Runes Part I

One of the most common myths about the Vikings is their barbaric and mindless brutality. Brutal, mindless, plundering, pillaging, murdering heathens do not encourage images of simple farmers that worshiped a God, Odin, who had given up his eye for the knowledge of runes. It is true that while raiding fear and terror were powerful weapons and there was glory in a warrior’s deeds but when at home the Vikings were farmers, family oriented and valued education.

The Vikings wrote, yes wrote, Poetic Eddas, Sagas, and entertaining stories and songs. Their primary form of expression was dramatic story telling and best stories and histories were written using runes. In runic writing the vary symbols had power and magic. Runes gave the ability to “draw sounds” and thus preserve the message for all time.

The earliest known appearance of runic alphabet contain a series of twenty-four angular runes called the Elder Futhark (2^nd-8^th Century), named after the first phonemic sounds of the first six runes.

The Younger Futhark (8^th-12^th Century) has only sixteen runes. The Younger Futhark became the prominent runes during the Viking Age while the Elder Futhark remained the language of the elite. The Younger Futharks became known through out Europe as “Alphabet of the Northmen” and any culture wanting to trade learned the runes for contracts and trade diplomacy. These contracts and contacts can be found in what is called Ogham of the Scandinavians" or the Book of Ballymote .

The Younger Futhark broke off into two forms during the Viking Age as language and regional influences developed the verbal and written languages of the Vikings. These two divided branches became known as the Danish “long branches” and the Swedish/Norwegian “short twigs.” The Norwegian branch developed into the Icelandic runes

The Danish Runes

The Swedish/Norwegian Runes

As the Viking world became Christianized the runes became “Latinized.” Additional symbols for specific phonemic sounds were added and were used mainly as decoration in many of the Scandinavian churches until 1850ish.

Go to http://www.omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm and check out the Lord’s Prayer in runes.

As the Vikings traveled and stayed in various places around the world the runes evolved. The Northumbrian Futhark from Northern England is heavily influenced by the Celtic language. As the Vikings settled in Russia and Turkey the runes became influenced by those languages and evolved into their own language. In every Viking settlement

archeologist have found countless artifacts from simple combs with “Helga’s comb” inscribed on it to sword hilts inscribe with runic prayer to the Gods.

One of the most intriguing uses of runes are the Runestones that can be found through out the Scandinavian world and wherever the Vikings traveled. The

tradition is believed to have started around the 4^th century. These stones were erected as memorial to deceased men often near gravesites.

The tradition is mentioned in both Ynglinga saga and Hávamál:

For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone, a custom that remained long after Odin's time.

—The Ynglinga saga

When King Harald Bluetooth was baptized he erected large Runestones in memory of his parents. The inscriptions reads, “King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Þyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.” These large Runestones have the earliest inscriptions and pictures of Christ. King Harald Bluetooth started a trend and for a generation after him every King in Denmark, Sweden and Norway had to erect their own Runestone.

Runes for the Vikings were a form of written communications. They were also tools of magic and divinations.

The Magic of the Runes-Part II

For further reading on the use of Runes see…

Runes, Alphabet of Mystery (my go to site) http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/links2.html

Viking Answer Lady. http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/VALArtAndLiterature.shtml

ARILD HAUGE’S RUNES http://www.arild-hauge.com/eindex.htm

Jonathan Dee The Runes An Illustrated Guide to Interpreting the Stones

Did the Viking celebrate Easter or Eostre?

The Goddess identified with fertility, love and new beginnings are Freyja and Iđunn. Freyja, in Old Norse means “Lady”, represented love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, and death. She is often seen or represented on a chariot being pulled by two cats. She was the owner (Why? I don’t know why?) of the boar, Hildisvíni. Her cloak made of falcon feathers invoked all matters of fertility and love. Freyja is found the Poetic Eddas that were written in the early 13th Century from earlier sources. She can also be found in the Prose Eddas and Heimskringla both written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th Century. The Sagas of the Icelanders and the short story, Sörla þattr also mention Freyja. Scholars have theorized that Freyja and Odin’s wife, Frigg, may have origins as the same goddess in the Germanic mythology. Freyja’s image and name have been found throughout the Scandinavian countries especially in Southern Swden.

In the Poetic Edda written in the 13th Century by Snorri Sturluson, Iðunn is the Goddess associated with apples, youth and Spring. She is the keeper of the Golden Apple that keep the Asgard Gods and Goddess young. This also gives her the unique power to grant eternal youth. Like Freyja and Frigga, Iðunn is also linked with fertility. According to scholars, Iðunn is also linked with Germanic mythology. Apples have been found in early Germanic graves possibly representing youth and fertility. The Germanic goddess Nhalennia is also connected with apples.

Unlike Freyja, Iðunn, and Frigg,who are all mentioned extensively in the Prose Eddas, Sagas and name sakes, there is only one written sourced that mentioned Eostre. Eostre is Germanic, possibly Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon but not Norse. Her name is found in the Anglo-Saxon month of Eostur-monath which had given the name to the festival of Easter. The 8th Century monk, the Venerable Bede, wrote in his De temporum ratione that Eostur-monath was equal to April. This is the *only* documented mentioned of Eostre. No where else is she mentioned. It is theorized that the festival of “Paschal month” replaced a local goddess named Austron. Jacob Grimm in the 19th Century only found oral traditions to this goddess Austron but no other concrete evidence. There is a great deal of debate still amongst scholars whether or not Eostre was a mistranslation by Bebe or a fabrication.

