The Runes: A Guide to Rune Reading & Divination with The Elder Futhark

This little book has become my main reference book. There’s something about the way that it’s written and presented that it captures the heart of this symbolic language and presents it in a way where it can be creative and yet pointed. It’s clear well written and fluid. I’ve had many other books over the years on the runes but this one I like the most. It’s very bare bones and basic, but to the point perceptive and applicable. It’s layout is easy to flip through for reference and as a companion it’s perfect for a rune set.

I've been curious about learning runes for some time, but I never really knew where to start. I forget how I stumbled across this book, but I'm glad I did. It's straight to the point and easy to understand, and I love the way it's organized. While both poems are given for rune meanings, which are the Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poems, I prefer the Icelandic meanings much more as they're truer to the source, although there isn't an Icelandic poem for all of these. Overall, I pull this book out every time I draw runes, and it's helping me learn them slowly over time through use. Nothing bad to say! I highly recommend this if you want to get right into reading runes with just a spot of history, enough to get an understanding before you dig into the meanings.

I really like this book. Being new to runes, I was looking for a decent starter book. And being naive to the other more popular rune books and authors out there I chose this one, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The author clearly loves runes and went through the trouble to translate the rune poems for himself for the purest meanings, rather than to cut and paste from elsewhere. He even went to Iceland to further his knowledge on runes. I love when people put their heart and soul into something and this book is qualifies as a labor of love, offering some excellent background and insights on the runes. My primary interest in them is not for divination but it's still important to get to know the background and power/energy of each rune. This book does that in a clear and simple fashion.

It was well written and researched. Lots of interesting information was found in the book.

I found this book to be a very interesting and enjoyable read. As you have probably read in other reviews, the author took the time and effort to make his own interpretations of the old Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon rune poems. I thought his comments on those poems, and on their meanings and implications as applied to the runes, were refreshing and thought-provoking. He tries to give a fair balance of potential interpretations, both positive and negative.

I've been looking for a good beginners book that isn't overly simplistic and talks about the nuance of each interpretation. This book has a brief intro and then lays out each rune. I love that the author used the rune poems as source material instead of just using other people's books. It's also well researched giving the reader a lot of background to mine for deeper meaning. I'd say it's great for beginners and will give depth to more seasoned rune readers. Also I see no evidence of white supremacy so that's always good (unless you're looking for that, in which case get help)

Not for everyone.

Great beginner book for those interested in runes and their meaning.

Excellent

This book is easy to read and a great reference to use. Highly recommend if you're new to runes.