A-Z Blog Hop: Runes

Odin (Woden), the supreme god of the Norse pantheon wished to obtain mystical knowledge. He impaled himself on Yggdrasil, the World Tree with his own spear and hung there for nine days and nine nights. As he neared death, 18 runes appeared to him. As he grabbed the last one, he died.  He decided to share the secret of runes once he was resurrected.

Runes have been used for a variety of magical work including healing, divination, charms, and spells. In the Dark Ages magicians inscribed spells made of runes on wands, swords, chalices, and stone tablets to accomplish whatever they desired.  They could be used as amulets for protection or even inscribed on buildings. Runes also had the power to keep the dead in their grave, or to resurrect the dead. Divination was one of the most important uses. The runes were cast and their meanings were interpreted by readers. Because of this, runes were associated with the Norns, the three Fates of past present, and future.

Runes were almost snuffed out along with other pagan practices during the 14^th century when the Inquisition began their crusade. A law was passed in Iceland in 1639, forbidding anyone from using runes. If you did, you were considered a witch and treated accordingly.

German occultists revived interest in the early 20^th century. They associated runes with racial supremacy. When the Nazis came to power, they adopted two runes that are now infamous: the swastika, the rune of Mother Earth and hammer of Thor, and the sig or S rune, which became the trademark for the SS.

Today runes are popular for divination, like tarot cards. Do you have a method of divination that you like?

Do you like stories about angels, demons, and the supernatural? Pick up a copy of "A Prescription for Delirium" available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Wolf Warriors

I have a short story that came out yesterday called "Love and Honor." In honor of that I'm telling a little story about Odin and his wolves.

It is said that when the world was young Odin (or Woden) traveled the world. He grew lonely and created two wolves to travel with him. They were Geri and Freki. The wolves spread their offspring throughout the world as they traveled. This is why there are wolves all over the world. Odin's ravens Hugin (Thought) and Memory (Munin) also traveled with them and acted as scouts.




Odin, being a god of battle as well as wisdom, advised humans to fight like wolves. He admired the way wolves fought together as a team with strength and cunning. (Tangent: Actually if you want to see a good movie with wolves fighting you should check out "The Grey")

The Úlfhéðnar, or wolf warriors took this to heart. They were a group of berserkers who wore wolf pelts and carried spears, howling to meld the spirits with wolves. To be of the Wolf Clan was a great honor as they were described as Odin's special warriors. I have even heard tales of Odin's children who were part human/part wolf that were known for shifting into wolves during battles. Possibly some of the firsts origins of werewolves.

:Love and Honor" is about a modern pack of Odin's wolf warriors. Be sure to check it out in the "Nocturnal Embers" Anthology.

Valkyries: Goddesses of the Battlefield

Note: I'm switching my blogging day to Thursdays. I'm off of work and have time to get it done. Now on to the meat.

This is going to be the first in a series called Supernatural Warriors. You can thank @jessfortunato for this idea. The first in the segment will be:

Valkyries

So, the word Valkyrie means "chooser of the slain." They were these goddesses that worked for Odin in Norse Mythology. (For those that don't know: Odin was the king of the Norse gods. He is the good of war and death as well as poetry and wisdom.) They choose certain men who die in battle to become einherjar and fight for Odin at Ragnarok (the Norse end of the world). When the einherjar weren't preparing for Rgnakrok, they were served mead by the Valkyries in the great hall of Valhalla.

Most of the time, Valkyries are depicted as beautiful women with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. They wear scarlet corsets and carried shields and spears. They sometimes ride winged horses as in the picture above.

One of the most noted Valkyries is Brynhidr or Brunhilde. In the Volsunga Saga she was a shield maiden who had to choose between to kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar, to fight for. Odin favored Hjalmgunnar but she chose Agnar. So Odin turned her into a mortal and imprisoned her in a tower where she had to sleep in a ring of fire until a man rescued and married her. This turned out to be Sigour Sigmundson. They go on to have their trials and tribulations. Another version is told in "The Song of the Nibelungs," which I have been told was inspiration for some of J.R.R. Tolkein's work.

Anyway, Valkyries appear throughout various 13th century Norse poems and stories. If you haven't yet, you should check out Norse Mythology. It is full of Epic. What about you dear readers. Do you have any Supernatural Warriors you want me to blog about? Let me know!