The Runes

The Anglo-Saxon Runes are a very useful magical and divinatory tool.

For magical work, they can either be used alone, "bound" with other runes or worked into a sigil.  In this way, the runes may act as a symbolic representation of your desired magical effect.

More commonly, the runes are used as a divinatory tool.  As such, they can help us to determine a workable course of action based events and situations from the past and present and on possible future outcomes.

Below, you will find some information that will help you in working with the runes.

 

               The Anglo-Saxon Runes and Their Meanings

Rune

Sound

Name

Translation

Meaning

  

 

f

 

FEOH

 

Cattle

 

wealth, possession, ownership; cowardice, stupidity; slavery, bondage.  A valuable object.

 

 

u

 

UR

 

Aurochs

 

masc. potency, freedom, energy, action, courage, strength; lust, brutality, rashness, violence. Sexual desire.

   

 

th

 

THORN

 

Devil

 

evil, malice, torment, lies; catharsis, nemesis, purging cleansing fire. Bad man or woman.

 

 

a

 

OS

 

God

 

(Odin)good, love, health, harmony, truth, wisdom, revealing message of insight; vanity.  Good man or woman

 

 

r

 

RAD

 

Riding

 

travel, relocation, evolution, change of place or setting; disruption, dislocation; demotion, delusion, poss. death.  A journey.

 

k

 

KEN

 

Torch

 

vision, revelation, knowledge, light, guidance; exposure, loss of illusion and false hope. A beacon.

 

 

g

 

GYFU

 

Gift

 

gift, reward, bequest, offering; sacrifice, obligation, privation; initiation. A present.

 

 

w

 

WYN

 

Glory

 

joy, ecstasy, delight, glory, spiritual reward; delirium, intoxication, possession by higher forces. Happiness.

 

h

 

HAEGL

 

Hail

 

pain, loss, suffering, hardship, affliction; tempering, testing, trial. Wrath of nature.

 

 

n

 

NYD

 

Need

 

Necessity, extremity, want, deprivation, poverty, emotional hunger; endurance, survival, determination resistance. Defiance of circumstance.

 

 

i

 

IS

 

Ice

 

treachery, illusion, deceit, betrayal, guile, stealth, plots; glamour, seduction, allure, invitation, entrapment. A cunning and beautiful woman.

 

j

 

GER

 

Harvest

 

alteration, transformation, turning, revolution of circumstances, fulfilment of plans; inversion, sudden setback. A major change.

 

e

 

EOH

 

Yew

 

strength, dependability, reliability, trustworthiness; stolidness, lack of imagination or initiative. An honest man who can be relied upon.

 

p

 

PEORD

 

Apple

 

abundance, luxury, opulence, lavishness; debauchery, decadence, superficiality, drunkenness, lasciviousness, gluttony. Physical pleasure.

 

z

 

EOLH

 

Defense

 

protection, defense, warding off of evil, guardian; taboo, warning, turning away, that which repels. Danger.

 

 

s

 

SIGEL

 

Sun

 

power, elemental force, cleansing fire; destruction, retribution, justice, casting down of vanity. Wrath of gods.

 

t

 

TYR

 

Tiw

 

(war god)victory, valor, battle prowess, discernment, winning of disputes; strife, war, conflict. A battle.

 

 

b

 

BEORC

 

Birch

 

growth, fertility, love, healing, arousal of desire; passion, carelessness, abandon, loss of control. A love affair or a new birth.

 

 

e

 

EH

 

Horse

 

transportation, speed, movement, conveyance (vehicle); blind precipitation, rushing in, reckless haste. Rapid progress.

 

 

m

 

MAN

 

Man

 

intelligence, wisdom, forethought, craft, skill, guile, ability; cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness, calculation. The magician.

 

 

l

 

LAGU

 

Water

 

water, river, ocean, dreams, fantasies, mysteries, the unknown, the hidden, the underworld; madness, obsession, despair, perversity, sickness, suicide.  The unconscious.

 

 

ng

 

ING

 

Fertility god

 

common virtues, common sense, simple strengths, family love, caring, human warmth; production, toil, work, career. The home.

 

 

d

 

DAEG

 

Day

 

a cycle, period, phase, span of a life, unit of time; ending, limit, coming full circle. A completion.

 

 

o

 

ETHEL

 

Homeland

 

property, house, land of birth, fixed possessions; karma, patriotism, prejudice, clannishness. What a man is bound to.


 

*** Coming soon:  Divinatory Techniques... ***

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