Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
Title | Runic Amulets and Magic Objects PDF eBook |
Author | Mindy MacLeod |
Publisher | Boydell Press |
Total Pages | 300 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9781843832058 |
A fresh examination of one of the most contentious issues in runic scholarship - magical or not? The runic alphabet, in use for well over a thousand years, was employed by various Germanic groups in a variety of ways, including, inevitably, for superstitious and magical rites. Formulaic runic words were inscribed onto small items that could be carried for good luck; runic charms were carved on metal or wooden amulets to ensure peace or prosperity. There are invocations and allusions to pagan and Christian gods and heroes, to spirits of disease, and even to potential lovers. Few such texts are completely unique to Germanic society, and in fact, most of the runic amulets considered in this book show wide-ranging parallels from a variety of European cultures. The question ofwhether runes were magical or not has divided scholarship in the area. Early criticism embraced fantastic notions of runic magic - leading not just to a healthy scepticism, but in some cases to a complete denial of any magical element whatsoever in the runic inscriptions. This book seeks to re-evaulate the whole question of runic sorcery, attested to not only in the medieval Norse literature dealing with runes but primarily in the fascinating magical texts of the runic inscriptions themselves. Dr MINDY MCLEOD teaches in the Department of Linguistics, Deakin University, Melbourne; Dr BERNARD MEES teaches in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne.
The Rune Primer
Title | The Rune Primer PDF eBook |
Author | Sweyn Plowright |
Publisher | Rune-Net Press |
Total Pages | 187 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | 0958043515 |
Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions
Title | Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions PDF eBook |
Author | Tineke Looijenga |
Publisher | BRILL |
Total Pages | 434 |
Release | 2003-01-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 9789004123960 |
This source publication of all older runic inscriptions provides fascinating information about the origin and development of runic writing, together with the archaeological and historical contexts of the objects. Moreover elaborate readings and interpretations are given of the runic texts.
Rune Dice Divination
Title | Rune Dice Divination PDF eBook |
Author | Donald Tyson |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | Divination |
ISBN | 9781567187489 |
Investigate hidden matters, answer questions about the past, and reveal the pattern of the future. By tossing the dice upon pattern matrices (simple grids that bring a new level of meaning to each reading) you can divine a wide variety of subjects in great detail with a single throw of the dice. Pattern matrices make the rune dice one of the most precise forms of divination known. Since their invention by Donald Tyson more than ten years ago, rune dice have bcome a highly popular form of divination - often replacing more common modern rune media such as rune stones or rune cards.
The Viking Way
Title | The Viking Way PDF eBook |
Author | Neil S. Price |
Publisher | Oxbow Books Limited |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 2019 |
Genre | Archaeology and religion |
ISBN | 9781842172605 |
Magic, sorcery and witchcraft are among the most common themes of the great medieval Icelandic sagas and poems, the problematic yet vital sources that provide our primary textual evidence for the Viking Age that they claim to describe. Yet despite the consistency of this picture, surprisingly little archaeological or historical research has been done to explore what this may really have meant to the men and women of the time. This book examines the evidence for Old Norse sorcery, looking at its meaning and function, practice and practitioners, and the complicated constructions of gender and sexual identity with which these were underpinned. Combining strong elements of eroticism and aggression, sorcery appears as a fundamental domain of women's power, linking them with the gods, the dead and the future. Their battle spells and combat rituals complement the men's physical acts of fighting, in a supernatural empowerment of the Viking way of life. What emerges is a fundamentally new image of the world in which the Vikings understood themselves to move, in which magic and its implications permeated every aspect of a society permanently geared for war. In this fully revised and expanded second edition, Neil Price takes us with him on a tour through the sights and sounds of this undiscovered country, meeting its human and otherworldly inhabitants, including the Sámi with whom the Norse partly shared this mental landscape. On the way we explore Viking notions of the mind and soul, the fluidity of the boundaries that they drew between humans and animals, and the immense variety of their spiritual beliefs. We find magic in the Vikings' bedrooms and on their battlefields, and we meet the sorcerers themselves through their remarkable burials and the tools of their trade. Combining archaeology, history and literary scholarship with extensive studies of Germanic and circumpolar religion, this multi-award-winning book shows us the Vikings as we have never seen them before.
Futhark
Title | Futhark PDF eBook |
Author | Edred Thorsson |
Publisher | Weiser Books |
Total Pages | 176 |
Release | 1984-01-01 |
Genre | Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | 9780877285489 |
Runes are the ancient Norse alphabet used for communication, divination, and magical work. In Futhark, American runologist Edred Thorsson introduces readers to the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, their definitions, and mystic properties. The runic system of magic and mysticism is one of the most powerful forms of metaphysical thought available to the Western world. This bestselling classic book on Runes continues to be required reading for those who seek true knowledge of the mystery of the Runes. Thorsson's presentation of this powerful system is lucid and profound and provides a valuable tool for spiritual transformation and self-development.
Runes and Magic
Title | Runes and Magic PDF eBook |
Author | Stephen E. Flowers |
Publisher | Lodestar Books |
Total Pages | 330 |
Release | 2011-05-01 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9781885972323 |
Originally published in 1986, based on the author's 1984 doctoral dissertation, this volume has become the leading academic study of the topic of rune-magic. When originally released only 250 copies of this work were printed in a prohibitively expensive edition. This new revised and updated version allows more readers to discover the revolutionary contents of this book which presents a comprehensive history and theory of the concept of magic in connection with the ancient Germanic runes. It also catalogs, categorizes and analyzes the many magical formulas used by the most ancient rune-masters and shows how these formulas were utilized within the traditional Germanic cultural frame of reference. No mater what your level of interest is in the runes, this is the most in-depth text you will find. This is the third edition of this masterpiece, with numerous corrections.