“Lots of eyes start squinting when there’s money around.” - Bandamannasaga ch. 5
(I apologise for the shitty photo quality, the scanner is on the fritz and my camera’s a jerk)
Literal meaning & History.
The name of this rune, in it’s old form and new, both refer to the same thing. This is a word that refers to livestock originally, ‘specifically to sheep, but the ownership of sheep, or livestock in general, could be seen as a measure of wealth. Later on the word also became widely used to refer to financial wealth. This is theorized to be through the use of sheep to denote value. That is to say, you could trade your reams of cloth for this sword, because the two would be worth approximately the same number of sheep.
The word Fé is still used both for money and for sheep in the Icelandic language, though similar variations in the other nordic languages are solely used to refer to sheep (to my knowledge).
In fact, the icelandic word for capital or fjármagn can literally be translated to “amount of sheep”.
In fact, the icelandic word for capital or fjármagn can literally be translated to “amount of sheep”.
Figurative meaning & Symbolism.
This rune means “Wealth” in it’s widest physical sense.
It refers to money.
It refers to property.
It refers to marketable skills and abilities.
It refers to the wealth of knowledge as it applies to the physical world.
It refers to creativity in the terms of physically creating things.
It refers to physical goals.
It also refers to self respect and your relationship with your physical form.
It refers to property.
It refers to marketable skills and abilities.
It refers to the wealth of knowledge as it applies to the physical world.
It refers to creativity in the terms of physically creating things.
It refers to physical goals.
It also refers to self respect and your relationship with your physical form.
You’ll notice I did not explain positive or negative or what it says about these things.
This is because no rune has a directional meaning as such. All runes are symbols for the ideological construct that they represent. This of course means that they hold both the positive and negative at the same time.
This is because no rune has a directional meaning as such. All runes are symbols for the ideological construct that they represent. This of course means that they hold both the positive and negative at the same time.
The rune does not convey that wealth is gained or lost or that either is necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, and yet it conveys all of these things at once.
The nordic people understood and had many verses, references, and stories surrounding wealth and it’s affect on people.
Wealth can make you hunger for more.
Wealth can make you forsake that which you used to hold dear.
The thirst for wealth can leave you senseless and foolish.
Wealth should be earned, grown, carefully, through hard work and patience.
Wealth should be shared generously. It’s better to give a helping hand to a friend than to lose either.
And a friend you’ve helped when you are able will be there to help you, should the tables turn.
Wealth can make you hunger for more.
Wealth can make you forsake that which you used to hold dear.
The thirst for wealth can leave you senseless and foolish.
Wealth should be earned, grown, carefully, through hard work and patience.
Wealth should be shared generously. It’s better to give a helping hand to a friend than to lose either.
And a friend you’ve helped when you are able will be there to help you, should the tables turn.
The use and meaning of this rune in any magic or divination as with every rune, will always require context.
Suggested Homework
If you’ve got a notebook for this series and are taking notes. Think about how getting a boon of wealth (a university scholarship to the uni of your choice to learn what you want, or a lottery win, or any number of great gifts of wealth that you may have wished existed and could fall in your lap) would be a great blessing, but also how it could be a terrible curse, how that boon could in effect ruin your life, how it could change you, how it might be squandered, what downsides it could bring.
The write it down. The boon, and a few words for how it would be positive, and a few words for how it would be negative.
If/When you work with the rune, keep both these sides in mind, as they are indeed of the same coin.
The write it down. The boon, and a few words for how it would be positive, and a few words for how it would be negative.
If/When you work with the rune, keep both these sides in mind, as they are indeed of the same coin.
