Just how exactaly does one use Runes? (question for Asatru)?

I know this sounds like a dumb question
I'm into Viking/Anglo Saxon History, Literature, Culture and everything but I've never actually believed any of the Religion.
The closest I've come to knowing Runes is the Anglo Saxon Rune Poem. I know the AS runes as letters (I take notes in class in runes instead of Roman characters) but I don't quite understand the whole magical aspect of it.

Any Asatru who would care to explain this in concise detail, I'd be much obliged.
Also, I'd like to know the history behind the current use of Runes. It's not very well explained in the Edda

First things first. The runes were created over several centuries over a expanded land area. So at any given time during the runic era the same rune would have different meanings in different locales. Homogenization of the runs didn't happen until the middle of the last century. What you need to do first is find a key that you can use.The AS probably have a preferred book on the subject. I myself use a book entitled Norse Magic by DJ Conway. It's a good primer on the religion and a good primer on the magical meanings of the runes. But that is all this book is, a primer. As for concise information on the subject, good luck. I've been reading on this subject for a decade and a half and haven't found anything concise about it.
In 1975 one of the Scandinavian countries, I can't remember which one, re-legalized the old pagan religion. From then on interesting that particular religion has steadily grown. Again, members of the AS probably have more information on this than I do. Another good place to look for basic information is the Viking answer Lady. I forget her exact web address, but she shouldn't be hard to find.

First of all, I know you find it fancy to write in runes instead of normal alphabet - but don't. Runes aren't just letters. They are pictogram's, symbols and they have power. If you are going to start using them for magical purposes, you should show them due respect and stop using them for writing normal, boring stuff.

This being said - I truly don't know where to begin. I have been studying runes for over a decade now and I'm still learning. Rune magic is a HUGE HUGE field of knowledge, and you have to know lots of things before you can start doing anything at all.
It's like driving car - you have to know safety regulations and traffic rules really well BEFORE you even sit in the car for the first time.

I wrote an article about runes and rune magic for my Asatru website (sadly not in English), and it's about 10 pages of text, even without the pictures. As I'm not particularly willing to translate all that in English (neither I have time, really), I'll just ask you to please send me a personal message with any specific question you might have, or anything you want to know, and I'll be glad to answer. I can also help explain things to you better through dialog than if I just attempt to type a novel here

For Runes and studying them I would suggest Taking up the Runes by Diana Paxson or a Runester's Handbook by Edred Thorsson.

For Heathenism: A Book of Troth by Edred Thorsson (his early works weren't influenced by his other esoteric studies at this point), Teutonic Religion by Kveldulf Gundarsson, Our Troth, ed by K. Gundarsson, Essential Asatru by Diana Paxson or Exploring the Northern Tradition by G. Krasskova

Absolutely avoid any rune book by Ralph Blum or a book titled "Lady of the Northern Lights"

RTV is right - Viking Answer Lady is a good resource:
http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/

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I'm sorry, RTV but DJ Conway is the VERY last author anyone should read on Asatru and Norse paganism/heathenism. There is nothing Heathen in that book except the names Freya and Freyr. Pick up her book Celtic Magic and compare them side by side and you'll see why BOTH books are garbage, truly.

Avoid DJ Conway's book and Rites of Odin by Ed Fitch.

This is, as previous answers should already suggest to you, a complex (and controversial) question, and one on which there is little agreement, even among heathens . . . or scholars.

The runes were, originally, primarily an *alphabet* . . . a system of writing. To a Prue-literate people, the very act of "drawing sound" (cf. 13Th Warrior, Lil) is a form of magic; early tribal reactions to Sequoiah's Cherokee alphabet are a somewhat more modern example of this.

That said, extant finds clearly indicate a magical usage of the runes, in the forms of glade, charm/spell, and bind rune. My feeling is that one needs to distinguish between this usage and runic *divination,* which is not supported in Eddaic or Sagaic literature . . . but IS the focus of virtually all modern books on the subject.

That runic divination is modern is not to say that it is ineffective, merely that it is not supportable as an ancient practice of the cultures in which the runes first appeared. My personal opinion on this is that if one has the "gift," if one is "spar," as my ancestors would have termed it, one can practice divination with just about anything, from cards to tea leaves to chicken entrails, and as a powerful symbolic system, runes work at least as well as any other device.

