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Myrkrúnar: The Dark Runes

In my personal practice of divination and spiritual magick I have studied all the variants of Runes for many years even going beyond the Elder Futhark such as the Svartrúnar, Venedské Písmo (Vendic/Slavic Runes), Dvergadylgjur and more. I find them extremely fascinating and am always drawn to learn more in order to evolve myself regarding them and my personal practice. Years ago I came across an amazing book which I simply had to get and fortunately was able to even though all editions of it are out of print. The book is called Myrkþursablót: Nightside of The Old Norse Mythology by Niðafjöll & Wilthijaz Yggr. Within the amazing contents of this book are the Myrkrúnar (The Dark Runes). The simplest way I can describe these Runes are that they are the yin to the yang of the Elder Futhark. In other words the “Left hand path” of Runic divination and could be considered a part of the “Dark” Runes of divination such as the Svartrúnar, Tröllaletur, Úlfurrúnar and a few others I study and use. Today’s blog post I will cover in detail the Myrkrúnar in hopes to give those interested a better understanding of them.

Before I begin I want to add this note. I understand that there are PDF copies of this book in its three editions available free to download online but I will not be including said links on this post. However if you wish on your own time to search for them then by all means have at it.

This is my personal copy of the Myrkþursablót Second Edition I fortunately was able to acquire years ago.

Directly from the Myrkþursablót

When it comes to runic magic and meditation, the Uþark row as coined by philologist Sigurd Agrell is the main system used within Myrkþursablót. The Uþark row represents death through primordial darkness (Uruz) and the glorious reward of spiritual rebirth (Fehu). The Uþark row is seen as a journey from dark to light as you travel from each rune to reach the end of the row. After great extensive study, meditation and ritual, the Uþark row grants its wisdom to those
who are willing to begin walking its path and learn its secrets for it is a dark and misty dirt road into unknown wilderness which offers no guide.

For more information on the rune system, one would be wise to read the volumes Die spätantike Alphabet-Mystik und die Runenreihe (“The Alphabet- Mysticism of Late Antiquity and the Sequence of the Runes”) by Sigurd Angrell, or Uthark: Nightside of the Runes by Thomas Karlsson.


The following is my personal understanding of the Uþark row, within the
Myrkþursablót tradition as used from the basis of the Elder Fuþark.

Myrkþursablót

Uruz // The rune of Ginnungagap. Represents the birth of creation and the
original state of being. Symbolizes the womb of which all is born. The beginning
of the cycle and the start of one’s journey

Thurisaz // The rune of the Þurs. Represents the marriage between fire and
ice. The Thorn that bites. Symbolizes the two realms before creation, Múspellsheimr
and Niflheimr. The rune of the two primal elemental forces. The antithesis
of Ansuz, the rune of untamed chaos.

Ansuz // The rune of the Æsir. Represents the divine energy of natural balance
within existence. Wisdom and Initiation. The ascent into the practitioner’s spirit-
being. As mentioned by Thomas Karlsson in the book “Uthark – Nightside
of the Runes” Ansuz is the third rune of the Uþark row. Three is the divine number,
making Ansuz the most prominent rune within the row.

Raido // The rune of order. Represents the sun-wheel (sauvastika). The journey.
Pursuit of self mastery. Symbolizes the traveler and the route of progression in
ones life. The wheels of universal movement.

Kenaz // The rune of Loki. The fire rune, or the torch rune. Represents the spiritual
fire within. Also represents Jörmungandr. The immense energy of the sun.
Belongs to Múspellsheimr. Symbolizes both the scoring fires, the luminous eternal
light, but also burning destruction.

Gebo // The rune of sacrifice. Represents the aspects of oneself that must be
destroyed to achieve enlightenment. Symbolizes the exchange of life between
man and the gods. A divine gift.

Wunjo // The rune of happiness. Represents the energy of life and divine essence
of nature. Symbolizes good fortune and luck. The granting of boons.

Hagalaz // The rune of Hel. Represents death and the hidden path; the initiation
into the runes. The battering storm. Trials and tribulations. Belongs to Niflheimr.
Hagal is the mother rune. The cold bite of storms.