So, simply put. No,the Pagan Vikings didn’t celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter. But, they did honor the Goddess Freyja and Iðunn. There is no evidence, yet, of them honoring Eostre. The Viking Age is considered to be between 793-1066 A.D. By, the mid 900 A.D. Christian missionaries were entering the Scandinavian countries to convert the “Pagans.” The Vikings often wore duel “crosses.” Sometimes they would accept a provisional baptism also known as “Prime-signing” but still call upon Thor, Odin and other Pagan gods if they felt Christ was quick enough to respond. Thus the crosses these Vikings wore were a cross between a Pagan symbol and the Christian cross. Followers of Christ were called White Christ" or Hvítakristr possibly due to the fact that newly converted Christians only wore white. It is possible that these early Christians celebrated a simplified version of Easter.

Bless Bless

How did the Vikings handle death?

I have been pondering this question in the last week or so since my best friend past away a couple of weeks ago from cancer. His Service was held in a Lutheran church and it was a beautiful Christian ceremony. All of the Scandinavian, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, are Lutheran. When pioneers and immigrants came to the United States they brought their Lutheran faith with them and predominantly to the Midwest.

However, prior to the Christianization of the Scandinavian countries, which were the last hold outs to become Christian during the Middle Ages, the Vikings aka Norseman had a strong polytheistic and warrior culture. Despite their fierce out look on life they did fear death. Like many cultures around the world there were taboos regarding the handling of death and the dead. The Vikings feared that an improperly buried person would not find peace and would haunt the Earth and bring further down fall on the family or village. Yes, the mighty Vikings feared ghosts. The dead person could come back as a revenant or a visible ghost or animated corpse. It was believed that the revenant could return from the grave to terrorize the living. Another reference to ghost was a draugr or draug. It literally means “again walker.”

Extreme precautions and ritual were conducted to make sure the dead were properly buried and cared for in the after life. It was important for the Vikings to properly bury their dead so the dead could enjoy the afterlife. There are many archeological sites and references in the Eddas and Sagas. The 10^th Century Arab writer Ahmad ibn Fadlan wrote a description of a funeral of a Swedish chieftain who was on an expedition, possibly down in Russia. There is validity in some of his writings, but since the movie 13 Warrior based on Michael Crichton’s book Eaters of the Dead ibn Fadlan’s writings and observation have come under scrutiny. I will encourage the reader to explore the controversies over this fun and exciting story. What is valid and concrete as evidence of Viking burial practices and handling of the dead are the archeological finds at the major medieval sites. Three locations community cemeteries or grave sites that were used by an entire community and are closely studied by archeologists are: Birka in Mälaren, Hedeby at Schelswig and Lindholm Høje at Ålborg From these three major grave fields historians and archeologist have been able to examine the Viking methods and also observe the transition from Pagan rituals to Christian burials.

The most common and most identified Viking burial is the ship burial. There are a lot of Hollywood and fantasy images of the great chieftain/warrior being laid to rest in the center of the his “flag ship”, all his worldly possessions laid to rest around him and the his “woman” being laid to rest next to him. Then a hail of flaming arrows set the ship on fire. The only concrete evidence we have this is through the Old Sagas, Old Norse Eddas, and notably from writings and observations of Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Of course since the boat and the body were cremated there would be no physical evidence.

Dramatic and beautiful-real evidence???? It is known that Great Chieftains and people of great status were given a real ships burial. The Oseberg Ship was found to have three women of great status and she is often referred to as the Oseberg Princess. However, the boat was not burned but sunk and/or buried.

The common and most rock solid evidence (no pun intended) of Viking burial are the stone ship burials. The dead were laid in the ground within a stone shaped boat and given grave offerings in accordance with the earthly status and profession of the deceased. These offerings could include slaves or commonly known as thralls. There is much controversy over the sacrificing of slaves since there is little physical evidence besides the eddas, the sagas and ibn Fadlan.

Grave goods were given to everyone even if they had been cremated. A thrall was given enough to enjoy the afterlife and not haunt his Master or Mistress. A free man was usually given weapons and equipment for riding. An artisan, such as a blacksmith, could receive his entire set of tools. Women were provided with their jewelry and often with tools for female and household activities. Warriors and Chieftans were given their swords, axes, shields and in some cases a horse. Several graves in Birka bent swords were found along side the male warrior. Some theorize that the swords were bent so they couldn’t be reused on the living. Piles of stone and soil were usually laid on top of the remains in order to create a tumulus. Even if the burial was considered expensive, the Vikings felt that it was worth the expense. The large burial fields were considered points of pride and status symbols. Runestones have been found in many of these fields and the largest concentrations of these runestones are found in Jelling, in Denmark. They were established by Harrold Bluetooth in memory of his parents and eventually for himself.

As Christianity became the prominent religion in the Viking era the importance of a proper burial continued to be important. It was frowned upon to cremate the dead at the time so many inhumation became a common practice. However, grave goods in the Christian graves are sparse.

The belief in an afterlife was important to the Vikings. They believed that their fates were already written by the Norns. It was how they would be remembered became important. The deeds of my friend in this lifetime will echo through out the ages.

Rest and feast well my friend.