Relationships between the Runes: Having needs, and being stuck

In previous posts I wrote about the relationships between:

ansuz <—> kenaz
raidho <—> ehwaz
ingwaz <—>  othala
fehu <—>  jera

 

In this article, we’ll discuss the relationship between:

isa and nauthiz

Lets look at the Anglo Saxon Rune poem for each of these runes:

Rune Anglo Saxon Icelandic Old Norse
isa  Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;
it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;
it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.
 Bark of rivers
and roof of the wave
and destruction of the doomed.
 Ice we call the broad bridge;
the blind man must be led.
nauthiz  Trouble is oppressive to the heart;
yet often it proves a source of help and salvation
to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.
 Grief of the bond-maid
and state of oppression
and toilsome work.
 Constraint gives scant choice;
a naked man is chilled by the frost.

Here we see advice that wealth is not a bad thing, it brings us comfort.   But it’s also advising us that if we have wealth, we should share it.

If we turn to the Icelandic Rune poem, we have further warning regarding not sharing:

Source of discord among kinsmen
and fire of the sea
and path of the serpent

and the Old Norse rune poem provides the same warning;

Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen;

the wolf lives in the forest.

Now lets look at the next rune:

jera

 

The Anglo Saxon run poem advises us:

Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits
for rich and poor alike.

This is telling us that when the harvest comes, it comes for all, and it brings us joy.

So  Fehu is the rune of wealth, and Jera is the rune of the harvest.   As I consider these two runes, I think of fehuas the paycheck we get on each Friday (or every other friday, or once a month) whereas jera doesn’t have an ongoing payoff.   It pay’s off when we complete a project.

However both of them give us a warning.   Wealth is to be shared, not hoarded.  In the Icelandic Rune poem, we see the line “Source of discord among kinsmen” for fehu and “for rich and poor alike” in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem for jera.

This entry was posted in Relationships between runes. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*