the Runes (part 5)

This commentary, in several parts, was sparked by a recent request to create a set of rune marked tiles as a custom order. 

The first time I wrote a commentary on the topic of 'Mystic Runes' was back at the very start of this blog (December 12, 2006).

The second part was seen recently 'the Norse Runes' (November 22, 2017)

The third part was seen recently 'the Historic Use of Runes' (November 23, 2017) 

The fourth part was seen recently 'Evidence of 'Mystic' Runes' (November 24, 2017)

NOTE: My intention with this series is to place the topic of Runes and Rune Lore into a purely archaeological context.

 

'Casting the Viking Runes'

Through this discussion, I have used two Wikipedia articles as a major reference (*).
For an informed overview, from the perspective of archaeology and history, I would recommend reading both of the articles (links below), which do have quite different points of view.

The 'Rune Magic' (2) article does attempt to trace the historic origins of the modern system of using rune marked tile sets as a divination method:
- Johannes Bureus / 1600's / 'based on visions'
- Guido von List / 1902 / 'revealed'
- Ralph Blum / 1982 / 'first book on runic divination' (**)

Comparing academic history to contemporary 'Rune Magic':

The Runes as used during the Viking Age

Modern 'Viking Runes' tile set - made / photo by Runologe

The Elder Futhark - screen capture from Wikipedia - Runes (1)

R. Blum's arrangement of Runes (scan from 'The Book of Runes'

So what is clear is that the letter forms used in modern Rune divination are in fact not the actual set of letters used during the Viking Age ( c 800 to 1000 AD).


Once again, I must stress that I am not attempting in any way to comment on the value of the modern practice of 'Casting the Runes'.

However, as can be seen through this series, there is no direct archaeology to support this modern practice as existing in the actual Viking Age itself.

(*) The 'Runes' article is primarily an academic form, describing the development and historic use of the Runes in Northern Europe. There is only a short reference to Runes as a divination tool.
The 'Rune Magic' article is primarily focused on the development of the Runes as a divination system.

(**) I have access to two versions of contemporary Rune Casting sets:
• Ralph Blum / 'The Book of Runes' / 1982
Blum does include two bibliographies - one of more academic sources, a second he titles 'Guides to the Transformational Process'
Blum suggests variations of the 'three stone' system indicated by Tacitus.
• Horik Svensson / 'the secret of the Runes' / 1995
Svensson does not indicate any references.
Svensson suggests far more elaborate casting system, including the use of a marked cloth target.

^{(1) Wikipedia - Runes}

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes}

 

^{(2) Wikipedia - Rune Magic}

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_magic}