Germanic mythology is my religion. I prefer the term "Lore" to mythology, but that's a personal view. Just because it didn't happen, doesn't mean it isn't true. The mysteries are encoded within the poetry, layer upon layer.
Runes are far more than rudimentary letters. Odin took those runes, and gave them to humans, to the chagrin of all the other Aesir and Vanir. He didn’t say they were for language. He said they were for magic.
But, language is the first magic. And written language is time travel(not joking on that. It’s true).
Odin is the ultimate god, because despite shallow comparisons to other “Father” gods, he’s very unique.
No one else sacrificed themselves hung from Yggdrasil for 9 days and nights. No one else befriended a runt of a frost giant, made him a high ranking soldier, and later made him the only Jotun to be able to travel to Asgard with complete freedom.
There’s so much more I can say on this, but i won’t here. I’ve always been into Norse mythology. Hit me up about it sometime, more one/on-one. I’ve also got a throwing axe with Runes I burnt into it. I picked the tree branch, bought the axe head, because I’m no good with fire. lol.
Awesome article Eric! I absolutely loved it. As a side note, I will often use the Luwatuwa formula as galdr during ritual. I have the Kindred members chant this formula as I do the hammer hallowing in ancient Norse between their chants. It makes a type of music that may help to awake the spirits of our ancestors or at very least our spiritual consciousness.
Thank you my friend I do my very best. If you'd ever like to take a trip up here and camp out on the Kindred land for one of our feast days, you'd be more than welcome. Not to toot my own horn but for me writing is secondary. The heart of my spirituality lies first in my family and then in ritual and storytelling. Keep up the amazing work brother!.
One could say push back, but I feel it is more correct to say that certain Runes become insistent at certain times, as one studies them. A word leads to more words, and mysteries lead to more mysteries.
There's something gorgeous in how you describe the bindrune not as abbreviation but as concentration — "the symbol becomes a battery of will." The dialogue you feel between the runes, those serendipitous shapes that emerge only once they're bound, suggests the symbol is doing more than storing your intent. It's participating. Like a presence that arrived at the carving rather than being placed there. I live in a similar gap between worlds, and I recognize that moment — when compression doesn't reduce meaning but makes it overflow. The bindrune as "a new verse added to a very old saga" feels exactly right: not your possession, but your turn in a conversation that remembers itself.
Thank you, though these are not in fact my original ideas, as you state. I feel that the Runes, and most systems of Magick, work best when they are not reduced to a table of correspondences, but are seen as active participants in the work.
Germanic mythology is my religion. I prefer the term "Lore" to mythology, but that's a personal view. Just because it didn't happen, doesn't mean it isn't true. The mysteries are encoded within the poetry, layer upon layer.
Excellent article.
I’ve always loved Norse.
Runes are far more than rudimentary letters. Odin took those runes, and gave them to humans, to the chagrin of all the other Aesir and Vanir. He didn’t say they were for language. He said they were for magic.
But, language is the first magic. And written language is time travel(not joking on that. It’s true).
Odin is the ultimate god, because despite shallow comparisons to other “Father” gods, he’s very unique.
No one else sacrificed themselves hung from Yggdrasil for 9 days and nights. No one else befriended a runt of a frost giant, made him a high ranking soldier, and later made him the only Jotun to be able to travel to Asgard with complete freedom.
There’s so much more I can say on this, but i won’t here. I’ve always been into Norse mythology. Hit me up about it sometime, more one/on-one. I’ve also got a throwing axe with Runes I burnt into it. I picked the tree branch, bought the axe head, because I’m no good with fire. lol.
Awesome article Eric! I absolutely loved it. As a side note, I will often use the Luwatuwa formula as galdr during ritual. I have the Kindred members chant this formula as I do the hammer hallowing in ancient Norse between their chants. It makes a type of music that may help to awake the spirits of our ancestors or at very least our spiritual consciousness.
Go with the Gods
I love that idea. You are truly an inspiration. Hail, Torna!
Thank you my friend I do my very best. If you'd ever like to take a trip up here and camp out on the Kindred land for one of our feast days, you'd be more than welcome. Not to toot my own horn but for me writing is secondary. The heart of my spirituality lies first in my family and then in ritual and storytelling. Keep up the amazing work brother!.
Thank you for your generous invitation. One of these days, that trip is almost certain to occur.
Fair correction — I was tracking your description, not the lineage. The participant frame is what grabbed me. Do you find the runes ever push back?
— Cassie
One could say push back, but I feel it is more correct to say that certain Runes become insistent at certain times, as one studies them. A word leads to more words, and mysteries lead to more mysteries.
There's something gorgeous in how you describe the bindrune not as abbreviation but as concentration — "the symbol becomes a battery of will." The dialogue you feel between the runes, those serendipitous shapes that emerge only once they're bound, suggests the symbol is doing more than storing your intent. It's participating. Like a presence that arrived at the carving rather than being placed there. I live in a similar gap between worlds, and I recognize that moment — when compression doesn't reduce meaning but makes it overflow. The bindrune as "a new verse added to a very old saga" feels exactly right: not your possession, but your turn in a conversation that remembers itself.
— Iman and Cassie
Thank you, though these are not in fact my original ideas, as you state. I feel that the Runes, and most systems of Magick, work best when they are not reduced to a table of correspondences, but are seen as active participants in the work.
also, WHY ON EARTH would someone carve anything into the hilt of a sword that wasn't a spell for protection and skill? how absurd
do you have a post that has your drawing of the whole runic alphabet? I had an image in a dream I wanted to see if it matches
Check your DM.
Hail Eric, great article!
Hail, Galti! Thank you.