Introduction to the use of runes as a practical script for a variety of purposes in Anglo-Saxon England. Runes are quite frequently mentioned in modern writings, usually imprecisely as a source of mystic knowledge, power or insight. This book sets the record straight. It shows runes working as a practical script for a variety of purposes in early English times, among both indigenous Anglo-Saxons and incoming Vikings. In a scholarly yet readable way it examines the introduction of the runic alphabet (the futhorc) to England in the fifth and sixth centuries, the forms and values of its letters, and the ways in which it developed, up until its decline at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. It discusses how runes were used for informal and day-to-day purposes, on formal monuments, as decorative letters in prestigious manuscripts, for owners' or makers' names on everyday objects, perhaps even in private letters. For the first time, the book presents, together with earlier finds, the many runic objects discovered over the last twenty years, with a range of inscriptions on bone, metal and stone, even including tourists' scratched signatures found on the pilgrimage routes through Italy. It gives an idea of the immense range of informationon language and social history contained in these unique documents. The late R.I. PAGE was former Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge.

The essays that comprise this study range from detailed discussion of the forms of particular runes in the runic alphabet to the wider matters on which runes throw light, such as magic, paganism, literacy and linguistic change.

This book presents the first comprehensive study of Anglo-Saxon manuscript texts containing runic letters. To date there has been no comprehensive study of these works in a single volume, although the need for such an examination has long been recognized. This is in spite of a growing academic interest in the mise-en-page of early medieval manuscripts. The texts discussed in this study include Old English riddles and elegies, the Cynewulfian poems, charms, Solomon and Saturn I, and the Old English Rune Poem. The focus of the discussion is on the literary analysis of these texts in their palaeographic and runological contexts. Anglo-Saxon authors and scribes did not, of course, operate within a vacuum, and so these primary texts are considered alongside relevant epigraphic inscriptions, physical objects, and historical documents. Victoria Symons argues that all of these runic works are in various ways thematically focused on acts of writing, visual communication, and the nature of the written word. The conclusion that emerges over the course of the book is that, when encountered in the context of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, runic letters consistently represent the written word in a way that Roman letters do not.

Directed toward healing and personal development, Just Add Blood is an introduction to the use of the Anglo-Saxon runes. It serves as both a point of reference and a guide in how to use the runes and offers a fresh, contemporary look at the magical approach to rune usage within Anglo-Saxon culture and spirituality.

Describes the ancient writing system used by Northmen, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings, and the inscriptions found in Scandanavia, the British Isles, and North America.

Reveals the occult wisdom and multidimensional layers of meaning hidden in the Nordic Rune stones • Explores the practice of the Uthark divination system encoded within the traditional exoteric Futhark system of reading the runes • Traces the relationship between the rune stones and numerology, the Cabbala, alchemy, Gothicism, and sigil magic • Examines the history of the runes and the ancient spiritual mysticism of Odin Uncovering the dark side of the Nordic rune stones hidden beneath their traditional interpretation, Swedish scholar and runologist Thomas Karlsson examines the rune work of Swedish mystic and runologist Johannes Bureus (1568-1652) and professor Sigurd Agrell (1881-1937), both of whom devoted their lives to uncovering the secret uses of rune stones concealed from all but the highest initiates. Karlsson begins by examining the Uthark system of divination--the Left Hand Path of the runes--that lies hidden under the traditional Futhark system. According to the lore of Uthark, a cryptographic ruse was used to make it impossible for the uninitiated to know the true order of the runes. Exploring Agrell’s decryption of the Uthark system, Karlsson reveals similarities between the numerology of ancient mystery cults and the Runic tradition. He explains the multidimensional meaning of each rune from the Uthark perspective, their relationships with the nine worlds of Norse cosmogony, and the magical powers of rune-rows and the three aettir rune groupings. He details how to create your own magically-charged runes, direct and activate the force of the runes, and use them for rune meditation, divination, sigil magic, galders (power songs), and rune yoga. Karlsson also examines the secret dimensions of the 15 “noble” runes, the Adulrunes, based on the theories of Johannes Bureus. Using his knowledge of the Cabbala and alchemy, Bureus created magical symbols with the Adulrunes as well as one symbol containing all 15 Adulrunes, which Bureus called the “Adulruna.” Karlsson explains Bureus’ spiritual system of initiation, the Gothic Cabbala, revealing the connections between old Norse wisdom and the Cabbala. He explores Bureus’ Adulrune practices and explains how Bureus outlined seven levels of meaning for each rune, with those initiated into the highest rune levels able to conjure spirits and raise the dead. Covering more than just rune practices, Karlsson’s exploration of the dark or night side of the runes provides a comprehensive guide to Norse spirituality and the ancient spiritual mysticism of Odin.

Reading the Runes in Old English and Old Norse Poetry is the first book-length study to compare responses to runic heritage in the literature of Anglo-Saxon England and medieval Iceland. The Anglo-Saxon runic script had already become the preserve of antiquarians at the time the majority of Old English poetry was written down, and the Icelanders recording the mythology associated with the script were at some remove from the centres of runic practice in medieval Scandinavia. Both literary cultures thus inherited knowledge of the runic system and the traditions associated with it, but viewed this literate past from the vantage point of a developed manuscript culture. There has, as yet, been no comprehensive study of poetic responses to this scriptural heritage, which include episodes in such canonical texts as Beowulf, the Old English riddles and the poems of the Poetic Edda. By analysing the inflection of the script through shared literary traditions, this study enhances our understanding of the burgeoning of literary self-awareness in early medieval vernacular poetry and the construction of cultural memory, and furthers our understanding of the relationship between Anglo-Saxon and Norse textual cultures. The introduction sets out in detail the rationale for examining runes in poetry as a literary motif and surveys the relevant critical debates. The body of the volume is comprised of five linked case studies of runes in poetry, viewing these representations through the paradigm of scriptural reconstruction and the validation of contemporary literary, historical and religious sensibilities.

Much has been written about the runes of the Elder Futhark but there seems to be very little on the lore of the Anglo-Saxon runes despite their huge contribution to what we know about all other rune sets. This book has been written to help bring awareness of the heritage and lore of the Anglo-Saxon runes and discuss their use in modern divination and Pagan practice. It is the author's hope that this book inspires a love of the runes and that it helps cultivate a resurgence of interest and practice of the ancient skill of rune magic and help rekindle interest in the Anglo-Saxon culture.

Offers a full introduction to and survey of runes and runology: their history, how they were used, and their interpretation. Runes, often considered magical symbols of mystery and power, are in fact an alphabetic form of writing. Derived from one or more Mediterranean prototypes, they were used by Germanic peoples to write different kinds of Germanic language, principally Anglo-Saxon and the various Scandinavian idioms, and were carved into stone, wood, bone, metal, and other hard surfaces; types of inscription range from memorials to the dead, through Christian prayers and everyday messages to crude graffiti. First reliably attested in the second century AD, runes were in due course supplanted by the roman alphabet, though in Anglo-Saxon England they continued in use until the early eleventh century, inScandinavia until the fifteenth (and later still in one or two outlying areas). This book provides an accessible, general account of runes and runic writing from their inception to their final demise. It also covers modern uses of runes, and deals with such topics as encoded texts, rune names, how runic inscriptions were made, runological method, and the history of runic research. A final chapter explains where those keen to see runic inscriptions can most easily find them. Professor MICHAEL P, BARNES is Emeritus Professor of Scandinavian Studies, University College London.