However, this use really only dates to the German occultists of the 18Th, 19Th, and early 20th centuries---OTO, von List, usw---and their modern successor, Edred Thorsson, aka Dr. Stephen Flowers, aka "Evil Eddie," on whose works (Futhark, Well of Wyrd, usw) virtually ALL modern runecasting manuals are based . . . whether they give him any credit or not, which most of them do not.

From a heathen POV, especially as a Norse/Folktru Recon, this is a bit problematical, because Thorsson, while a Germanic studies scholar/PhD, is NOT a heathen . . . he's an occultist, a member of the Temple of Set and a self-styled "vitki," and his works trace their influences back to German occult societies like the OTO, and Western ceremonial magic in general, not to our ancestral
pre-Conversion cultures.

Actual rune *magic,* however, did exist . . . there are numerous Sagaic mentions of charms sewn or carved into tunics, weapons, and other personal belongings, and ample surviving archeaological evidence of this as well, as well as some surviving post-Conversion literature like the Icelandic "sorcery" grimoire, Galdrabok.

As Ymmo has indicated, this is an extensive, complicated, and somewhat dangerous field of inquiry. I would recommend Stephen Pollington's "Rudiments of Runelore" and R.I. Page's "An Introduction to English Runes" as two very scholarly introductions to rune use in ancient cultures---Pollington being more sympathetic to the notion of their magical use than Page.

Frau Hunter said it best, I only want to add that the name is Runelore by Edred Thorsson. This is the most accurate and concise of all the books written on Runes, please read it. I also reiterate the feelings on DJ Conway, and Rites of Odin, both are completely wrong and misleading. Asatru is a beautiful religion and does not need misconceptions surrounding it.

The earliest extant find of the Runes is the Ovre Stabu spearhead found in Oppland Norway, and dated to between 150-200. There was in the past few years a find which I believe has been dated to around 50, but I am unsure of the details of that.

From my investigations to date, it appears that the earliest use of Runes was for writings which were particularly magical in nature, or an indication of ownership/manufacture. What this may suggest is that there was far greater levels of literacy at the time than what many wish to assume, given that the reasoning behind putting a makers name and/or the name of the owner on an object is useless if people are not going to be able to read it if they find it.

By far the most common material to find Rune inscriptions on is stone. Given that it lasts the longest, this should come as no surprise. Outside of stones the finds are spread out over metal objects quite well, indicating that Runes were used far more widely than it has been credited. Runic finds have been found all through Germany, France, in Rumania, Hungary and of course Scandinavia and the UK, hence suggesting that the spread of the system was rather wide, even early on in the recorded history of the inscriptions we have available to us.

Usage changed between the early inceptions to those of the middle ages, when they tended to be used on memorials and other such more mundane inscriptions. Some even being writings telling how good a particular lady was in bed, and how much fun was had (I kid you not). It seems that as Christianity took hold, the importance of the Runes decreased and what they were used for decreased in importance as well (i.e. they were used for more and more mundane purposes).

A survey of early inscriptions is useful in understanding the transition between the systems. Yes, the Runic usage changed with the language, indeed, what is commonly referred to as the Elder Futhark was used from around 100 to 550, and was contemporary with both East Germanic and West Germanic forms, which are very similar save for minor variation in vocalization. Clearly the Runes needed to be intelligible to the reader, hence the change in numbers of Runes and their phonetic correspondence, and hence one can assert that the Runes themselves hold no power individually, rather that it is the message they carry which holds the power. That of course is a fine presupposition until you come across individual Runes which are repeated or used entirely on their own. Most linguistic surveys of the Runes ignore these completely, as it isn't in the purview of someone whom is attempting a translation, however, if one is interested in their magical use, then such usage brings with it two rather interesting notions.

The first is that Runes, by themselves must have had a value in both terms of a name as well as a symbolic, and as such were important, in and of themselves as a magical symbol. Second, is that often they were repeated in sequence, for example the Lindholm Amulet has 8 Ansuz followed by three Elhaz, followed by three Nauthiz then Berkano, Mannaz, Uruz and three Tiwaz., suggesting that such repetitions, and indeed the number of times a given Rune was repeated has a specific affect on the Rune and hence the whole inscription.

