FEHU

The meaning of this rune is 'cattle', a vital aspect of the life of any agricultural community and an important factor in the economy of a group of peoples initially unacquainted with the use of money. The rune represents possessions won or earned and thus also material gain. The Anglo-Saxon runic poem describes wealth as a comfort to all men, then goes on to add that they must bestow it freely if they wish to gain favour in the sight of the ord. This is not the !hristian interpolation that it at first appears, as the bestowing of rewards and generosity is an important feature of much of the extant saga literature. As we shall see later there is even a 'gift' rune. The "orwegian and #celandic rune poems ta$e a more cynical view and regard wealth as a cause of discord among $insmen. The "orwegian poem %"&'( compares this to the wolf living in the forest, whilst the 'fire of the sea and path of the grave-fish' of the #celandic text %#&'( is a clear allusion to its inspiration of )i$ing practices. The rune may be lin$ed to *rey or *reya. +xen were sacrificed to *rey, as detailed in ,isli's Saga and )iga-,lum's Saga. #&' glosses 'gold' for this rune and both gold and amber, which was mentioned by Tacitus as one of the trade commodities of the Aestii which fetched a good price from the &omans, are referred to in "orse myth as the 'tears of *reya'. Significantly the Aestii were said to have worshipped the mother of the gods and worn her emblem, the wild boar. This will later be found lin$ed to *rey, *reya's brother, and while in later myth *reya tends to be the whore of the gods rather than their mother she has also been identified with *rigg. The nec$lace -risingamen, obtained by *reya at the price of sleeping with the four dwarf craftsmen who created it, is the symbol of *reya's wealth. The rich ,od ".ord, her father, has been implied here, but his place comes more properly when we examine agu/. &unes, as both letters and mnemonic symbols, undoubtedly had correspondences attached to them. !ontinuing the association of *ehu with *reya, the following correspondences should be mentioned. *reya found her missing husband, +d, beneath a myrtle tree. 0yrtle wreaths are said to have been worn by northern brides, possibly as a symbol of the defloration of the first night. The butterfly was called *reya's hen. !ats were sacred to *reya and drew her chariot. The cat isn't a particularly old domestic animal in Scandinavia, and a suggestion has been made that the creatures which pulled the chariot may have been ermine. These could also have provided the white cats$in gloves for the v1lva in 2iri$ the &ed's Saga. The main qualification for an animal being designated $1ttr, a cat, was the ability shared by both cats and ermine to catch mice. 3ith the advent of !hristianity all the "orse gods were demoted to the status of common demons and *reya became the patroness of the witches. 4er sacred animal, the cat, became the archetypal witch's familiar, or animal go-between serving both the !hristian devil and herself. Two of her sacred birds, the swallow and the cuc$oo, also fell from grace. An identification of "orse paganism with later witchcraft isn't as fanciful as might at first appear. Several authors have already made the identification, and witch persecutions were chiefly a "orthern 2uropean phenomenon. 3hen spea$ing of "erthus, who might be identified as a mother of the gods, Tacitus mentions that her carriage was drawn by $ine. Two of *reya's titles are h1rn and syr, the former meaning liquid manure and the latter meaning sow. -oth have, albeit differing, fertility connections, and sow would be an appropriate attribute in opposition to *rey's boar. *ehu is pronounced as * in modern 2nglish.

URUZ
This represents the aurochs, the great wild and untameable cattle of northern 2urope which are now extinct. 5ulius !aesar described them in 6e -ello ,allico as slightly less than the elephant in si/e and of the colour and shape of a bull. They had extraordinary strength and speed and were exceptionally ferocious. -y far the best way of capturing an aurochs was with a pit trap, and the proof of the adventure was the display of the dead beast's horns. These were of massive si/e and were bound at the tips with silver for use as festive cups. Thus the aurochs came to be a symbol of great strength and speed, and in being such a challenge to the hunter, also a symbol of man's prowess. There was also a parallel to be implied in its defence against the hunter, which compared to man defending his home against the invader. The AngloSaxon rune poem %AS&'( describes the beast in terms similar to those employed by !aesar, as both proud and 'having great horns7 it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns7 a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle'. "&' too$s a new meaning of dross, or slag, while perplexingly offering the line that the 'reindeer often races over the fro/en snow'. This echoes the speed of the aurochs and shows an awareness, albeit a reduced one, of the earlier meaning. #&' offered a meaning of shower, ma$ing the strength of the noble beast into the force of rain beating down upon crops and livestoc$. The bull was believed to have been dedicated to Thor, and certainly the strength of the one reinforces a possible correspondence with the other. 'Achievement' may also have been a meaning of this rune, with the hunting of the aurochs providing an ultimate test of strength and initiative. 8ru/ is pronounced as the double + sound in the modern 2nglish word 'boo$'.