Nauðiz // The rune of secrets. Represents the descent into the hidden path of
the runes. The crossing of paths. The forge on which all is tempered or broken.
Symbolizes the Norns who spin the threads of destiny for all mankind.

Isa // The rune of Ice. Represents Gullveig and the primordial cold. Symbolizes
meditation/trance, focus and concentration. The rune of hibernation, and the
cooling of the senses. The still waters are clearest. Belongs to Niflheimr.

Jera // The rune of nature. Represents the cycle of the seasons and the rebirth
of oneself. Cycles within cycles. The ages, Yugas and the eternal turn of the
wheel. Symbolizes the year span. It is connected to the harvest.

Perþro // The rune of Mímisbrunnr. Represents the underworld and the womb
of death. Initiation and rebirth through sacrifice.

Eihwaz // The rune of Fenrisúlfr. Represents the wild hunt and the untamed
holy fire of the wolf spirit. The transformation into the feral self. Corresponds
to the yew tree, and symbolizes the world tree Yggdrasill.

Algiz // The rune of life. When inverted represents death and the dark powers.
Polarity. Creation and un-creation. Life and Death. Being and Unbeing. Symbolizes
the Elk for its upper lines correspond to the Elk’s antlers. It represents protection.

Sowilo // The rune of the Sun/Surtr. Sowilo is the purest of light and the most
power of radiant energy. Can be seen as Baldr’s rune. Also represents the destruction
of the world and the fire-sword Lævateinn. Symbolizes the most powerful
aspects of the sun. Belongs to Múspellsheimr.

Tiwaz // The rune of victory. Represents the courage to achieve wisdom within
oneself to overthrow fear. The blood spilled in bravery. Belongs to the war god
Tyr. Symbolizes courage and justice as well as self-sacrifice. Seen as the masculine,
phallic rune of man.

Berkano // The rune of birth. Represents seiðr and the balancing point of life
and death. Erotic magick. The beginning of new things. Symbolizes fertility and
witchcraft. Seen as the rune of birth and as the feminine womb of woman.

Ehwaz // The rune of Sleipnir/Heldrasill. The rune of the horse. Represents
the journey into darkness to seek the hidden wisdom. This rune symbolizes the
cooperation between man and animal, as the Horse is the magical animal in
Nordic tradition.

Mannaz // The rune of Man, the rune of self. Represents one’s being and the
realization of one’s power. Symbolizes the bond between man and woman, for
the rune can be seen as two people holding each other.

Laguz // The rune of Élivágar. Represents the waters of Niflheimr. Also represents
Jörmungandr. Dark, lunar force. Shakti and the willful side of the feminine.
The devouring face of mother earth. Symbolizes blood and menstruation. Connected
to dreams of the moon. Belongs to Niflheimr.

Ingwaz // The rune of fertility. Represents the proto-cosmic womb and the beginning
of time. Axis of opposites. Symbolizes the masculine seed of man, or
the feminine womb of woman. The rune of potential.

Oþala // The rune of Óðinn. Represents the dark aspect of oneself in order to
ascend into light. Sacrifice for initiation. The opening of the eye of
Óðinn/Shiva/Lucifer. Symbolizes the act of inheritance and the rune of one’s
clan/family. Is seen as the rune of historical value of ancestry.

Dagaz // The rune of Day and awakening. Represents the illumination of one’s
inner fire. Symbolizes the clarity and the cycle of time. Dagaz corresponds to
the beginning of all that is new. It is the highest point of the year and symbolizes
the Summer Solstice.

Fehu // The rune of completion. Symbolizes the wealth and reap of rewards of
one’s adventures. Represents the spiritual wealth of one’s journey to obtain the
hidden wisdom. The return and departure. Universe B. The ending of the journey
and the end of the cycle.

As you have seen with these Runes there are absolute differences in their meanings when comparing them to the Elder Futhark and should not be taken lightly when working with. I have seen the Myrkrúnar misused quite a few times so this is partly why I felt doing this blog post is important for giving proper education regarding them. As I said in the beginning of this post all three editions of Myrkþursablót: Nightside of The Old Norse Mythology are out of print but on occasion you can find a copy for sale like HERE.

