The Original Magical and Divinatory Use of the Runes

I read the most incredulous thing in a book recently in which the author(s) derided the use of the runes for purposes of divination, stating instead that they were a way of life , went on to make some disparaging remarks about magic and 'chicken bones 'and 'damned' those that taught otherwise! Well this may surprise the aforementioned author(s) but the pre-Christian Germanic peoples did in fact practice magic and moreover the use of the Runes were a primary tool in accessing advice from the preternatural realm. The first clear reference to what appear to be Runes is contained in Germania 10:

"Augury and divination by lot no people practise more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment. In public questions the priest of the particular state, in private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes towards heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according to the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove unfavourable, there is no further consultation that day about the matter; if they sanction it, the confirmation of augury is still required." (Translation by Church and Brodribb)

 
The priest or the rune reader confirms the reading via other means such as the calls and flights of birds and the interpretation of the neighs and snorts of sacred horses. So it is clear from Tacitus that the ancient Teutons relied heavily on these magical and divinatory practices. That however does not make them unique but it does demonstrate that the runes originally had a magical character and origin which was confirmed a millenium later in mediaeval Iceland in the Eddas and Icelandic Sagas. Of course Tacitus does not use the term runes as this most likely was unknown to him. The term Tacitus uses is notae (signs). Whether these notae resembled the Common Germanic or Elder Futhark runes no one can say but Dr Stephen Edred Flowers in his Runes and Magic (2011, published by Lodestar) points out that the Meldorf brooch (ca. 50 CE, Schleswig) does contain "inscriptions of probable runic character". The brooch thus dates 48 years prior to the publication of Germania.

Another thing that strikes me as interesting about the Germania reference is the fact that the runes could be read and were read not just by priests but by the head of the household. This being the case it would suggest that runic knowledge was far more widespread than is currently appreciated. Also it causes us to question how this fits in with the notion of the more specialised Rune Master.

The method of reading the runes referred to in Germania is in my opinion one of the simplest and yet most effective. There is a danger that by introducing too much complexity into our systems that we move away from the numionous to the human realm; something we must avoid doing.