Runes

RUNES

"Runes were designed to draw out your magic from under your skin. Each one meant something else and there were millions of combinations of them, each for a different spell. You were still trying to remember the basic ones, but sometimes you liked to draw them on your skin with chalk, ash or a simple sharpie to see what it could do".

BASICS

» Runes are the letters that create runic alphabets. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialised purposes thereafter. The earliest runic inscriptions date from around 150 AD. The three best-known runic alphabets are the Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc and the Younger Futhark.

The early runes were not used so much as a simple writing system, but rather as magical signs to be used for charms. The name rune itself, taken to mean "secret, something hidden", seems to indicate that knowledge of the runes was originally considered esoteric, or restricted to an elite.

Runes were believed to hold the power of healing, sometimes even necromancy. Poetic Edda, the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, says:

» Certain is that which is sought from runes / That the gods so great have made / And the Master-Poet painted.

» Grass cures the scab / and runes the sword-cut.

» I know a twelfth one if I see / up in a tree / a dangling corpse in a noose / I can so carve and colour the runes, that the man walks / And talks with me.

Runic alphabets have been developing through years. We have Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon runes, Marcomannic runes, Younger Futhark, Medieval and Dalecarlian runes.

STORY

» In RWW a certain set of runes combined with a spell has a power to do many things, from helping you cheat on a test to make the whole building explode. There are runes that help you focus, runes that create something, runes that destroy and runes that protect, but a rune can only truly work when it's combined with magic. Some runes also require spells to work.

» Dal uses Elder Futhark Runes the most. The Elder Futhark Runes are a complete system of magic, and the oldest form of western wisdom. The runes are a set of keys that have served her in unlocking magic's secrets.

RANDOM Uses of runes in the story

INVISIBILITY SPELLS » Dal uses a certain set of simple runes to make her writing invisible for anyone beside her. This requires a Nauthiz (constraint) rune and Mannaz (self) rune, together with a hiding spell spoken in Nordic language.

PROTECTION » Runes are able to protect not only from spells, but also from things like claws, bullets or poison, but they only work if you know exactly what you need to protect yourself from. Protection spells are hard and also require special usage of ash or ash chalk - see chapter two for ashes. For protection Algiz is the strongest rune, then Ingwaz (peace). It's sometimes combined with Uruz (strenght).

DESTRUCTIVE CHARMS AND POWER-TAKING » Drawing runes on your arms can make your magic shape the way you want it to, for example, in a way that destroys something. You can also use them to take someone else's power - this requires not only the knowledge of runes but also spells (that are not always Nordic) and ashes. Thurisaz (focused power) and Hagalaz (destructive forces) are the destructive runes.

HEALING » Bandages with runes can out poisons or speed up the healing process. Algiz (protection) and Eihwaz (stability) runes are mostly used in this kind of spells. They're often combined with Hagalaz (creative forces), but then Hagalaz has to be accompanied with Eihwaz (stability) or Dagaz (clarity), because Hagalaz can easily transform from creative force to destructive force.

MAGIC CIRCLES » Some actions and spells require a lot more focus and power and it's not always possible to cast a spell by just drawing a rune on your hands, so to make your magic stronger, you have to create a circle of runes. Some runes are more powerful than the other, and sometimes it's easy to forget how powerful they are, especially when you create a runic circle, that's why there has to be Nauthiz or Eihwaz always combined with the rest. Nauthiz gives constraint and Eihwaz gives stability.

The knowledge of runes, their meaning and certain symbols is essential to use them. Runes without magic are just letters, but with magic they hold great power. Mixing up two runes can cause a big trouble, sometimes even changing the nature of spell and/or causing pain.

Runes can sometimes be combined with other symbols, such as Wiccan, Alchemic or Reiki, they can be carved into stones, bones, wood or crystals.