Elder Futhark · Hagal's Aett
Eihwaz
Rune 13 - ᛇ
Upright
A deep, steady endurance is what will see this through.
Eihwaz. A deep, steady endurance is what will see this through. The yew, and the axis. The tree that stands in graveyards because it outlives everything around it -- endurance through a hard passage, rooted in both worlds at once. Rune 13 of the twenty-four. It is fifth of Hagal's Aett, the middle eight - the aett of disruption and testing, where what is false is broken so something truer can stand. Upright, the stave stands in its clear aspect and can be worked with directly. Its keyword range runs through endurance, a steady foundation, facing mortality honestly, and resilient defense.
Merkstave
The foundation is less stable than it appears, or a hard truth is being dodged.
Eihwaz merkstave. The foundation is less stable than it appears, or a hard truth is being dodged. The yew, and the axis. Rune 13 of the twenty-four. It is fifth of Hagal's Aett, the middle eight - the aett of disruption and testing, where what is false is broken so something truer can stand. Fallen merkstave, the stave counsels caution: its force is present but constrained or ill-aspected. A warning to correct course, not a flat denial. In merkstave, read these as strain, blockage, or the caution the rune is raising: instability, weak foundations, avoidance of a hard truth, and fragile defenses.
About the Elder Futhark
The oldest runic alphabet, used across Germanic Europe from roughly 150 to 800 CE.
No rune names or meanings are directly recorded for the Elder Futhark. The meanings used here are reconstructed from three later medieval sources - the Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic Rune Poems - which give a verse for each rune. 'Merkstave' (a reversed or ill-dignified rune) is a modern reading convention; runes with no natural upside-down form are read only for merkstave when the surrounding runes are adverse.
Full history →Meanings are a guide to a symbolic tradition, offered for reflection and entertainment. They do not predict the future or describe real people or events. See the Terms.