Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
Runic Amulets and Magic Objects

Author: Mindy MacLeod

Publisher: Boydell Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9781843832058

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
Runic Amulets and Magic Objects

Author: Mindy MacLeod

Publisher: Boydell Press

Published: 2006-06-15

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781846155048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A fresh examination of one of the most contentious issues in runic scholarship - magical or not?

Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions
Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions

Author: Tineke Looijenga

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9789004123960

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Runes and Magic
Runes and Magic

Author: Stephen E. Flowers

Publisher: Lodestar Books

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9781885972323

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Futhark
Futhark

Author: Edred Thorsson

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published: 1984-01-01

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9780877285489

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

The Viking Way
The Viking Way

Author: Neil S. Price

Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781842172605

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Myth and Fiction in Early Norse Lands
Myth and Fiction in Early Norse Lands

Author: Ursula Dronke

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-28

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1040248470

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first group of essays in this volume explores the links between early Norse literature, from the 9th to the 13th century, and the learned world of medieval Europe. In the second group the focus is upon the range of theme and style in Norse mythological poetry. Some of the key texts are considered in relation to Anglo-Saxon poetry as well as to the wider and more archaic Indo-European cultural inheritance. The third group offers detailed analyses of early Norse heroic poetry, of the formatic role of verse in the Icelandic sagas and of the final perfecting of prose as the ultimate saga medium. The 16 essays, taken together, are essential reading for all scholars, critics and historians who seek to understand the development of one of the world's most unusual and sophisticated literatures.

Taking Up the Runes
Taking Up the Runes

Author: Diana L. Paxson

Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser

Published: 2021-12

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1578637295

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An accessible, in-depth exploration of the runes as a living spiritual tradition. Diana Paxson has distilled her many years of experience working with the runes into this essential source book. Readers will learn the historical meaning of each individual rune and its use and meaning now, in contemporary culture. But, Paxson reveals, the real power of the runes comes from internalizing them and using their symbols as sources of wisdom and power. At the end of each chapter are rituals and spells for all levels of ability that aim to help internalize the attributions, meanings, symbolism, and use of the runes. Everything regarding runes is covered in this definitive workbook, from the history of runes and how to make your own rune sets, to how to work with them on a psychic, spiritual, and magical level.