ThURISAZ
This is of disputed meaning, but is generally regarded as unpleasant in nature. ,iant, troll and demon have all been given as possible interpretations, and the 'thorn' of AS&' cannot be ignored either. This is the troll-rune as used in the "orse poem *or Scirnis or S$irnir's &ide. #t has the power when employed in a sequence of three to alter the meanings of succeeding runes. #ts use was said to evo$e demons from the underworld, and it was also $nown as '4rungnir's heart', after the legend recorded by Snorri Sturluson of the $illing of the giant 4rungnir by Thor. The giant's heart was said to be li$e the runic character, sharp-edged and three-cornered, and on the S$ane bracteate 9 Thurisa/ is written :; which is perfectly in accord with this description. :< AS&' reads 'thorn' for the meaning of this rune. This description of a sharp and evil thing to touch, uncommonly severe to those who sit amongst them, applies as well to the enemies of the =sir as to thorns. "&' and #&' retain 'giant' as the meaning, and ascribe to these creatures a penchant for torturing women. This could well be a sexual allusion, as the ideas of the thorn and the penis are not unrelated, as the archaic but still current slang term 'pric$', meaning the male member, ably demonstrates. The shape-shifting power of this rune is that ascribed to trolls or ogres. That it is hardly favourable is supported by the "&' gloss that 'misfortune ma$es few men cheerful'. Thurisa/ is pronounced th as in 'thin'.

ANSUZ
This rune has the meaning of a god or deity, specifically one of the =sir, and as such it is usually ascribed to +din as their leader. #n later times +din was also regarded as a wind ,od and the leader of the 3ild 4unt of disembodied and damned souls, leading them through the air on the storm clouds. The hanged were sacred to him because of his hanging upon >ggdrasil to win the runes, and

sacrifice to +din by hanging was occassionally practised. AS&' terms this rune +s, praising it as the source of all language, a blessing and .oy and a comfort to the wise. "&' reads +ss, meaning an estuary and further describing it as the beginning of most %)i$ing( voyages. A further cryptic gloss is that a 'scabbard is of swords'. #&' reads +ss as god, specifically ma$ing the ,od +din by adding ''rince of Asgard and ord of )alhalla'. #n case this were insufficient to render the meaning clear, the atin gloss in #&' is '5upiter, *ather of the ,ods', which +din indubitably was - physically in most cases. AS&' also provides a verse for Aesc, the 'ae' rune of the Anglo-Saxon *uthor$, which would have ta$en the place of Ansu/ had not +ss been ascribed. The meaning equated here is the ash tree, said to be exceedingly high and precious to men, whose sturdy trun$ offers a stubborn resistance though attac$ed by many. The ash is worldly counterpart of the world-tree >ggdrasil, and this meaning reinforces the connection of the A-rune with +din<,od. #ndeed, >ggdrasil means '>gg's horse' as '>gg's gallows', and it was here that +din hung while discovering the runes, ma$ing ash one of the sacred trees of both runecraft and "orthern myth. According to one authority venomous animals wouldn't shelter beneath its branches. A carriage with axles of ash went faster and tools with ash handles performed better for the craftsman. 3itches rode upon ash branches and ash is the ideal handle for a besom. Those who ate the red buds of the tree upon St 5ohn's 2ve would be invulnerable to bewitchment. >ggdrasil is rendered as >gg's, or +din's, horse or gallows. As the discoverer of the runes, +din was also the sorcerer of the gods, and his magic is invariably more powerful than anyone else's. Among his most famous worshippers was the runemaster 2gil S$allagrimsson. The spear was pre-eminently +din's weapon and ash was the wood most favoured for spear-shafts. The cas$et in which #dun $ept the apples which prevented the gods from ageing was made of ashwood. Ansu/ is pronounced as in the modern 2nglish word 'stac$'.