Also I highly recommend listening to this two part series regarding the book and one of its authors.

On this episode of Strange Dominions, Octavion talks with author and musician Niðafjöll about his book Myrkþursablót: Nightside of the Old Norse Mythology. The two talk paganism, occultism, spirituality, music and even the paranormal.

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The Lesser Known Runes of Europe

Most Pagans, Heathens, Witches and those who study Scandinavian history are familiar with the Elder Futhark Runes and other variants of them that evolved during and after the Viking Age. However there are many other types of Runes that can be found throughout Europe and even stretching into Siberia. I have been studying Runes for many years and find some very interesting commonalities between all of these different types of Runes which at some point I will share. But for now I want to share with you all some very interesting Runes you may have never heard of which are the Polskie/slowiańskie runy (Polish Runes), Venedské Písmo (Vendic/Slavic Runes), Székely-Hungarian Rovás (Hungarian Runes) and the Finnish Script (suomalainen kirjaimisto).

Polskie/slowiańskie runy (Polish Runes)

Most people dealing with runes have probably heard of the Scandinavian futhark runes. These are probably the most popular runes, also used in magic and runic tarot. However, they do not illustrate the complete alphabet, there are many sounds missing, not to mention Polish ones, such as “Ą”, “Ę”, “CZ”, “SZ”, “DZ”, etc. Therefore, it is impossible to write with them. in the Polish language. It is true that I found pages about how to write a name in futhark, but it is very shallow and simplified, where one rune should be assigned many different sounds, such as the rune Kenaz is assigned the sound “K”, as well as “C”. Probably because the Kenaz rune looks like the Latin “C”, and this letter is missing in the futhark. However, this is incorrect thinking, as “C” is pronounced completely differently than “K”. “C” is dental and “K” is pharyngeal.

As Winicjusz Kossakowski proves in his study “Polish runes have spoken”, each rune has its origin. Namely, the rune illustrates which speech organs should be used to pronounce a given sound. And so, reading the letter by sound, the word was pronounced. This means that the runes were not a predetermined script. The most important thing was to draw the organs of speech so that another person could read them. Therefore, the set of runes could be different, the signs assigned to the same letter could be rotated, slanted or vertical, as well as completely different from each other, but as long as the main rule was adhered to, it did not cause major problems. SOURCE

Venedské Písmo (Vendic/Slavic Runes)

Before the arrival of Cyril and Methodius, in pre-Christian times, our ancestors, like many other European nations, used the runic script. The old Germans called this script vendic runic. Among the ancient Slavs, runic inscriptions were preserved primarily on idols and objects of religious significance. The most significant archaeological discovery in this area was made on the territory of today’s Germany (where an advanced Old Slavic culture once resided) in the area of the city of Retra. On the found statue of Perún, the prayer “Percun Devve i ne ruse i v neman” is engraved with ancient Slavic runes, which in translation means “By steam, God, heaven to no one”, on the statue of Belboga is engraved “Licjevajam tim Bilbocg” which means “I represent herewith Belboga”, the words “Radegast” and “Rjetra” are on the top of the statue of Radegast, “Podaga” is written on Podaga’s sacrificial plate, and “Cernebog” is written on Chernobog’s sacrificial bowl.

A very interesting hypothesis regarding Slavic runes was elaborated by Antonín Horák in his work “About the Slavs completely different”, where he expressed the assumption that the Old Slavic runic inscriptions carved into the rock on the Velestúr hill are thousands of years old, come from the period of oppression of the Slavic population by Asian nomads and are alleged evidence autochthony of the Slavs in Europe and a clue pointing to their “dove” agricultural way of life (the effort to portray the nobility as descendants of Asian killers and the proletariat as descendants of peaceful Slavs was probably appropriate at the time). The work is certainly interesting in many ways and worth reading, although many of the claims need further investigation. SOURCE

One thing that rarely gets mentioned is that these Runes can and are used for divination magick but the use of these are always over shadowed by the Futhark. If this is something you want to explore further I recommend the following resources.

