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Old Norse Online

Lesson 10

Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum

Runes and Mystic Origins

It is commonplace nowadays to associate runes with things mystical and occult. There is a general sense that runes are imbued with a magical aura, that they are the conveyance of supernatural power and come from a divine or semi-divine origin. The question arises: how do we know this? what evidence is there for mystical runic associations? Even the most cursory investigation of runes and runic lore must endeavor to answer these questions.

The span of time during which runes were employed is actually quite large, beginning within a century or two of the Christian era, and continuing in one form or another for roughly the next thousand years. In search of an answer to the question of mystical origins, we must surely look at the earliest inscriptions. We must investigate the cryptic messages encoded in early uses and tease out the supernatural setting of their use.

A funny thing happens as we pursue this line of investigation. As we will see in the inscriptions at the end of this lesson, the earliest runic inscriptions are generally devoid of divine or mystical content. That is to say, the subject matter of the earliest inscriptions is mostly utilitarian. Statements like that on a wooden box from Garbølle are the norm: 'Hagirādaz made it'. Or even more simply on a clasp from Skane, Sweden: 'I, Unwōdz'. These are not the cosmic pronouncements one would have hoped for, not the harbingers of hidden wisdom.

Where then did this mystical association arise? Much resides in various descriptions found in Old Norse literature. To take such data as truly representative of the origin and import of the runes, however, is folly. The Old Norse literature which comes down to us was written some 600-1000 years after the earliest runic inscriptions. The authors of these texts were as temporally remote from the earliest runic inscriptions as we are from the Old Norse descriptions themselves. Thus any depictions of the origin and nature of the runes taken from Old Norse literature must be regarded with some degree of suspicion.

Some scholars take this to mean that the use of runes is solely pragmatic, that is, strictly utilitarian. This is a rather extreme position, and misses the fact that there must be some motivation for writing on an object, even if the message itself is mundane. Consider one of the earliest inscriptions, the Øvre Stabu spearhead (c. 150-200 AD): raunijaz 'Prober'. Certainly both the person using the spear, as well as the person on the receiving end, were quite clear as to the nature of the instrument in question. Thus any sort of inscribed description could be nothing but superfluous. The writing itself must have contained some import in the mind of the inscriber. Whether this import was divine or not is difficult to say. Certainly not overly so. But it may have served to highlight the intended efficacy, perhaps in the way that one writes 'California or Bust' on a car with the tacit hope that the act of writing will somehow fix the intended outcome. In this sense the runes have a mystic power, but this is likely a culturally perceived power of writing itself, and not of the runes in particular.

Runes and Religion

It is also commonplace to hear that runes are a heathen, or non-Christian, writing system. As it turns out, none of the earliest inscriptions (from the 1st to 5th centuries AD) makes any mention of heathen gods. What is more, in later inscriptions, Christian content is quite common. In Uppland several stones are decorated with the cross and contain Christian prayers. On a stone from Risbye, one finds 'may God and God's mother help his spirit and soul, and grant him light and paradise'. One even finds runic inscriptions on churches themselves, on the doorways or bells or baptismal fonts. It seems clear then that the runes were in large part simply a useful and pragmatically employed writing system in the Germanic speaking areas.

The Runic Language

There are between 120 and 150 runic inscriptions dating from the earliest period (150-500 AD). The language of these texts is in many ways even more conservative than Gothic, in particular showing the retention of unaccented short vowels: -gastiz, cf. Goth. gasts, ON gestr. The early inscriptions are generally found in southern Scandinavia, particularly Denmark and Sweden. Though geographically in the heart of the Nordic speaking area, the antiquity of many of the linguistic features allows the language of the early inscriptions to be thought of as a parent to both the North and the West Germanic dialects. Important factors in this supposition are that Scandinavians did not dominate the Danish area until sometime in the 6th century, and that many natives of the Danish areas settled in the British Isles during the 5th and 6th centuries.

Reading and Textual Analysis

The verses below come from the Hávamál 'Sayings of the High One', second poem of the Poetic Edda as found in the Codex Regius. In modern culture this text might be labeled a 'book of proverbs', though it has a narrative thread binding it together, unlike a collection of proverbs. The poem is dictated in the first person, and the poet recalls lessons learned through the hardships of life. A constant theme is proper conduct, especially when one becomes a guest in another's home. Silence is tantamount to wisdom, and caution and common sense are touted as virtues. Countermanding the picture of drunken Vikings found in much of the sagas, here the poet continually rails againt overt drunkenness. Though admitting to his own over-drinking, he warns against it and emphasizes that the wise man always has his wits about him. Deep friendship earned through mutual giving and assistance is highly valued, and those who would deceive should be repaid in kind.

