bute the invention of them to Odin. These
letters are extremely unlike any that have
been in use in other countries, and are only
sixteen in number. They were used for the
purpose of writing as well as in magical
operations*. Many ancient monuments engraven
with Runic inscriptions have been
found in Iceland, as well as in Denmark and
* In the Havamal, or Sublime Discourse of Odin,
it is said "Runic characters destroy the effect of
imprecations ” j and in Resenus’ edition of the Fragments
of the Ancient Edda, a little Poem is added,
which is called " th e Runic Chapter, or the Magic
of Odin.” In it that conqueror relates the wonders he
is able to perform, either by means of these characters,
or by the operations of poetry. " Do you know,”
says he, "how to engrave Runic characters ? how
to explain them? how to procure them? how to
prove their virtue ? If I see a man dead, and hanging
aloft on a tree, I engrave Runic characters so
wonderful, that the man immediately descends and
converses with m e a n d Angantyr, in the Incantation
of Hervor (of which we have a translation in
the Five Pieces of Runic Poetry) , says to Hervor,
" Young maid, I say thou art of man-like courage,
who dost rove about, by night, among tombs, with a
spear engraven with magic spells, with helmet and
coat of mail, before our h a l l t h e s e magic spells
were Runic characters, engraven on the weapon to
prevent their being dulled, or blunted by inchantment,
Norway, and even in England, as mentioned
by Hickes; and a vast number of books,
written in this character *, still exist in the
libraries of the north; but of these, M. Mallet
observes that the most ancient appear to have
been written about the time that Christianity
took place in the north, as is judged from
several proofs, particularly from the frequent
So, too, in the Ot?e on the Descent o f Odin, when this
" Father of Magic, having reached the deep abode of
death, stops near the tomb of the prophetess and
looks towards the north, he engraves Runic characters
on her tomb; and he utters mysterious words.”
“ Right against the eastern gate
By the moss-grown pile he sate;
Where long of yore to sleep was laid
The dust of the prophetic maid.
Racing to the northern clime,
Thrice he traced the Runic rhime ;
Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,
The thrilling verse that wakes the dead;
Till, from out the hollow ground,
Slowly breathed a sullen sound.”
Gray’s Translation o f the Descent o f Odin.
* Printed characters may be seen in the first volume
of Northern Antiquities, p, 370 j fac similes of some
inscriptions, in the Atlas of the Voyage en Islande,
t. x x , and in the title-page of the Five Pieces of Runic
Roetry.