Stephen E. Flowers - Revival of the Runes

This book is dedicated to all those who have struggled to understand the mysteries of the Germanic past

REVIVAL OF THE RUNES

Revival of the Runes is the most thorough presentation of the history and development of the runes, both historical andmost importantthe magical esoteric side. This book provides various alternative theories regarding the origins of the runes and follows their trail from the 1500s onward (after a brief consideration of the earlier period), through the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and the 20th century. The author also dissects and discusses rationally the Nazi specter very effectively. This work is an intellectual heavyweight to drool oververy academic and rich in terms of source material referenced in the footnotes and bibliography. It is a must for serious students and practitioners.

FREYA ASWYNN,AUTHOR OF NORTHERN MYSTERIESAND MAGICK

Stephen Flowerss new book is a valuable chronological account that shows how the ancient wisdom of the runes has continued since ancient times and has been renewed throughout history by notable masters of the Northern tradition. This wide-ranging historical account of the runes is a comprehensive and erudite work that brings together many strands and historical currents into a coherent narrative. It is a valuable addition to the authors fine body of work on the history and practice of the runic tradition and deserves to be on the bookshelf of every person with an interest in the runes.

NIGEL PENNICK,AUTHOR OF RUNIC LOREAND LEGEND

Roughly two millennia ago, the ancient script of the runes was first codified, carved, and communicated by an unknown Germanic-speaking innovator whose vision absorbed elements of the neighboring Roman world. Although the traditional runestaves could later be employed for mundane purposes, their earliest associations were imbued with the sacred, and it is no wonder these stark and angular signs have exerted a fascination that continues right to the present day. The labyrinthian story of their decline and rediscovery, their use and abuse, is ably related in Revival of the Runes by Stephen Flowers, a trained runologist who is equally at home in the scholarly and spiritual domains. The results of his excavations are by turns exciting and disturbing but always culturally insightful and enriching.

MICHAEL MOYNIHAN, PH.D.,COEDITOR OF TYR: MYTHCULTURETRADITION

The runes have enchanted people through the agesthe zeitgeist has been projected on these old signs from the Viking Age. In the 17th century Johannes Bureus combined runes with ideas from both folklore and Renaissance high magic. In the age of Enlightenment, runes and Viking myths were used for educational purposes in the Nordic countries. Most infamous is the Nazi regimes misuse of runes. In this book Stephen Flowers, todays foremost expert on rune magic, goes through different currents where runes are center. It is an invaluable contribution to both academic and practical esoteric knowledge of the mysteries of the runes.

THOMAS KARLSSON, PH.D.,AUTHOR OF NIGHTSIDE OFTHE RUNES

An essential read for anyone who wishes to understand the runes as they relate to the reawakening of Germanic spirituality taking place today. Revival of the Runes provides a thorough and scholarly history of the runes, from their origins with the Older Futhark, the later development of the Younger Futhark, the runic resurgences that followed their decline in the Middle Ages, up to the present revival of which Stephen Flowers himself has been an essential part. This book examines runology from a scholarly as well as the magical standpoint of an accomplished runic practitioner. Revival of the Runes documents the survival of the runes over time and their repeated return to our awareness, showing that for us, like Allfather Odin himself, the mysteries of the runes are eternal, just waiting for us to take them up.

BERKELEY HARBIN,DRIGHTEN OF WODENS FOLK KINDRED

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks go to Jan Reimer, who supplied me with some of the materials that made this work possible, and to Peter Andersson for his corrections to some Swedish material. For various kinds of help in the process of writing the present book, a note of gratitude also goes to Mikael W. Gejel, Alice Karlsdottir, Thomas Karlsson, Michael Moynihan, Ralph Tegtmeier, and Don Webb.

Abbreviations

BCE Before the Common Era (= BC)

CE Common Era (= AD)

Gk. Ancient Greek Ger. German

OE Old English

OHG Old High German

ON Old Norse

pl. plural

pron. pronounced

sg. singular

Sw. Swedish

IK Hauck, Karl, et al. Die Goldbrakteaten der Vlkerwanderungszeit.

Note: Words that are directly preceded by an asteriskfor example, the noun *rn or the name *Wanazrepresent forms that have been reconstructed based on the principles of historical linguistics but which are unattested in the literary or epigraphical record.

PREFACE

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

This book has roots that go back to a certain summer day in 1974 when I was suddenly inspired to seek the mysteries of the runes. At the time, I was an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin with little motivation or direction, but I was interested in all things esoteric. This day changed everything and set me on a lifelong path. I was lucky enough to be enrolled at a university with the resources, teachers, and reference materials to make the scientific element of my journey possible, and ten years later I received a Ph.D. degree with a dissertation titled Runes and Magic.

From its very beginnings, the study of the runes has been entwined with both the scientific and esoteric adventures of our culture, and this is all the more evident today. But academics do not like to be saddled with the baggage of modern-day would-be rune magicians, and the average current rune mystic chafes under the rigor and historical accuracy demanded by the academic. To my thinking, however, these two impulses are not necessarily antagonistic. Indeed, my own experience was born of a synthesis of these two runological trends. This synthesis is also reflected in the contents of this book, which is an investigation of how the two trends have manifested historically and interacted culturally over the past half century.

Revival of the Runes constitutes the second book in a series of three thematically related works that I have been researching and writing over many years. The overarching goal of this project is to chronicle the most historically significant rune-using groups and individuals over the past two millennia. The first book in the series is a forthcoming study of the intertribal networkperhaps better described as gildof runemasters that arose in ancient Germania (the latter term, which was originally used by ancient Roman writers such as Julius Caesar and Tacitus, refers to the areas of Europe traditionally and predominantly inhabited by Germanic-speaking peoples at the beginning of the first millennium of the Common Era). The second book in the series is the present volume,