RAIDO
A variety of meanings have been ascribed to this rune. They include .ourney, cartwheel, ride, long .ourney on horsebac$ and cart or chariot. The rune could have served as a .ourney charm to protect both the living and the dead, and there is also some reason for ascribing it to the ,od Thor. The +ld "orse word reid could mean either a wheeled vehicle or thunder. Thunder was caused by Thor's wheeled chariot drawn by two he-goats, rattling across the s$y. AS&' offers &ad as the name for the &une, but in doing so fails to provide a clear meaning. The gloss, that &ad seems 'easy to a warrior indoors and very courageous to one abroad on horsebac$', fits well with the meanings of either thunder or riding. -oth "&' and #&' ta$e riding as the meaning, #&' in its atin gloss adding iter, or .ourney. "&' is again somewhat cryptic in its remar$ that &egin, the master-smith who was foster-father of Sigurd and brother of the dragon *afnir, forged the finest sword. Thor is closely associated with the oa$, and it is widely recogni/ed that the god of the oa$, the tree more frequently struc$ by lightning than any other, is also the god of thunder. AS&' provides a verse for Ac, the 'ai' rune, describing how acorns fatten swine for man's table, as well as the wood being used for building ships. +a$ was also the wood of the >ule log, and it would have been very appropriate for the wood burned upon Thor's principal festival to come from his sacred tree. +a$ pillars are associated with Thor in #celand, as in 2yrbygg.a Saga, where Thorolf 0ostur--eard throws his high seat pillars, made of oa$, overboard to establish where he should settle, the decision being ta$en for him by the place at which they drift to land. 4ere, as is other places, the additional matter which can be derived from the extra verses provided by AS&' invariably seems to show that, in order to find material with which to gloss the extra letters, an earlier, now lost, source was

dissected. This rune is pronounced exactly as in modern 2nglish.

KAUNAZ
As with &aido, no immediate and clear interpretation emerges for this rune. 0eanings which have been given include torch, light, boil, abscess and ulcer. AS&' reads 'torch', $nown to all living by its pale, bright flame, and adding that it always burns where princes sit within. This could read .ust as easily if the meaning were fever, and the less equivocal renderings of #&' and "&' agree that the rune's most li$ely interpretation is an association with some form of discomfort or disease. -oth these texts ta$e ulcer as the most probable meaning, and #&''s 'disease fatal to children, and painful spot, and abode of mortification' can leave us in little doubt, as does its atin gloss of flagella. "&' provides a direct parallel with AS&' by stating that this rune 'ma$es a man pale'. +ther possible interpretations include an association with cremation, as well as a correspondence with $ano, s$iff, the sacred vehicle of the cult of "erthus. Some form of burning pain or fever, however, still seems the most li$ely interpretation. The rune is pronounced exactly as in modern 2nglish.

GEBO
This rune has the meaning of a gift, but the nature of the gift remains ambiguous. #t could be the sacrifice of man giving to the gods, or the bounty of the gods giving to man. 0an giving to the gods would imply a religious act, and religion could be regarded as the gift of the gods to man. This rune was said to protect against the poisoned cup, and as such may have formed a part of the sequence scored by 2gil S$allagrimsson at -ard's feast, when ,unnhild passed a poisoned cup to him. 3hen we examine the numerology of runecraft later we shall see that three is an important number, and beer-barrels mar$ed with thee ?s, or gebo-runes, are almost a cliche. This was one of the runes which was dropped from the later Scandinavian *uthor$, and only AS&' holds a comment upon it. The name as given here is ,yfu, and it translates to mean generosity. Thus it is said to bring credit and honour to the support of one's dignity, and in the sense of charity it furnishes help and subsistence to those in need. Again this represents situations applicably to man to man, man to god or god to man. The pronunciation of this rune is rather difficult. #t is only rarely used as a hard sound, as in 'girl', and never as a 5 equivalent. 0ostly it was a soft sound with the tongue further bac$ on the palate than for the hard sound, producing a longer, more rolling 'gh'.

