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Distinct Conversationalist
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 Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:10 pm
Sanguina Cruenta Afro-Dawg Oh thank you so much, that will help immensely. Now I just need to acquire Paxson's books. To Amazon! I recommend buying a couple of different books to give you a good overview. My personal recommendation is Stephen Pollington. I did buy one of his, Rudiments of Runelore, and the Poetic and Prose Sagas, Saga of the Volsungs, and Diana Paxson's two main books. I read you all mentioning Pollington in the rune discussion thread, so I figured he would be good.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:30 pm
I do like Pollington. As to Paxson, I'm reading "Taking Up the Runes" now and it's not bad. Her mainstream eclectic background shows through a bit, especially in the parts about spells and rituals, but the actual rune discussions are pretty good.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:40 pm
Afro-Dawg I did buy one of his, Rudiments of Runelore, and the Poetic and Prose Sagas, Saga of the Volsungs, and Diana Paxson's two main books. I read you all mentioning Pollington in the rune discussion thread, so I figured he would be good. I have Rudiments of Runelore ^_^ It's really short, but he's REALLY down to earth in comparison to a lot of authors so it's a great counter-balance. Wah, you must be so excited to get your books. I am excited for you. I don't know why. whee Quote: I do like Pollington. As to Paxson, I'm reading "Taking Up the Runes" now and it's not bad. Her mainstream eclectic background shows through a bit, especially in the parts about spells and rituals, but the actual rune discussions are pretty good. Yeah, you can definitely tell, from the authors she chooses to discuss and everything as well. But she's still quite mature about it and I like that she gives a lot of different viewpoints. Plus it means I get an idea of what other authors think, and can eschew their rune books if I don't like their ideas wink She's better than Aswynn anyway. I'm mostly skipping the rituals, because they're all group-based and not my taste anyway, but a couple of them are interesting, like the one where you're tied to a tree. I haven't got anyone to help me so I wouldn't do it myself, but it's still interesting.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:49 pm
The varied opinions are what I was really liking. Of course, I already know what Thorsson and Aswynn have to say about it since I have their books (though I wish I hadn't wasted the money on Thorsson's) but it's still a good discussion. I haven't gotten to anything involving being tied to a tree yet. I'll keep my eyes open for that one.
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Distinct Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 4:33 pm
Sanguina Cruenta Afro-Dawg I did buy one of his, Rudiments of Runelore, and the Poetic and Prose Sagas, Saga of the Volsungs, and Diana Paxson's two main books. I read you all mentioning Pollington in the rune discussion thread, so I figured he would be good. I have Rudiments of Runelore ^_^ It's really short, but he's REALLY down to earth in comparison to a lot of authors so it's a great counter-balance. Wah, you must be so excited to get your books. I am excited for you. I don't know why. whee I am! They've all shipped, too, so I should be getting them within a few days/sometime this week. Aaaand no more New Year's parties so now I have time to get back to meditating on Uruz.
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:08 pm
What are everyone's thoughts on Gebo?
There being only one rune-poem does make life easier. Although different translations do make me think about it in different ways.
I like Gebo. It's one of those runes that makes me think all Heathens should study them a little, even if they don't intend on using them.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:56 am
Gebo is actually one of my favorites. It's so critical to my worldview and my ideas of what a Heathen should be. I'll get into detail a little later.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:09 am
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 3:41 pm
Sure, there's only the one rune poem but there's also the Havamal. At least it seems to go well with the rune poem, just expands on things a little. It's actually kind of hard for me to put my feelings on gebo into words because I understood it so easily. But the idea of give and take, honor and obligation it something that really makes a lot of sense to me. It's abotu generosity and hospitality yes, but also about reciprocity. For everything there is a price to be payed, one way or another.
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 4:22 am
Gods I really need to do more than one rune per month. burning_eyes
But, Wunjo is quite cheering. And probably the simplest rune so far. I'm curious about the rune-poem, though, as the two main translations I use are sort of opposed. One says "a man does not know joy who never knows sorrow" and the other says "a man knows joy who never knows sorrow" or similar.
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 1:58 pm
Yeah, that would be rather contradictory.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:10 pm
I am having some minor issues with Hagalaz. It seems more straight-forward than it is, I think.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:58 am
I think in some ways it's hard to 'get' Hagalaz because on one hand, you don't want to underestimate it, but on the other - I don't think it is as esoteric as some of the others. Which isn't to say it isn't complex...
I haven't organized my thoughts on this at all, so they're pointform and loose.
- Hail is a crystal built of many layers. Hagalaz similarily has many layers. I feel like what those layers are are always dependant on the individual situation - as if it builds up over time, until it 'suddenly' appears to us.
- Like grains ('corn'), is hagalaz something you reap? Is it something you've planted a seed for and it grows? Can someone else seed the hail, and it ends up on other people?
- Hagalaz smashes through the status quo. Its' appearance causes abrupt change.
- Negative events can have positive effects; ice to rain.
- I've always taken 'snake's sickness' sort of literally, even though a lot of the Norse world would have been snakeless. Cold weather and storms are hard on snakes. The Aesir are sort of hard on snakes too, though - serpents don't seem well-thought of. And doesn't hail come off the wheels of Thor's chariot?
- Modern man can predict hail; ancient man could not. Does this change our relationship with Hagalaz?
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:11 am
Like you, I'm not in agreement with a lot of the authors' more esoteric ideas. Some of them seem like a major stretch.
I'm cautious about putting too much weight behind the grain symbolism, because I suspect it's a literary device or idiom. On the other hand, hail typically destroys grain, so it's a mildly ironic idiom.
I took the "snake's sickness" literally too. I thought probably a cold and sluggish snake might be thought "sick", and wondered how hibernation was interpreted back then.
Freya Aswynn's idea of it being a rune of Hel was just very bizarre. I mean I don't know where she got most of her ideas from.
Then there's the vague link to the beginning of the world, the ice that was present there, and Audumbla licking the ice from Buri. I think there's something there, but I haven't quite got it yet.
What I got out of it, aside from the literal hail and cold weather (which I think is important), was transformation, particularly from negative to positive, or from positive to negative and back again. There was something else but I can't remember what it was now. sweatdrop
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:39 pm
I've always had my own issues with Hagalaz. I find it very dense, very difficult to penetrate.
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