Rune Sources
Since we have been talking about the runes these past few articles I figure that it might not be a bad idea to talk about some of the sources for the runes. Obviously it would make sense to say that you could go to any bookstore and pick up a book on the runes. But where did those authors get their information from? What sources did they have to use? Well in this article we’ll touch on a few of the places to get information from and hopefully that can lead you on to a better study of the runes.
One of the best places to find out information on the runes would be to go right to the source. Well there’s no way we’re going to be able to track down the original rune creators and users so we have to rely on archeology. While you may think to yourself that archeology won’t help us out too much on using the runes for divination, you’ll be a little surprised when you search a little deeper. From old texts and artifacts we can find and figure out how the runes where used, what they were used for and even what they were made from.
For example we find out from an early Roman author, Tacitus, who wrote in his Germania 10, that the runes were cast by not only the “priests” or chiefs of a tribe (or village) but by the common folks as well. It is said in that work that they would cut slices of wood from a nut-bearing tree and mark the rune symbols onto the wood. Then they would cast down the wood chips and read them.
Another great place to look for information on the runes is in Norse mythology and some of the Northern European Sagas (especially the sagas from Iceland). With the Norse mythology you my not get information that is full of pure facts but you get a good understanding of what the early rune readers may have based their information on. If you look into the myth stories you’ll find that the runes were said to have been a gift from the god Odin. If you explore deeper you’ll find out how humans come to know the runes from Odin. While this is obviously not going to be the real way humans came to know the runes, we can get a better understanding how important the runes may have been to the people and why they thought them to be so important.
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