Therefore it can be said that not only is the message the Runes are written in important, but the very Runes used and the forms and numbers they are found in have a very real impact on what is being attempted by using them for the inscription.

The notion of divination with Runes is one which is full of controversy. Firstly, there is absolutely no concrete evidence that the Runes were ever used for divination, such a thing is never actually said, or referred to. What we do have is reference to the casting of lots, with signs. The natural conclusion is that those signs are indeed Runes, especially given that Tacitus when he wrote of such was writing at a time when the earliest Runic finds probably existed. Is it definitive evidence, no. If it plausible. Yes.

Modern Runic divination owes its vast popularity to one man, for good, or for ill, Edred Thorsson mundanely known as Dr Stephen Flowers. As has been mentioned, Dr Flowers is definately not Folk, and from what I can tell is far more influence by the Ceremonial Magic practicioners and Runologists of the 19th and 20th Centuries than he is by traditional Runecraft of the 1st through 6th Centuries. Pretty much every book on Runes can trace their origin through to his popularity.

A few notes on other responses.

D J Conway - I agree, absolute rubbish. My first book, and the only reason I still have it, is because it is my first book. I since have acquired far better works, and frankly, anything by Conway I will have nothing to do with.

Edred Thorsson - Yes, I own many of his books. Yes, they are good to a degree. But be careful. If you're not, you'll end up thinking that our Germanic Ancestors had secret conclaves of Runic Ceremonial Magicians whom secretly held the Runes as sacred objects and manipulated the world around them to their desires. The more I learn of the real background of the Runes, the more some of his ideas make me seriously cringe.

Teutonic Religion - Not a bad book at all. Stephen Grundy aka Kveldulf Gundarsson seems an OK guy and I'd put more stock and store in his stuff than that of Thorsson. That said, his work Teutonic Magic is very close to Thorsson in form and content, although it's good for a different perspective.

Exploring the Northern Tradition - Krasskova. I was not at all impressed with this, and frankly, some of her interpretations caused me to shake my head. I read though it, but I won't be doing that again. This one can sit on the shelf with Conway, the only saving factor here, Krasskova is at least Heathen.

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ - We love our Gunnora

Rudiments of Runelore - don't have it, but if it's anything like his book on Leechcraft, then it's got to be good.

Introduction to English Runes - don't have this either, but most I know swear by it, so it's on the to acquire list.

The only stupid question is the one you don't bother to ask! Runes can be used to cast spells, empower magical objects, and foretell the probable course of future events. I have a free Rune book on line. Google Jordsvin Rune Month and it will pop right up. There are many books on the subject available. My favorites are by Thor and Audrey Sheil. You can find them here; scroll down to see the different titles:
http://www.thortrains.com/UncleThors/zrunepage.html
BTW my main Heathen page is at http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin

The Rune Poems (Icelandic and Germanic poems are worth a study as well.)

Are the main source of knowledge about runic practices. The female aspect was divination. How men used the Runes if at all is unknown. However I personally have found Icelandic references to magicians.(I also found them in the Saga of the Volsungs which is Germanic) also it was not uncommon to mark Items with a rune. (as based on Viking age Findings)

The modern usage is very much a touch and go kind of thing.

The Divination has many aspects. The most well tested and used aspect is a three Rune cast of random Runes and using a modern material for interpretation. what materials are good to use is an important question. The Ralph Blume Book is not well respected....

As far as other purposes Runic symbols may have been used as signatures. (In just three rune combinations there are 13824 different combinations.... which you then have to multiply by a spacial index, placement index, etc.) This is particularly noted in Odins use of the rune Ansuz (Looks like a F where the arms are slanted down) as a signature. I have not found the exact original reference. However my own Rune Book (Nordic Runes, by Paul Rhys Mountfort) notes it in addition to noting that Gandalf from Lord of the rings signs his name with Fehu.

The runes are symbolic and have defenite meaning. I have found that refraining from using them vicariouslly leads to better casting when I use the divinic usage.

Asatru is terrible becuase no matter how percise you are in answering a question about it, or relating to it, you always finish holidng your tongue becuase there is so much more to be said.