What does Slavic runes mean and their decoding

Slavic runes: meaning and scope

Székely-Hungarian Rovás (Hungarian Runes)

The Old Hungarian script (in Hungarian rovásírás) is the earliest known writing system amongst the Uralic languages. As early as the 6th century, Chinese accounts noted the Hungarian custom of writing with incised marks on small wooden tablets. The script may be derived from Old Turkic writing.

There is some discussion regarding the direction of writing; it appears that Old Hungarian was written both from right to left and from left to right. In very early times, when the script was written on wooden sticks, the stick was turned as each line was written so that the text appeared in boustrophedon style. The boustrophedon style was not used for writing larger texts on walls or manuscripts, which tended to be written from right to left. Significant discussion has centered around this issue in the context of encoding the script for use on computers. Academic preference used to be generally for a left to right directionality, but modern users are more likely to write it from right to left, and that is now regarded as the default.

There are 45 basic letters in the script, which are able to represent all the sounds of Hungarian. That is not to say the orthography was phonemic; vowels were only written where it was ambiguous to omit them. Letters could be combined to form numerous ligatures. Historically, ligatures were not standardized, but used freely and inconsistently throughout handwritten texts. The same sequence of sounds could optionally be written with multiple signs or with a ligature. The script employed a single case, although the first letter of proper nouns was sometimes written slightly larger than the rest. There were also some non-alphabetic symbols, the functions of which seem to be unclear. SOURCE

The Hungarian language is so foreign to its Indo-European-speaking neighbors that the distantly related languages of English, Russian, and Sinhalese (the majority language of Sri Lanka) share more in common grammatically and in word cognates with each other than Hungarian does with any Indo-European languages! Hungarian is a Ural-Altaic language spoken by about 13-15 million people worldwide. Most speakers are located in Central Europe, within the Carpathian Basin, a natural confluence point between the Balkan Peninsula, the Alps, and the Great European Plain.

Finnish Script (suomalainen kirjaimisto)

The Finnish script was invented by Sascha Mücke in an effort to create a writing system for Finnish that reflects the language’s phonological simplicity and clarity with its perfectly symmetric vowel harmony.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: alphabet
  • Direction of writing: left to right
  • There is a one-to-one correspondence between its letters and the Latin letters of the Finnish alphabet currently in use. The symbols have some featural characteristics of their corresponding sounds, most notably:
    • High vowels (ä and ö, y) have a curve at the top while their corresponding low vowels (a, o, u) have a curve at the bottom; the neutral vowels e and i are not curved
    • The weak consonants v, j and h are smaller than strong consonants, e.g. p or k
    • Liquids (r and l) are longer at the bottom while (voiceless) fricatives (s, f) are longer at the top
    • letters that typically only appear in loanwords (b, c, g, w and å) are considered variations of similar sounding letters and marked with a dot (analogously to b and g also d is marked as a variation of t, though it appears considerably more often than the former two)
    • some other letters that typically only appear in loanwords (q, x, z, š and ž) are written as multiple letters (kv, ks, ts, sh and tsh)

Within a word the letters are placed directly adjacent to and connecting to each other, continuing lines should ideally be written with a single stroke (e.g. when writing no the diagonal lines of n and o should be written as one stroke). Words are separated by spaces, punctuation marks are the same as in the Latin script, optionally centered vertically (as in the example below). Also the script uses Arabic numbers. SOURCE

Further Resources:

Székely-Hungarian Rovás

Rovás, The Székely – Hungarian Alphabet

Unknown Polish/Lechite Alphabet?

Runic Inscriptions in Poland

Slavic Runes in the Research of Polish Scholars in the 19th Century


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Runestones of Scandinavia

Being someone who has studied the different variations of the Runes for years I have also enjoyed learning about the Runestones of Scandinavia. These monolithic stone carvings are believed started as early as the 4th century CE but the vast majority were created and raised between the 10th and 11th century CE in what would be the late Viking Age. These Runestones sometimes tell a story but mostly are a dedication either in Pagan context or Christian but some are a fusion of both. The thing I like most about them is how each is so unique from the next and I have several friends in Scandinavia who share videos and photos of them with Runestones that allows me to virtually tour these amazing pieces of Viking age history. So with that said I would like to dive into what they are about, importance and all there is to know about the Runestones of Scandinavia.

