Galdr and Runic Images

Galdr, the Magic of the creative word, like other methods of formulating and realizing the will of the Magus, draws not only on the magus’s own resources but also taps a range of external energy currents.

In the case of Galdr, Runic powers are invoked, the combination and direction of which form the basis for manifestation.

The art of composing Runic images into manifestation formulas requires the same precise knowledge and ardent inspiration as the craft of carving and weaving the Runes themselves.

Moreover, the correct selection not only of the Power drawn into the spell, vis, but also of the image that conveys that Power, requires considerable imagination and poetic talent.

Scandinavian culture developed a vast system of images capable of imparting to a spell, to the vis, either the Runic Power in its fullness or a more subtle rendering of one aspect of that Power. Specifically, heiti and kennings — “substitutes” for direct images through allegory, metaphor, and synonyms. The Scandinavians avoided naming many things by their ordinary names. That is what the “substitutes” were for. A kenning is a poetic device in which a simple word is replaced by a beautiful metaphor made of at least two nouns. Thus, battle can be called “a blizzard of spears,” a mirror “the eye of beauty,” and so on. “Heiti” are shorter synonyms. For example, a wolf can be called “greedy,” “prophetic,” “solitary one,” “forest-dweller,” “howler,” “Fenrir.” And a bear — “wanderer,” “bear-cub,” “nursling,” “brown,” “snorter,” “toothy,” “beast,” “gloomy,” “red,” “forester,” “shaggy,” “greedy,” “splay-footed,” “mossy.” By the way, the Russian word “medved” is itself a kind of heiti. The true name of this beast, “ber,” the name of Veles — cognate with “to take” and “to guard,” functions of that god — was avoided; it was avoided, although it has survived, for example, in the word “berloga” (the lair of ber).

Besides the obvious value of such “substitutes” as a device that enriches poetic language, their use has a practical magical significance as a technique that allows Runic images to be combined more precisely and artfully, and therefore to align corresponding Runic vectors more precisely.

For example, the invocation of the Power of Uruz could occur either through the direct use of the aurochs image in a vis, or through heiti and kennings for that creature — for instance, “beast of the woods,” “moss-eater,” or “Mighty,” “Unstoppable,” and so forth. Similarly, the kenning “Odin’s Cloak” invokes the power of Ansuz, while “Valhalla’s Banner” draws Wunjo. In fact, all images related to the semantic field of each Rune help compose a vis that attracts the corresponding Powers. It is not surprising that the “language of poetry” describes the kennings of gods and objects in such detail.

The use of “substitutes” helps specify precisely the aspect of a Runic Power that is required in any given case.

For example, Freyr’s fertility power in its entirety is invoked by using the direct name of the rune Ingwaz, but that same Power can be summoned in a more differentiated way by employing particular heiti and kennings. By speaking of the “Enemy of Muspell,” one can separate the life-giving aspect of solar energy from its burning aspect, and by mentioning the “Son of Njord,” emphasize the heavenly origin of the phenomenon of life; using the heiti “Van,” one can attract a lower aspect of nature’s fertilizing power than by using the kenning “God of the Vanir,” and so on.

Thus, the language of vis is not merely poetic flourish; it is also concrete magical operations aimed at isolating necessary aspects of power and manipulating them.