WUNJO
The meaning of this rune was bliss, comfort and even glory. #t might be ta$en to mean the support of concrete possessions, but it primarily represented an absence of suffering. inguistically it compares favourably with the ,ermanic wulthu/, glory and win.o, pasture, both of which support its meaning. 3ulthu/ may also support an association with the "orse ,od 8ll. AS&' has 3enne, bliss, en.oyed by the prosperous and contented ones who don't $now suffering, sorrow or anxiety. +ne opinion has it that this rune induces intoxication, lin$ing it to ,othic woths, furious or raging, and the fren/y rune which was employed by S$irnir. 3oths may in turn descend from the ,ermanic wod-/, which has the same meaning and is one of the most probable derivations of +din. #n the Anglo-Saxon '"ine 4erbs !harm' +din performs magic with 'glory wands', leading us around in almost a complete circle, with the truth lying somewhere therein. After all, there is no

reason why the 'glory wands' should not be 'glory staves', which in turn would relate to the 'glory runes' of 3un.o. The nine twigs bore the runic initials of the nine plants they represented, which in turn were related to the powers inherent in the plants. This rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

HAGALAZ
This rune means 'hail', both as an aspect of the weather and in the sense of a hail of missiles in battle. #n both senses it has the implication of a destructive and order-threatening force. AS&' ascribes hail as the 'whitest of grain, whirled from the vault of the heavens and tossed about by wind before turning finally to water'. "&' agrees with this, whilst irrelevantly adding that !hrist created the world of old. #&' refers specifically to hail as an aspect of the weather, with its 'cold grain and shower of sleet and sic$ness of serpents'. 'Sic$ness of serpents' is a $enning, or poetic simile, for 3inter. -oth as a weather weapon and as phenomenon of battle, hail represents a force not completely within an individual's control. The flaming wheels, which were later representations of symbols from the h@llristningar, traditionally rolled by the ,ermanic peoples upon St 5ohn's 2ve, were called 'hail-wheels'. Their purpose, in that uncertain climate, was to protect the ripening crops from the ravages of hail. This opens the speculation that the power of this rune could be magically counteracted by the use of the sun-wheel. Another measure against hail is remar$able because it was employed by a !hristian bishop yet obviously referred bac$ to paganism in its usage. The dignitary concerned too$ a piece of wax from the grave of a saint and cut pagan signs, which were most li$ely runes, upon it. This piece of wax was then fastened to a tall tree to ward off the hailstorms which had previously damaged the bishop's crops. This rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

NAUTHIZ
This rune has the meanings of need, constraint and even, in extremis, misery. Some authorities read this as a fate-rune and equate it with the "ornir, or *ates, or "orse myth. #t had the power of providing help when scratched upon a fingernail, and its meaning thus vacillates between assistance and the need to survive. 3hile "authi/ might provide assistance, "&' glibly states that constraint gives scant choice, and that a na$ed man will be chilled by the frost. #&' also offers constraint, but equates the rune with the need for wor$, thereby offering a solution to its attendant difficulties. #t glosses the rune with the atin opera, or wor$, confirming this. AS&' alone offers a degree of hope, despite rendering the rune-name as "yd, which translates as trouble. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

ISA
This means ice, which li$e hail, is an essentially damaging natural force. AS&' regards ice as very cold and slippery, li$e a floor which has been made from glass but which is nevertheless fair to loo$ at. "&' calls it the broad bridge and adds that the blind man must be led. This could be ta$en as a cryptic warning or as a straightforward piece of practical advice. #&' glosses this rune with the atin glacies, or ice, and provides $ennings with the phrases 'bar$ of riveers', 'destruction of the doomed' and 'roof of wave', despite the fact that salt water free/es with less ease than fresh.

#n some interpretations of the story of +din's wooing of &ind, ice is regarded as the power he used to bind his enchanted bride-to-be. #f this is the case, then one virtue of this rune might be to reinforce the strength of a rune-spell. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

JERA
#nterpretations which have been offered for this rune include year, spear, harvest, year of plenty and year of good harvest. -oth "&' and #&' prefer to render the meaning as 'plenty', #&' adding a good summer and thriving crops for good measure. "&', cryptic as ever, adds that the peace-loving 6anish $ing *rothi was generous, adding to the overall impression of prosperity associated with this rune. #&' offers the atin gloss annus, year, and AS&' reads 'summer' while giving the name of the rune as ,er. This derives from gear, a word originally referring to the warm part of the year. The concepts of a season of fertility and a good harvest were vital, in the true meaning of 'vital', to agricultural communities in the uncertain northlands. The rune is pronounced as in the modern 2nglish word 'yes'.

