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The Runes

The Rede of the High One

Nine the days and nine the nights
I hung upon the windswept tree
The roots of which no man knoweth
wither those roots run.
None gave me bread, none gave me drink
in the depths I spied the runes
Reaching in the depths I grasped them
screaming fell I back from there
Wealth I won, wisdom too,
my Wyrd worked upon the world
One word lead unto another,
One deed gave me many deeds.


~A Glader adaptation of Odin’s night upon Yggdrasil from the Elder Edda telling.

Before We Get Started

    If you have yet to read the main Introduction page, please go do so. The information provided there will help you understand what is listed here.
    One of the most important elements of discussion is for two individuals being able to understand each others language. Because of this, we first need to understand a few terms such as the difference between stave and rune, the construction of ættir, and the evolution of runes for divination purposes.

    Stave and Rune
    Staves, themselves, are in reference to the pictographic shapes of the 24 rune symbols. Runes are in reference to the energy and idealism behind the shaping of ones will.

    The Construction of Ættir
    The word ættir can refer to two things: 1) the staves, or 2) the other 8 worlds of our mythology. In this instance, we are speaking of the staves themselves as they are constructed into 3 sets of ættir (literally “eight”). There are many reasons for the order of the runes in this fashion, but for the moment it is sufficient to say that this patterning is both spiritual and practical. More will be explained of this later.

    Runes for Divination
    There is no direct example of staves carved for divination purposes during the height of runic use, however, this is mostly due to the fact that they were carved onto material that dissolved over time (wood and stone). It should also be noted that there is no evidence beyond the myths themselves that rune-casting was performed. However, even with all of this, we can almost guarantee that this was an active practice.
    How you may ask? Well, a quote from Edred Thorsson may help explain.

      Actual piece of wood one which individual runes or runic combinations were carved (and usually colored with blood or red dye) were known in Old Norse as hlaut-teinar (also known by Snorri Sturluson as blood twigs), and hlaut-vidhar (lot woods). The original use of the Germanic term stabaz (stave, stick) perhaps had to do with the fact that runes were carved on pieces of wood that were most probably used in divinatory practices. The terms runo and stabaz were so intertwined by this practice that the words became synonymous. An interesting piece of corroborating evidence is found in the Old English word wyrd-stæf (stave of wyrd) – an obvious reference to divinatory use.

    While it is the most commonly used form of representation in modern runic practice, Divination is only a secondary aspect of the staves. As stated before in the introduction page, “Rune is a power older than the pictographs themselves as those staves are focus to the universal energy in which it takes shape.”