Runestones: Words from the Viking Age

Remnants of Scandinavia’s Viking past are scattered throughout the countryside of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Among the most intriguing are the stones covered in Viking runes that give a glimpse of the culture and society of the era.

According to the Swedish National Heritage Board, there are about 7,000 runic inscriptions in the world, of which roughly half are Viking Age runestones. Runestones were most commonly raised as memorials to deceased relatives and friends, but they were not burial markers. Instead they were often placed close to roads or other communication routes. The first runestones were raised in Sweden and Norway as early as the third or fourth century A.D., but most were raised during the later Viking period in the 10th and 11th centuries.

Runestones are the oldest existing original works of writing in Scandinavia. Originally they were written in a script consisting of 24 characters, known as the Elder Futhark (f-u-th-a-r-k being the sounds represented by the first six characters). Beginning in the early eighth century, this writing system was replaced by a revised alphabet, known as the Younger Futhark, with just 16 characters. Most of the runestones found in Scandinavia use the Younger Futhark. Although the standard version of this alphabet is the one typically used on runestones, there is also a variation of the Younger Futhark called short-twig runes that was used for everyday messages carved on wood. Continue reading HERE.

A girl with a teddy bear at a runestone in Söderby, Botkyrka. The inscription reads, “Sibbe and Tjarve had the stone raised in memory of Torkel, their father.” 1930. Source

The erection of the Jelling runestone by King Harald Bluetooth in the 960’s is usually seen as the beginning of this tradition, although the majority of the runestones were erected in the 11th century.

These runestones could be non-zoomorphic or zoomorphic in nature. Those that were zoomorphic had decoration in Ringerike style or in Urnes style. The inscription usually begins by stating who had the stone erected and in whose memory it was made. These inscriptions include both pagan and Christian dedications. Those with a Christian cross tending to be earlier in the sequence of Christian dedications, as if it were important to show that the person was Christian. Later Christian dedications tend to end with a simple prayer. SOURCE.

As I said in the beginning of this post that I have several friends in Scandinavia who share this passion regarding Runestones and one specific friend I refer to as my go-to friend in Sweden when it comes to this subject as well as Scandinavian Petroglyphs. She is known on Instagram as MooseLady and if you share this interest she is someone I highly recommend following. She is currently a Cultural Heritage History and Archeology student which makes her posts and even discussions in her IG story that more fascinating regarding the subject which really shows how well she presents her own studies of the Runestones. I also highly recommend checking out her Etsy shop which I own a few items from her.

MooseLady in her natural environment. Thank you for letting me use one of your photos.
Follow me on a tour around the most interesting Rune stones in Västerhaninge and Österhaninge where I live. Hear about the people and the lives of the Vikings who lived here 1,000 years ago, and why they raised the stones.
Vikings left runestones all over the world, but I decided to check out Uppland in Sweden, that has the highest concentration of runestones in the world!

Further Resources

Viking Rune Stones

Runestones in Scandinavia

Viking Age Rune Stones

Runestones

What’s New in Scandinavian Rune Stones

Viking Runestones

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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.

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

The Helm of Awe

Norse Bindrunes

Galdrastafir: Icelandic Magical Staves

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Runes and Weland the Smith

These two little books by Ben Waggoner are two little gems I highly recommend for your library.

A Pocket Guide to Runes is a great little resource and guide regarding the Elder Futhark Runes regarding each one’s meaning and use.

Weland the Smith tells about Weland also known as Volundr, Wieland and Wayland. His name lives on as the name of the most masterful craftsman ever known. Captured and crippled, forced to make treasures for a cruel king, he plots not only how to regain his freedom, but how to take a terrible vengeance. His legend was told for centuries in England, Germany, and Scandinavia. Here you will find the major sources for Weland’s legend, translated from Old Norse and Old English.

