Slow Havamal: 142

In verse 142, we’re told that we will find runes to read, powerful runes made by the holy gods and painted or carved by Odin.

I’m trying to resist the temptation to mail it in this week, given that the verse is basically an introduction to the notion of runes. Let’s take it in parts. The fact that we’re being told we’ll find runic letters to read means that they are given to us in a form that we can understand, which is important. Odin’s sacrifice was to learn them himself, but as with the mead of Oderir, he doesn’t sequester wisdom. He shares it out to Man. We have received this gift, and at least one of the things we can do with runic letters is to read them. They could have been symbols, taken as wholes and not joined together, but here we explicitly get them as an alphabet. I may be incorrect, but I believe this is the only attested form, contrary to modern systems in which each rune as divinatory meanings on its own. In other words, we don’t read whole meanings into A, B, C, D, but we combine them to make words and sentences with meaning. They can’t stand alone. Such are runes, as far as we know.( Read more... )