highly effective bindrunes incorporate 6, 7 or even 8 different runes. But generally speaking, the simpler the design, then the more effective the bindrune will be.

Bindrunes are devised for specific purposes. They can generate mental activity such as memory, logic, emotion, enlightenment, strength of will, courage, fairness, clarity of thought. They can aid physical actions too, such as health, strength, speed, endurance, and all the 5 senses.

Bindrunes can produce a runic field of energy to protect your person, your home or possessions, your job or your business good-will, and they can enhance relationships by encouraging harmony, partnership, love or sexual attraction.

You could easily draw a bindrune on a piece of paper, wood, stone or anything and carry it with you hoping that it will have some effect. But the un-empowered bindrune will be so weak that you would probably not notice any difference. For a bindrune to work effectively it must be empowered in the correct way which for me really involves your intentions because intentions and even your mood and emotions have energy which can unintentionally be woven into the bindrune and that potentially will cause it to have the wrong effect.

The purpose of this Icelandic magic stave (galdrastafur) is “að fá bón sína”, meaning “to get your wish”. This scan is from an original early 19th century manuscript, copied most probably from mid to late 1600s
Some Bindrunes and Their Meanings

The Helm of Awe

Norse Bindrunes

Galdrastafir: Icelandic Magical Staves

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Völva: The Shamanic Seeress of the North

The Völva in Norse Paganism is in my opinion the most sacred title that can be bestowed upon a Woman who has worked tirelessly with unwavering dedication to practicing and learning the secrets and magick that is Seiðr and Galdur. It is not something just anyone can call themselves. It is a name with a history dating back thousands of years even before the Viking Age. Women as Shamans in ancient Scandinavia and across Europe has been found through Archeological evidence from the Bronze Age. It is a tradition of spiritual beliefs, medicine, divination and more passed down through the generations. Years ago I met a woman born and raised in Iceland. We quickly became good friends and to this day I consider her like a sister of mine. She also happens to be a truly recognized Völva not only in Iceland but across Europe and elsewhere. She learned the secrets and practices of a Völva from her Mother who learned from her Mother and so on going all the back to when Iceland was settled during the late Viking Age. I can honestly say that not only am I proud to be her friend but feel a true gratitude and unbelievable privilege that she has mentored me during the years and she even has gone so far to share with me things regarding this sacred magick I hold closely guarded myself. So with that said I feel the need to share what I feel are some of the best resources to learn more about the Völva.

Remember this as I have been saying this for years. No one can just become a Völva or self proclaim this title. The Völva is chosen, granted the title and only after showing that they themselves are worthy.

In the Sagas, seeresses called völur (plural) have been described. The word völva (singular) means a carrier of the wand. Usually, a völva was an older woman who traveled around helping people with her magical skills.

“There was in the settlement the woman whose name was Thorbjorg. She was a prophetess (spae-queen), and was called Litilvolva (little sybil). […] It was a custom of Thorbjorg, in the winter time, to make a circuit, and people invited her to their houses, especially those who had any curiosity about the season, or desired to know their fate. […]

The women formed a ring round about, and Thorbjorg ascended the scaffold and the seat prepared for her enchantments. Then sang Gudrid the weird-song in so beautiful and excellent a manner, that to no one there did it seem that he had ever before heard the song in voice so beautiful as now.”

Read full article HERE

Weaving the Dead: Völvas and Their Analogues in Europe

Völva, a Shamanic Seeress

A seeress from Fyrkat?

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Learn about Rune Kennings

Rune Kennings are associated with ancient Icelandic poetry but can also be found in such tales as the famous Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf. But they certainly are most prevalent with Runic text of Iceland.

I have studied them for years now and still continue to explore deeper into them even to the point of creating my own.

Two books which you can find a great list of Rune Kennings are Sorcerer’s Screed: The Icelandic Book of Magic Spells and Icelandic Magic: Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires.

Learning resources:

Spelling with rune kennings

Guidelines for translating kennings

https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/db.php?id=447&if=runic&num=1&table=doc&fbclid=IwAR2OCtPIlM7pwptkp_EY9IvizjWo7E0OXOscOQtJoaRpbWMgPOMd49QXJHI

The Poet’s Vision: An Overview of the Kenning in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry

https://www.academia.edu/4661868/The_Poets_Vision_An_Overview_of_the_Kenning_in_Anglo-Saxon_and_Old_Norse-Icelandic_Poetry?fbclid=IwAR2OCtPIlM7pwptkp_EY9IvizjWo7E0OXOscOQtJoaRpbWMgPOMd49QXJHI

The Rune Poems

https://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html?fbclid=IwAR0yVnlqoPthppR1-1S_ssRUuTJfRbt6uPRRcMRCCs-VYx12w2qpWOHykzY

What is a Kenning?