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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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Icelandic Runes, A Brief History

Icelandic Runes, A Brief History

by Teresa Dröfn Freysdóttir Njarðvík

This is by far my favorite little book about Runes out of all I have in my library. I learned about this little lesser known treasure a couple of years ago during a conversation I was having with a dear Völva friend of mine and mentor who lives in Iceland. Turns out a friend of hers is the Author of this little gem. The book is exactly as the title describes. It starts with an introduction to the Elder Futhark and then carries on with other variations of the Runes including the unique Icelandic Runes. Then proceeds into their use, history and the use of Runes in more modern times. It is a book I highly recommend for your library.

To order your copy unless you can read Icelandic you will need to translate the webpage as there is only one source in Iceland to order a copy from.

https://www.penninn.is/is/book/icelandic-runes-brief-history

Article regarding the book from Icelandic Times

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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:

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

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Runes – Types, Meanings, History and more.

A collection of information and references

The first systems of writing developed and used by the Germanic peoples were runic alphabets. The runes functioned as letters, but they were much more than just letters in the sense in which we today understand the term. Each rune was an ideographic or pictographic symbol of some cosmological principle or power, and to write a rune was to invoke and direct the force for which it stood. Indeed, in every Germanic language, the word “rune” (from Proto-Germanic *runo) means both “letter” and “secret” or “mystery,” and its original meaning, which likely predated the adoption of the runic alphabet, may have been simply “(hushed) message.”

Each rune had a name that hinted at the philosophical and magical significance of its visual form and the sound for which it stands, which was almost always the first sound of the rune’s name. For example, the T-rune, called *Tiwaz in the Proto-Germanic language, is named after the god Tiwaz (known as Tyr in the Viking Age). Tiwaz was perceived to dwell within the daytime sky, and, accordingly, the visual form of the T-rune is an arrow pointed upward (which surely also hints at the god’s martial role). The T-rune was often carved as a standalone ideograph, apart from the writing of any particular word, as part of spells cast to ensure victory in battle.

The runic alphabets are called “futharks” after the first six runes (Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raidho, Kaunan), in much the same way that the word “alphabet” comes from the names of the first two Semitic letters (Aleph, Beth). There are three principal futharks: the 24-character Elder Futhark, the first fully-formed runic alphabet, whose development had begun by the first century CE and had been completed before the year 400;[4] the 16-character Younger Futhark, which began to diverge from the Elder Futhark around the beginning of the Viking Age (c. 750 CE)[5] and eventually replaced that older alphabet in Scandinavia; and the 33-character Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, which gradually altered and added to the Elder Futhark in England. On some inscriptions, the twenty-four runes of the Elder Futhark were divided into three ættir (Old Norse, “families”) of eight runes each,[6] but the significance of this division is unfortunately unknown.

Runes were traditionally carved onto stone, wood, bone, metal, or some similarly hard surface rather than drawn with ink and pen on parchment. This explains their sharp, angular form, which was well-suited to the medium.

Much of our current knowledge of the meanings the ancient Germanic peoples attributed to the runes comes from the three “Rune Poems,” documents from Iceland, Norway, and England that provide a short stanza about each rune in their respective futharks (the Younger Futhark is treated in the Icelandic and Norwegian Rune Poems, while the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc is discussed in the Old English Rune Poem).

Continue on to Part II, The Origins of the Runes.

Part III: Runic Philosophy and Magic

https://norse-mythology.org/…/runic-philosophy-and-magic/

Part IV: The Meanings of the Runes

Part V: The 10 Best Books on the Runes

https://norse-mythology.org/…/the-best-books-on-the-runes/

Further Resources:

Types of Runes

http://www.therunesite.com/section/rune-meanings/

The Runic Alphabets

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm

How to Write in Old Norse With Futhark Runes: The Ultimate Guide

http://www.vikingrune.com/write-in-futhark-runes-old…/

Runic Magic and Divination

http://www.crystalinks.com/runes.html

Runes – Alphabet of Mystery

http://sunnyway.com/runes/

Which Runes go with which language

The names of runes (Elder Futhark)