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Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
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 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.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 20, 2019
"Sezt nidhr ok radh runar;
ris upp ok fis vidh!"
(Sit down and interpret the runes;
rise up and fart!)
An insanely good study of talismans, amulets, sticks, and weapons covered in the futhark runes found in many places across Europe. The authors break the runes down thematically, covering healing wards, curses, sex runes, fart runes (yay!), invocatory runes, and all kinds of weird pagan ritualistic runes. This is all fascinating in and of itself. But the best part is the physical, archaeological evidence for a pan-European occultic ideal, the same kind of shit witchcraft scholars like Carlo Ginzburg keep hinting at. A northern Italian/Tyrolean influence can be seen all the way into Scandinavia, making this an exciting read if you're into that kind of stuff (which I am.)
ris upp ok fis vidh!"
(Sit down and interpret the runes;
rise up and fart!)
An insanely good study of talismans, amulets, sticks, and weapons covered in the futhark runes found in many places across Europe. The authors break the runes down thematically, covering healing wards, curses, sex runes, fart runes (yay!), invocatory runes, and all kinds of weird pagan ritualistic runes. This is all fascinating in and of itself. But the best part is the physical, archaeological evidence for a pan-European occultic ideal, the same kind of shit witchcraft scholars like Carlo Ginzburg keep hinting at. A northern Italian/Tyrolean influence can be seen all the way into Scandinavia, making this an exciting read if you're into that kind of stuff (which I am.)
April 3, 2014
I get the feeling that when the authors got together to compose this work, they wanted it to be THE book on how runes were used for magical purposes. Extremely detailed, it covers magical runic inscriptions found on sticks, jewelry, weapons, runes stones and other objects. Not always making a clear distinction between religion and magic, inscriptions include invocations to the gods, healing, cursing, protection, fertility , and love magic.
The down side of reading this work is that it was at times a bit of a slog. It was as if the writers wanted to include just about every object found that so much as hinted of magic. Trying to keep straight the objects mentioned and where they were from was a tad frustrating. Not that I'm blaming the scholars, its what you get sometimes with a scholarly book. Also, considering that they mentioned sooooo many objects, it would have been great to have some photographs of them. But all the book has is a few drawings. That's it!
Still a terrific book if you love anything to do with runes, magic and Vikings!
The down side of reading this work is that it was at times a bit of a slog. It was as if the writers wanted to include just about every object found that so much as hinted of magic. Trying to keep straight the objects mentioned and where they were from was a tad frustrating. Not that I'm blaming the scholars, its what you get sometimes with a scholarly book. Also, considering that they mentioned sooooo many objects, it would have been great to have some photographs of them. But all the book has is a few drawings. That's it!
Still a terrific book if you love anything to do with runes, magic and Vikings!
December 18, 2019
This is a very thorough and fascinating survey of a specific text/object type tracked over a very long timespan. Definitely worth reading just for that. However, I sometimes have trouble following the author's reasoning and sourcing. The difference between established knowledge, new proposals and speculation - and what underpins them - is not always clear to me. This makes reading this a bit of a bumpy ride.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews