Ancient Runes Made Easy
written by Katherine Lutz
Runes is a big and complex subject, and for many it can become difficult to keep everything straight. That is what this book hopes to be able to help with.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
5
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5,046
The People - The Goddess of Love
Chapter 3
It does not make sense to try to understand the writing system of a people without knowing anything about who they were and how they lived. Much less so when you try to understand a system as complex as that of the runes, which are at the same time an alphabet and magical objects.
In the following we will therefore turn away from the runes for a moment and focus on the people that created them, so that we may gain a more grounded understanding of the runes when we discuss them in more depth later.
The Viking age is typically said to have lasted from 793 AD when the abbey on Lindisfarne in England was raided by Vikings, to 1066 AD where William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings.
However, the image many people have of red bearded warriors with horned helmets is a not altogether correct image. For while that was the image most of Europe got to see, that was not the image of the average Viking.
Most of them were farmers who worshiped gods such as Frey and his sister Freyja; both fertility gods although Freyja had some special associations such as love and beauty, but perhaps most importantly for our purpose Freyja was also strongly associated with seiðr or as we know it today; magic. In one of the sagas it is directly said that Freyja was the first to acquaint the gods with magic which they had not previously known, but which had been custom among Freyja’s people. For Frey and Freyja were of a different people than the majority of the gods, but had after a great war between the two families of gods been sent with their father to live with their former enemies to ensure continued peace.
So although it might be difficult to see why the goddess of love and fertility would play such a great part in the religion of a people who is known for being fierce warriors, it is not too difficult to see the reasons once you dig a little deeper and realize that in fact most people were farmers and needed the harvest to be plentiful more than they needed help in battle. And for those who did fight, she was still vitally important, for without her the gods would be without a great power.
Óðinn himself is said to practice seiðr although it is in the same breath said to be unbecoming a man and be woman’s work. Other types of magic are more suitable for men. But Óðinn appears to disregard that fact and use it regardless, because he needs to and would rather risk being thought unmanly than be without the great powers seiðr offers him.
In the following we will therefore turn away from the runes for a moment and focus on the people that created them, so that we may gain a more grounded understanding of the runes when we discuss them in more depth later.
The Viking age is typically said to have lasted from 793 AD when the abbey on Lindisfarne in England was raided by Vikings, to 1066 AD where William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings.
However, the image many people have of red bearded warriors with horned helmets is a not altogether correct image. For while that was the image most of Europe got to see, that was not the image of the average Viking.
Most of them were farmers who worshiped gods such as Frey and his sister Freyja; both fertility gods although Freyja had some special associations such as love and beauty, but perhaps most importantly for our purpose Freyja was also strongly associated with seiðr or as we know it today; magic. In one of the sagas it is directly said that Freyja was the first to acquaint the gods with magic which they had not previously known, but which had been custom among Freyja’s people. For Frey and Freyja were of a different people than the majority of the gods, but had after a great war between the two families of gods been sent with their father to live with their former enemies to ensure continued peace.
So although it might be difficult to see why the goddess of love and fertility would play such a great part in the religion of a people who is known for being fierce warriors, it is not too difficult to see the reasons once you dig a little deeper and realize that in fact most people were farmers and needed the harvest to be plentiful more than they needed help in battle. And for those who did fight, she was still vitally important, for without her the gods would be without a great power.
Óðinn himself is said to practice seiðr although it is in the same breath said to be unbecoming a man and be woman’s work. Other types of magic are more suitable for men. But Óðinn appears to disregard that fact and use it regardless, because he needs to and would rather risk being thought unmanly than be without the great powers seiðr offers him.