EIHWAZ
This rune means 'yew', a wood both sacred to runecraft and used for the ma$ing of bows. The hunting ,od 8ll built his hall in >dalir, >ewdale, and the bow was regarded as his sacred weapon. AS&' and "&' eulogi/e the qualities of the tree, which has rough bar$, stands hard and fast in the earth, is a guardian of flame, a .oy upon an estate, the greenest of trees in winter and, lastly, apt to crac$le when it burns. +nly #&' reads 'bow', describing it as an implement of battle and speeder of the arrow, and using arcus, bow, for the atin gloss. #n !hristian times 8ll's place was ta$en by St 4ubert, the hunter, patron of the first month of the year. 8ll was regarded as a winter ,od and the first month began, appropriately, on AAnd "ovember, when the sun passed into the sign of Sagittarius, the archer. #n !hristian myth, the yew was both a help and a hindrance to witches. According to some, it was of assistance because it was planted near to churches, thus offering some sacrilegious but unspecified benefit. According to others it protected churchyards from the demonic arts of these vile creatures. !ertainly it was of use to the third with in 0acbeth, who employed among other charm ingredients 'slips of yew, sliver'd in the moon's eclipse.' #n ,erman fol$lore, yew ground to powder and ba$ed was a sovereign remedy against the bite of a mad dog. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish 'yet'.

PERTHO
'erhaps the greatest mystery in the futhar$ is the meaning of this rune. Attempts to interpret its meaning range from dance, through fruit tree, to hearth. AS&' offers 'chessman' as a meaning, describing it as a source of recreation and amusement to the great gathered together in the banqueting hall. >et in citing this, 6ic$ins notes a comparison of the rune-name with the Slavonic word pi/da, or vulva. This would ma$e the rune sacred to *rigg as the mother figure of the gods and provide direct parallel with the essentially male fertility implicit in the later rune #ngu/. 'ertho has also been thought to be symbolic of the magical powers of the earth, through a supposed derivation from the atin petra, roc$. A brief examination of some of the other meanings may serve to clear things up somewhat. 6ance was one of the earliest symbolic acts of worship, possibly because of the erotic excitation it was capable of producing. !ertainly in some of its motions it could provide parallels with movements

used in sexual activity. #ts suppression by !hristianity, probably during the council held under -oniface in BCA, and the identification in Anglo-Saxon of the word lac with both religious ceremony and dance, combine unerringly when we reali/e that lac forms the second syllable of the Anglo-Saxon for wedloc$, and is still identifiable in the word we use today. A possible candidate for the fruit tree might well be the elder. '6evil's wood' is a fol$-name still extant for elder in our own time, because of its difficult properties when burning. 2lder is wood associated with witchcraftm and its name is said to be derived from the Slavonic hohl, hollow, itself a synonym for the female genitalia. The use of both elder flowers and berries for wine, +din's intoxicating staple diest, is well-$nown. The church's regard for witchcraft as an essentially female phenomenon, coupled with 'devil's wood', and the derivation of its name from a synonym for the female sexual organs, begins to reinforce the interpretation of vulva for this rune. 2lder is regularly used in charms to relieve pain, and the therapeutic value of sexual intercourse is too widely $nown to require more comment. The rune is pronounces as in modern 2nglish.

