Customer Reviews

Runes: An Introduction

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This is Professor Elliott's classic on runes. It was written in 1959 & has been a valuable source for basic factual information ever since. Although it acknowledges the surviving Heathen & magical symbolism of the rune names & poems, it sticks to the basic academic facts. This is an essential introduction for anyone serious about learning the runes. Even more so for those who have been duped by the rubbish written in many of the New-Age manuals out there.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer: A Down to Earth Guide to the Runes

This is an important work, which provides a useful summary of what is known about the Runes. While some elements have been questioned since (the meaning of erilaz for emxample), the work as a whoe is quite solid.

The book covers all of the historic futharks, the main sources of our knowledge, and various trends regarding the development of the inscriptions. However, some elements of historical linguistics are not addressed (what is the relationship of the language of the Elder Futhark inscriptions to the other Germanic language branches, for example*).

Of the greatest interest are the sections discussing the names of the staves, and the origin of Runic writing.

This is a truly classic study and I highly recommend it.

This is basic information on what is known about english & scandinavian runes (with an emphasis on english runes), without all the new-age magic bulls**t found in most other books. If you're going to make up fantasies about the runes, read this first so you can base them somewhat on reality! This book is academic, that is, its carefully researched & truthful.

This book is a great startpoint to anyone insterested in serious runology. It begins with a summary of the main theories about the development of the futhark, it tells the differences between the futhark and the futhork (a matter of geography and linguistics), it accounts the differences between the different sets of runes in each region and their chronology, it explains the phonetic values of the symbols, and it even includes a very useful synthesis on each rune meaning. Every single page of this book is highly valuable. It even includes pictures and plates with the most important runic objects mentioned in the text. This is indeed a rare jewel, basic reading, and undoubtedly, the best book to begin understanding runes beyond the abundant superficial divination literature on the topic.

This is basic information on what is known about english & scandinavian runes (with an emphasis on english runes), without all the new-age magic bulls**t found in most other books. If you're going to make up fantasies about the runes, read this first so you can base them somewhat on reality! This book is academic, that is, its carefully researched & truthful.

This is Professor Elliott's classic on runes. It was written in 1959 & has been a valuable source for basic factual information ever since. Although it acknowledges the surviving Heathen & magical symbolism of the rune names & poems, it sticks to the basic academic facts. This is an essential introduction for anyone serious about learning the runes. Even more so for those who have been duped by the rubbish written in many of the New-Age manuals out there.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer: A Down to Earth Guide to the Runes