The Rune Primer: A Down To Earth Guide To The Runes

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Runes, Asatru, rune books, futhark, pagan, heathen

Paperback: 160 pages

Publisher: LULU (August 21, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1847282466

ISBN-13: 978-1847282460

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #488,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #46 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age & Spirituality > Divination > Runes #62 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > European > Norse & Icelandic Sagas #1216 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult & Paranormal > Parapsychology

I know that this is supposed to be a primer just to get you "started", but this is pretty much the only book I use anymore, outside of historical books/writings such as the Poetic Edda, RI Page's anthropological study on the Runes, and Tacitus' Germania.It is a welcome relief compared to all of the wild speculation and liberties that other writers on runes have taken with regard to their esoteric meaning, and the new edition is even nicer than the 2002 release, because it adds several sections on debunking myths as well as additional discussions. (Especially concerning whether or not there is any true evidence runes were used for divination by the Germanic people at all.)If you need to look beyond the rune poems to get a better grasp on their meanings, this is the book to get. I've found that if the esoteric description in a book about any given rune is longer than maybe about five sentences, it's because the author is starting to make stuff up. The rune poems were 2 to 4 lines. How do people come up with three pages worth of information on what this rune supposedly means? Sweyn's descriptions are clear, concise, and written with proper historical context.However, this book is much more than simply about the esoteric aspect of the runes. That's just a small part of a very comprehensive, plain-spoken, book about runic history. And like other people have said, it lists other recommended reading materials which are also important.I made a set of Elder Futhark runes for a friend not too long ago. (Unsolicited gift.) She knows nothing about runes, as far as I know. I knew exactly which book to get her. This one.I wish this had been around decades ago when I started working with the runes myself. It's much easier to learn the appropriate thing from the beginning instead of having to unlearn a whole bunch of trash.

,,,I'd had access to this unique, comprehensive introduction to the runes when I began learning, I could have saved myself a great deal of time and money. This book is in plain English, and it covers (for its size) lots of information and history. If you or someone you know is interested in the runes, whether for linguistics, history, or as a gate to learning more about a spiritual path, you can't do any better than this nifty, reader-friendly volume. Even those who are well versed in the language and history of the runes will find this a useful reference book, presented clearly and without any axes to grind.Highly, highly recommended. Sweyn, thank you for writing this book and making it available.

The author, Sweyn Plowright, has done a tremendous service in this writing. Cogent and compact, the work outlines, in the clearest terms I've ever seen, the essential philology of rune study. Where Plowright has offered opinion, it is lucidly argued and solidly supported. Where he's commented on the works and opinions of others, including nearly every seminal rune author of the past century, his tone has been both civil and forthright. The entire volume resounds with integrity.In the end, it really is a book about academic honesty; and what true seeker would not want this? Back to basics, yes, because the basics are our common ground. When, as students of the runes, we familiarize ourselves with the verified written and archaeologic records, we're returning to a place where we can all agree. It's from that point that we can have a perfectly diacritical and scholarly discussion about runecraft, and begin to fill in the blanks, even as it must be with intuition and hypothesis.Of course, it all depends on one's aims whether s/he wishes to honor the history of the runes and the culture from which they emerged. _The Rune Primer_ is a powerful call to do just that, but abandons the parochial effort of some rune writers to claim the cultural heritage of the runes for themselves and other of their "folk," and thereby present themselves as the modern voice of ancient traditions that never truly existed. Plowright ably and in plain language dismantles powerful myths that have built up around runecraft and its practice, taking this current head-on.This is not a book about rune magic. It is a book about the foundations of all runecraft. Plowright even goes back to the old texts and offers new, more etymologically exact translations of certain sections of manuscript. The effort throughout is to bring the reader to their own, unmediated experience of runelore. Hardly a page can be turned without an invitation to consult the historical records.As a student of the runes for over fifteen years, _The Rune Primer_ is the first book that I would give to any neophyte; and it is one of the few modern books on the runes that I would say is indispensable in my library.

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