Runic Amulets and Magic Objects (Hardcover)

by Mindy MacLeod (Author), Bernard Mees (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The book gives the most very complete survey available of possibly magico-religious runic inscriptions and in this respect it is very useful. SAGA-BOOK XXXII

Product Description
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 of whether 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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (June 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843832054
• ISBN-13: 978-1843832058
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #669,671 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Runelore, May 17, 2007

By	S. Plowright (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is without doubt the best, and perhaps only, genuine survey of historical runic magical practices.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of would-be "rune masters" are unlikely to want to spend more than $10 for a book, nor have the patience to deal with academic precision. With the multitude of fantasy New-Age rune manuals out there, it is refreshing to know that there are now real sources available to those who want to go beyond the "systems" invented by the self-appointed Gurus.

This book focuses on the actual objects and surviving inscriptions. It has sound linguistic and historical analysis of the hard evidence. It takes no sides in the acrimonious debate about the existence of an esoteric runic tradition, but clearly presents the evidence for the magical use of runes on objects.

There are certainly some conclusions open to debate, but that is the mark of a good thinking-reader's book. You don't have to agree with everything to get a lot out of it. The number of stars should not reflect one's agreement with the book, but how useful it will be to own.

If you are interested in runic esoterica, consider yourself uneducated until you read this book.

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

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, ground-breaking survey of runic magic, August 3, 2006

By	Nigel C. Jackson "'Nigromancer700'" (Adocentyn) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

MacLeod and Mee's 'Runic Amulets and Magic Objects' augurs a new era in our knowledge of the runes and how they were used in talismanic and amuletic magic: the author's analysis of rune amulets from Scandinavia, England and Europe is exciting and profound stuff, casting new light on the mysterious enigma of such formulaic runic 'charm-words' such as 'Alu' (which in their view has nothing to do with 'Ale'), 'Lathu', 'Laukaz' and so forth. They analyze runic amuletic inscriptions in the light of a proposed five-fold structure of composition evident in Runic talismans from the early period to the Middle Ages - fascinatingly they derive this talismanic five-part typology and other major elements of Nordic rune-sorcery to the North East region of Alpine Italy in the centuries BC and specifically to elliptic votive inscriptions made within the cult of Artemis Orthia, whose epithet was Reitia, 'divine mistress of words' - a cult whose archaic North Etruscan backdrop is probably shared by the runes themselves, transmissions into the Germanic world from the Reitia sanctuaries of the Italic East Alpine region. Cutting-edge stuff which illumines our knowledge of the historical background immensely.
The chapters of this work deal in-depth with the various aspects of runic amuletic magic and Germanic talismanics, covering the calling upon gods, spirits and heroes, love, desire and fertility magic, protective martial and enabling magic, healing talismans and leech-craft, the extensive field of Christian rune-magic (despite the Galdrbok, an area much neglected in this age - almost forbidden in fact!), tombs, death and cursing magic - the runic formulae and inscriptions being examined in rich depth and detail which really expands one's knowledge of how the rune-magicians and rune-sorceresses of the old Northern world worked their arts and created these talismanic power-objects.
This is probably the best work I have read to date on the Runes and amuletic traditions in old Germanic Magic: (it's primarily written for an academic readership but the keen-eyed practitioner of Gealdor-orientated talismanic magic will be delighted by the many practical insights into traditional rune-work which can be gleaned from its pages.) But for anybody wanting an illuminating, refreshing and profound exploration of the employment of Runes in ancient amuletic magic in the Northlands, Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees have written a truly magnificent tome which can be very highly recommended indeed.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good info but way off in left-field, April 23, 2008

By	Chris Travers "Einhverfr" (Chelan, WA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book based in part on positive reviews it had received.

First: the positive. The authors survey a large portion of the corpus of Futhark-based finds (whether Elder, Younger, and Anglo-Frisian). There is a lot of base data about Runic finds which I have found helpful.

However, the book appears to have been written out of a rejection of the typical methods Runology. In their introduction they state that they have avoided the usual methods of analysis, such as etymology. Hence their material seems to be intentionally off in left field. In addition to their intentional rejection of a lot of past scholarship, their analysis seems to suffer from a number of problems:

1) Hammer syndrome, where everything look like a nail (or in this case, a dedication).

2) No consideration for the dates of finds and hence development of the Runic systems. In fact, when dates are listed, it is usually the date of the discovery, not the date of the artifact.

3) Their methodology seems to be overly reliant on the assumption of borrowed magical systems when internal comparative methods are more typically used. This sort of analysis strikes me at odds with Occam's Razor.

4) In places where they rely on etymologies which are not in any dictionary I have (OED, American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed), they don't provide any source for those etymologies. For example, they state (without source) that "ale" derives from Proto-Indo-European *al- meaning to grow when all my dictionaries suggest *alu-t ("intoxication, enchantment").

I was sorely disappointed in this work. While the raw information may be helpful for an advanced student, I think it is better to focus on other books.