Noteworthy in verse 80 below is the mention of runes. Their origin is described as divine: the word used, reginkunnr 'of divine origin', is certainly old. We find it applied to runes in the inscription of the Noleby stone, discussed in Section 50 below.

1 - Gáttir allar,
        áðr gangi fram,
        um scoðaz scyli,
        um scygnaz scyli;
        þvíat óvíst er at vita,
        hvar óvinir
        sitia á fleti fyrir.

2 - Gefendr heilir!
        gestr er inn kominn,
        hvar scal sitia siá?
        miǫc er bráðr,
        sá er á brǫndom scal
        síns um freista frama.

3 - Eldz er þǫrf,
        þeims inn er kominn
        oc á kné kalinn;
        matar oc váða
        er manni þǫrf,
        þeim er hefir um fiall farið.

4 - Vatz er þǫrf,
        þeim er til verðar kømr,
        þerro oc þióðlaðar,
        góðs um œðis,
        ef sér geta mætti,
        orðz oc endrþǫgo.

5 - Vitz er þǫrf,
        þeim er víða ratar,
        dælt er heima hvat;
        at augabragði verðr,
        sá er ecci kann
        oc með snotrom sitr.

6 - At hyggiandi sinni
        scylit maðr hrœsinn vera,
        heldr gætinn at geði;
        þá er horscr oc þǫgull
        kømr heimisgarða til,
        sialdan verðr víti vorom;
        þvíat óbrigðra vin
        fær maðr aldregi
        enn manvit mikit.

7 - Inn vari gestr,
        er til verðar kømr,
        þunno hlióði þegir;
        eyrom hlýðir,
        enn augom scoðar;
        svá nýsiz fróðra hverr fyrir.

8 - Hinn er sæll,
        er sér um getr
        lof oc lícnstafi;
        ódælla er við þat,
        er maðr eiga scal
        annars brióstom í.

9 - Sá er sæll,
        er siálfr um á
        lof oc vit, meðan lifr;
        þvíat ill ráð
        hefir maðr opt þegit
        annars brióstom ór.

10 - Byrði betri
        berrat maðr brauto at,
        enn sé manvit mikit;
        auði betra
        þiccr þat í ókunnom stað,
        slíct er válaðs vera.

11 - Byrði betri
        berrat maðr brauto at,
        enn sé manvit mikit;
        vegnest verra
        vegra hann velli at,
        enn sé ofdryccia ǫls.

12 - Era svá gott,
        sem gott qveða,
        ǫl alda sona;
        þvíat færa veit,
        er fleira dreccr,
        síns til geðs gumi.

13 - Óminnis hegri heitir,
        sá er yfir ǫlðrom þrumir,
        hann stelr geði guma;
        þess fugls fiǫðrom
        ec fiǫtraðr varc
        í garði Gunnlaðar.

14 - Ǫlr ec varð,
        varð ofrǫlvi
        at ins fróða Fialars;
        því er ǫlðr bazt,
        at aptr uf heimtir
        hverr sitt geð gumi.

21 - Hiarðir þat vito,
        nær þær heim scolo,
        oc ganga þá af grasi;
        enn ósviðr maðr
        kann ævagi
        síns um mál maga.

22 - Vesall maðr
        oc illa scapi
        hlær at hvívetna;
        hitki hann veit,
        er hann vita þyrpti,
        at hann era vamma vanr.

23 - Ósviðr maðr
        vakir um allar nætr
        oc hyggr at hvívetna;
        þá er móðr,
        er at morni kømr,
        alt er víl, sem var.

24 - Ósnotr maðr
        hyggr sér alla vera
        viðhlæiendr vini;
        hitki hann fiðr,
        þótt þeir um hann fár lesi,
        ef hann með snotrom sitr.

25 - Ósnotr maðr
        hyggr sér alla vera
        viðhlæiendr vini;
        þá þat finnr,
        er at þingi kømr,
        at hann á formælendr fá.

46 - Þat er enn of þann,
        er þú illa trúir
        oc þér er grunr at hans geði:
        hlæia scaltu við þeim
        oc um hug mæla,
        glíc scolo giǫld giǫfum.