ALGIZ
This rune implies defence and protection, possibly even in the form of an amulet or temple sanctuary, and related words are the ,othic alhs, temple and the +ld 2nglish ealgian, to protect. There may also be a relationship here with the mysterious runeword alu. The meaning has also been equated with the el$, mentioned by !aesar as sleeping upright leaning against a tree to elude the hunter more easily, and thus in some measure a symbol of preservation in the face of adversity. AS&' confusingly ta$es the meaning as some $ind of sedgegrass found in marshes, and inflicting terrible wounds on anyone incautious enough to brush against it. This would be an admirable protection against being uprooted or eaten. The rune's resemblance to the outstretched hand, palm outwards or upwards, has also been pointed out by some writers, again implying a protective power which can avert or banish evil. This is a tempting reinforcement of the rune's meaning, but it has the disadvantage of leading into the highly speculative area of attributing pictographic meanings to the runes. This has led many would-be interpreters into gross errors, yet its resemblance to the branch configurations of ash, walnut or linden trees, at which witches were wont to assemble at the full moon in Slavonian gypsy lore, might be noted in passing. The rune is pronounced somewhere between / and r.

SOWULO
This rune represents the sun, the heavenly body upon which all life depends and one of the principal ob.ects of any ancient worship. !aesar observed that the ,ermani worshipped both the sun and the moon, and both of these luminaries would have played an important part in daily life, regulating as they do between them both the seasons and the tides. AS&' describes this rune as the hope of seafarers, "&' has it as the light of the world, and #&' poetically calls it shield of the clouds, shining ray and either destroyer of ice or circling wheel. The atin gloss is rota, wheel. As shining is the most frequently applied ad.ective to the sun we may trace a correspondence with the Shining ,od of "orse myth - -aldur, patron of innocence and light. !amomile was called '-aldur's brow' because the flower was so immaculately pure it resembled the god's forehead. -aldur is also closely associated with the mistletoe, a shaft of which was set into blind 4odur's hand by o$i to $ill -aldur. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish 'sea'.

TEIWAZ
This is the rune of Tyr, ,od of war, giver of victory and protector from harm. Amuletic use of this rune was widespread, even in the earlier centuries of runecraft. AS&' stands alone in not ascribing the rune to the ,od of war. >et although it prefers to ma$e Tyr a star, possibly a circumpolar constellation, the descriptive gloss goes well enough with the war ,odD 'well does it $eep faith with princes7 it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.' Thus it confirms the sense of optimism integral to this rune. "&' and #&', which glosses Tyr as 0ars, both refer to Tyr as the one-handed ,od. 3hen the *enris 3olf was being bound with fetter from which it could not escape, Tyr placed his hand in the creature's mouth as a false pledge. #t discovered it was trapped and bit Tyr's right hand off. 6espite the falsity of the pledge, this story is used to illustrate Tyr's nobility of spirit. *rey gave his sword for love of ,erd7 +din gave his eye for personal love of wisdom7 but Tyr gave his hand for love of his fellows. %*or this reason the wrist is referred to as the 'wolf-.oint'.( Aconite was $nown in the north as 'Tyr's helm', an interesting fact in view of its fol$ name of wolfsbane. 3olfsbane was also $nown as Sagittarius because of its poison was used on arrowheads. #t was also a principal ingredient of the witches' flying ointments. #n view of the rune being a perfect representation of an arrow, this association is both remar$able and apposite. This rune has also been identified as the geir's-odd or spear-rune. This was the sign supposed to be cut by an ageing warrior in his own flesh so that he might enter )alhalla, instead of dying a 'strawdeath' in bed of old age. Teiwa/ is the commonest of the runic symbols found upon 2nglish cremation urns. +n the one from Sawston in >or$shire, it appears in connection with that other archetypal ,ermanic symbol the swasti$a. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

BERKANA
The birch tree was regarded as sacred and associated with spring fertility rites. #dun was believed to be the ,oddess of spring, and her youth, vigour and beauty were symbolic of the vegetative resurrection which the season brought. She was also the $eeper of the apples that gave perpetual and spring-li$e youth to the gods. AS&' confuses the issue by describing a tree which is more li$ely to be a poplar than a birch. "&' and #&' agree that birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub, and "&' comments cryptically that o$i was fortunate in his deceit, which would appear more perfectly applicable to the mistletoe. This rune is rarely pronounced as a stop, as in 'bird'. 2lliott compares the sound to that made when blowing out a candle without rounding the lips.

