Saturday 17 October 2015

Runes And Seid

Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003), Book One, Chapters VI and VII.

heart's-ease
orchis
stave
noai'de
seid
hex
weird

Some words are familiar; others are not. All benefit from elucidation.

A stave can be a stanza or a runic symbol. Either fits on p. 31.

Gunnhild's father says that Odin brought runes "'...back from the far side of death...'" (p. 37) but that the magic called seid is unworthy whereas the Wikipedia article says that Freya of the Vanir taught seid to the Aesir, who include Odin.

Mother Of Kings begins to feel like an Encyclopedia. Anyone merely following the narrative misses many meanings but knows that this is a rich text. We have learned about Normandy and seid. There is no knowing what we will find next.

In the image, Odin rides Sleipnir, according to one interpretation, but what does he hold in his left hand?

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