Runes

The Elder Futhark is the oldest runic alphabet, twenty four letters that are also names of ordinary things, cattle, hail, ice, the horse, each with its own sound and a numbered place in one of three groups of eight called aetts. A rune reading works from the Norse gods a chart's placements answer to and from the letter values behind a name, rather than from a cast spread of drawn runes.

History

The Elder Futhark is attested in Germanic inscriptions from roughly the second century CE onward, used across a wide area of northern Europe to write early Germanic and Proto-Norse languages on objects, weapons and memorial stones. From around the eighth century CE it was gradually superseded by regional successor alphabets, the Younger Futhark in Scandinavia, with fewer letters, and the Anglo-Saxon futhorc in England, with more.

Whether the runes were used for divination in antiquity, as opposed to ordinary writing, is genuinely disputed rather than settled. The most often cited ancient evidence is a passage in the Roman historian Tacitus's Germania, written in 98 CE, describing Germanic peoples casting marked strips of wood and reading the marks as an omen; Tacitus does not use the word "rune", and the passage predates the clearest archaeological evidence for runic writing itself, so the common claim that it describes rune divination specifically is a widely repeated but disputed inference, not an attested fact, and is named here as such rather than smoothed over. Much of the modern rune divination familiar today, including the widely sold set of interpretive meanings and the added "blank rune" some sets include, traces to a specific and comparatively recent book, Ralph Blum's "The Book of Runes", published in 1982; both scholars and modern Heathen practitioners widely note that Blum's specific system is his own twentieth century invention rather than a recovery of historical practice.

The Three Aetts

The twenty four runes are traditionally grouped into three sets of eight, called aetts: Freyr's Aett, Heimdall's Aett and Tyr's Aett, each named for a Norse god and running in a fixed order within its group.

The Twenty Four Runes

In order: Fehu (cattle, wealth), Uruz (aurochs), Thurisaz (giant, thorn), Ansuz (a god), Raidho (riding, journey), Kenaz (torch), Gebo (gift), Wunjo (joy); Hagalaz (hail), Nauthiz (need), Isa (ice), Jera (harvest, year), Eihwaz (yew), Perthro (uncertain, possibly a lot cup), Algiz (elk, protection), Sowilo (sun); Tiwaz (the god Tyr), Berkano (birch), Ehwaz (horse), Mannaz (man), Laguz (water, lake), Ingwaz (the god Ing), Dagaz (day) and Othala (ancestral estate).

How A Reading Is Constructed

Rather than casting a physical spread of drawn runes, this report item works from birth data and from the letter values behind a name: the Norse gods a chart's planetary placements are read as answering to, and the rune values the letters of a name reduce to, the same reduction logic the Numerology report item uses for its own letter tables. The reading names the runes that result and reads them by their traditional word meanings above.

Where To Read More

• Freyr's AettFreyr's Aett, the first group of eight.
• Heimdall's AettHeimdall's Aett, the second group of eight.
• Tyr's AettTyr's Aett, the third group of eight.
• FehuFehu: cattle, wealth. First of Freyr's Aett.
• UruzUruz: aurochs.
• ThurisazThurisaz: giant, thorn.
• AnsuzAnsuz: a god.
• RaidhoRaidho: riding, journey.
• KenazKenaz: torch.
• GeboGebo: gift.
• WunjoWunjo: joy. Last of Freyr's Aett.
• HagalazHagalaz: hail. First of Heimdall's Aett.
• NauthizNauthiz: need.
• IsaIsa: ice.
• JeraJera: harvest, year.
• EihwazEihwaz: yew.
• PerthroPerthro: uncertain meaning, possibly a lot cup.
• AlgizAlgiz: elk, protection.
• SowiloSowilo: sun. Last of Heimdall's Aett.
• TiwazTiwaz: the god Tyr. First of Tyr's Aett.
• BerkanoBerkano: birch.
• EhwazEhwaz: horse.
• MannazMannaz: man.
• LaguzLaguz: water, lake.
• IngwazIngwaz: the god Ing.
• DagazDagaz: day.
• OthalaOthala: ancestral estate. Last of Tyr's Aett and of the Elder Futhark.