EHWAZ
This is the horse rune. 4orses have been regarded as sacred since the earliest times, and Tacitus describes pure white horses, $ept at public expense and not used for any $ind of wor$, yo$ed to a chariot and used to confirm divinations by their snorts and neighs, which were interpreted either by the $ing or by a state priest. 4e added that the horses were believed to be privy to the counsels of the gods. +din's own eight-legged mount, Sleipnir, was believed to have been either pure white or dappled grey. AS&' confirms the rune-meaning of horse, describing it as a .oy to princes in the presence of warriors, a steed in the pride of its hoofs when rich men bandy words about it, and ever a source to comfort to the restless. The horse was frequently regarded as sacred to *rey, and the animal's

dedication to that deity is a central theme of 4rafn$el's Saga. The heathen Swedes were called 'horse-eaters' by their converted compatriots, an appellation which continued to be used throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Such a diet, albeit ceremonial, was also the reputed provender of giants and witches and was associated with the worship of +din. The witches, the equivalent of the old pagan v1lvas or sybils, suitably denigrated for the purposes of the !hristian hierarchy, were well-suited to $eep company with the giants, who were themselves a distorted memory of the old pagan heroes. The horse was the favoured animal of that fol$loric archetype the solar hero, and thus to the virtue of this rune may be added that certainty which accompanied the exploits of the invulnerable hero carried along by the sacred solar horse. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish 'end'.

MANNAZ
This rune stands for man, either the individual or the race, and it was thought to possess powers for defence and protection. AS&' comments with true pessimism that every man is doomed to fail his fellows, since the ord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the earth. "&' adds, cryptically as ever, that great is the claw of the haw$. #&' maintains a steady optimism by describing man as the augmentation of the earth and the adornment of ships, and glosses the atin homo, man. Some authorities note mention in Tacitus of an earth-bound ,od called Tuisto, who had a son called 0annus, thus establishing a speculative lin$ between the deity and this rune. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

LAGUZ
This rune represents water, perhaps as a source of fertility. +ne authority regards the name as a late replacement and prefers to read an earlier sense of lee$, or herb, pointing to an association of the shape of the lee$ with pagan phallic practices. 3hilst this coincides with the fertility aspect of the rune, the water interpretation is very well established, and the rune is associated with the )anir ,od ".ord. The marine sponge was $nown as '".ord's glove', and he was regarded as a wealthy deity associated with the sea. ,ulls and seals were sacred to him. AS&' reads 'ocean' for the meaning and glosses this with a note on the terrors of the deep. "&' reads waterfall, but glosses ".ord's richness with the line that 'ornaments are of gold'. #&' glosses the atin lacus, la$e, and confirms water as the eddying stream and the land of the fish and the broad geyser. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

INGUZ
This rune is associated with the deity *rey, also $nown as the hero #ng. #t denotes fertility, as as *rey has been represented ithyphallically, it may well stand for the male generative organ and be a direct equivalent to the female 'ertho. AS&' refers to #ng as a departed hero of the 6anes. *ertility flourishes best in peacetime and *rey's cult as a god of peace and prosperity descends from that of the earlier ,oddess "erthus. The .ul, or >ule, feast was dedicated to *rey, and the head of his sacred animal, the boar, was served crowned with laurel and rosemary. The rune is pronounced as in the modern 2nglish word singer.

OTHILA
This rune means inheritance, in the wide sense of anything of value which can be passed down or handed over, including $nowledge. #t can also refer to the ancestral home and, by extension, the native land. This is one of the runes not included in #&' and "&', and so we only have the words of AS&' to wor$ with for amplification. AS&' glosses the meaning with 'estate', which is very dear to every man if he is able to en.oy, in his own home, whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity. 8nfortunately here we have the materialistic tendencies of medieval !hristianity creeping in to modify the wider meaning. The rune is pronounced as in modern 2nglish.

DAGAZ
This stands for day, the security of daylight as opposed to the inconvenience, if not actual terror, of night. 6ay is the time of being able to see and thus counteract one's foes, the time when wor$ may go ahead well. Again, we only have the glosses from AS&' to help augment the interpretation here. >et the poem is optimistic, for once, if !hristian, in saying that the glorious light of the !reator, send by the ord, is beloved of men, serviceable to all, and a source of hope and happiness to both rich and poor ali$e. 6espite representing the letter 6 this rune is usually pronounced 'th' as in modern 2nglish 'then'.