Legend of the Northern Journey: Rune Cards

The record

This is a well produced set of cards, each with the symbol of a rune from the Elder Futhark and an image illustrating the meaning of the rune. The printing is clear, with good colour reproduction, and the cardstock is excellent. It appears to have close to a matt finish. There are 24 rune cards and one card for a blank rune. I’ll discuss the blank run card later. The accompanying booklet is half in Russian and half in English, each rune getting a half page, and includes both upright (bright-stave) and reversed (murk-stave) meanings. Each rune has a range of meanings and the creator and artist have chosen to illustrate the principal meaning of each. I found the meanings, while condensed and almost in bullet form, to cover the main points of the meaning of each rune. They also include a bit of advice with each, suggesting possible actions or changes or warnings associated with the various runes. The Blank rune is not in the older traditions. It was originally introduced by rune popularizer Ralph Blum in 1982. He has written seven books on runes and probably the best known advocate in the West. The card was included here as users may have come from his work and might wish to continue

Source & full review →