A discussion of how runes have
been used historically and how they can be used for healing. This
page is an excerpt from a book called Nordic Magic Healing.
This is an interesting discussion
of the relationship between Sigrdrifa's Lay and the Futhark. I believe
that it is reasonable to suppose that the runes as a group form
a song, and that each one belongs to all the incantations. In this
way, all the runes are at the same time runes of Joy, Victory, Magic
(often called runes of Beer), Protection, Child-birth, Undertow
(often called runes of the Sea or the Waves), Branches (often called
runes of Limbs), Speech, and Spirit (often called runes of Mind).
However, the texts insist that songs must be associated to their
use, and that nine songs are possible. This page takes a unique
look at the nine songs and their runes.
This topic is a hot debate. Many
people use the runes as tools for divination, but the question is
were they originally used that way or not. Decide for yourself by
reading a compilation of all the references to the runes and divination
(don't worry, it's not very long!)
The Rune Poems
Old English, Norwegian,
Islandic rune poems
Wimmer's scholarly version:
German version
My English translation
Poèmes
runiques Vieil-Anglais, Norvégien et Islandais
The
New Old English Rune Poem for Women, this is a wonderful version
of the Old English Rune Poem, translated and written by Marijane
Osborn.
Les Runes Armanes
(en Français)
As far as I
know, Thorsson, under his official name, S. Flowers, is the only
person who translated Guido List's description of the runes, published
in 1906 in German. I give here a French version of this text, translated
from the German, and thus slightly different from Flowers' version.
