The Sacred Spears of the Germanic Priest Kings

During the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century a number of sacred spears belonging to the pre-christian Germanic tribes were located in modern day Germany, Sweden and Poland, being the Kovel spear, the Dahmsdorf spear, the Rozwadow spear and the Moos spear.
What these spears have in common is their construction-Iron with silver inlay and their runic inscriptions.

The one from Dahmsdorf has the inscription Ansuz-Jera-Nauthiz-Ansuz-Raitho. The inscription reading from right to left says ranja, ie the "runner". Edred Thorsson in his The Mysteries of the Goths (Runa Raven, 2007) speculates that this has the meaning of "the one which causes [them] to flee". The owner of the spear may have been a Burgundian, originally an East Germanic tribe. It dates from around 250CE and it also contains solar and lunar symbols and was discovered in 1865 during the construction of a train station at Dahmsdorf-Muecheberg. This and the other spears were never used in combat and clearly were of ceremonial purpose. Either these spears belonged to tribal priests or were symbolic totems of regal power belonging to chieftains.

The spear was the original and favoured weapon of the Germanic peoples and every Germanic freeman, every warrior possessed one as a mark of his status. In the case of chieftains and priests these were obviously more elaborate as these spears clearly have a mystical purpose. We are of course reminded of Gungnir, the spear of Wotan/Wodan/Woden/Odin which likewise was according to Sigdrifumal 17 insricribed with 17 runes on its tip. It would of course be tempting to speculate what they are. It is of course possible that this may be a version of the normally 16 runes Younger Futhark.

The Dahmsdorf spear contains both a triskelion and a swastika, both of which are solar symbols. These spears also contain tamgas which are Sarmatian or Scythian tribal symbols and thus show a connection with the steppe dwelling Iranian tribes who lived close to the East Germanic peoples.
The Germanic peoples considered themselves to be the offspring of their Gods and nobles in particular often reckoned their descent from Wodan. Therefore it is natural for a Germanic chieftain or king to possess a sacred spear as a symbol of the Wodan given regal power.

Alternatively the tamga symbol may be interpreted as a  Blitzbündel symbol which is associated with the God Thunor. See my other articles on this symbol: An Esoteric Interpretation of Das Blitzbündel and The Trisula and the Vajra and their Associations with Das Blitzbündel

Later in the post-conversion times and the arising of the Parsifal myth the sacred spear or lance features as the symbolic weapon of the Grail king. We know that the Holy Lance or spear of Longinus which allegedly currently resides in the Hofburg Museum in Wien has been dated to no earlier than the 7th century CE and therefore is not contemporary with the times of the so-called Christ.
No doubt this spear falls into a similar category as the four runic spears referred to in this article. 

The Trisula and the Vajra and their Associations with Das Blitzbündel

This article should be read in connection with my previous ones on An Esoteric Interpretation of Das Blitzbündel and Thundermark Found on Ancient Germanic Spears along with Runebinder's original article which drew my attention to this ancient and very enigmatic esoteric Germanic symbol-http://volkisch-runes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/this-is-one-of-many-cheap-rings.html .

My further investigations into  Das Blitzbündel have identified a definite link with the ancient Aryan symbol of the Trisula. Eugene Goblet d' Alviella in his Migration of Symbols, 1894 defines this symbol literally as three (tri) points (sula). The Trisula is associated with the Hindu God Shiva and this is identical with the Trident of the Greek God Poseidon, the brother of Zeus, whose symbol was the Thunderbolt. Interestingly the fusion of both symbols, the Trident and the Thunderbolt gives us the Vajra, a ritual object which fuses together the qualities of the indestructability of the diamond and the irresistable force of the Thunderbolt. d' Alviella labels this object as a 'Dordj', but Vajra is the generally more accepted term. He states of this:

"Even at the present time (author writing in 1894-My edit) it can be recognised there under the form of the dordj, a small bronze instrument shaped like a double sheaf, with six or eight branches, which, held between the thumb and forefinger, is used by the lamas and bonzes to bless the faithful, and to exorcise demons."

The Vajra is referred to in the Rig Vedas as the weapon of the Thunder God Indra, made by the smith of the Gods, Tvastar. It is translated as the 'heavenly bolt of thunder' in Ralph T.H. Griffith's translation of the Rig Veda:

"He slew the Dragon lying on the mountain: his heavenly bolt of thunder Tvastar fashioned." (Book 1, Hymn XXXII)

My astute readers will notice that  Das Blitzbündel is just two forked rather than three forked as in the Trisula but it is clear that there is a definite connection between both symbols both in style and in purpose. The lightning-fork symbol can be either double-pronged or triple-pronged as illustrated in J.T. Sibley's most excellent detailed but readable The Divine Thunderbolt. Missile of the Gods (2009).

Das Blitzbündel has clear stylistic associations with not only the Vajra and Trisula but also with the Keraunoi of the Greeks and Romans. It is a type of symbol that can be found throughout the Aryan world.

An Esoteric Interpretation of Das Blitzbündel

As mentioned on  Thundermark Found on Ancient Germanic Spears Runebinder recently discussed onhttp://volkisch-runes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/this-is-one-of-many-cheap-rings.html the appearance of an ancient symbol on modern runic jewellery. This symbol is considered by some scholars to be a Tamga, a clannic symbol of authority which can be traced back to the Aryan Sarmatian and Iranian tribes. It features on a number of ancient Germanic spears discovered in Germany, Denmark and eastern Europe, namely the Dahmsdorf and Vimose (Denmark) spearheads. The above image is of the Dahmsdorf spear.
J.T. Sibley in her The Divine Thunderbolt. Missile of the Gods (2009) considers this symbol to be a form of Keraunoi which are thunderbolt symbols found amongst various Indo-European cultures. The presence of this symbol in connection with swastikas and runes on Germanic spears strengthens this interpretation further. My own view is that this symbol is both a Keraunos and a Tamga.
I recently encountered this enigmatic symbol in Walther Blachetta's Das Buch der Deutschen Sinnzeichen, a 1940s book republished in 2010 and defined as a Blitzbündel :

My translation:

"The lightningsheaf of the Munich spearblade is the sign-of the victorious strength of the warrior over life and death. Also the spearblade of Kowel shows this sign, which in archaeological research has received the name 'lightningsheaf'. The symbolical meaning of the lightning sign-of the Sig rune (purification, resolution, liberation, life, however also division, dissolution, dispersal and death)-demonstrates a really close relationship. And for the ram's horns (between death and birth strives the force of generation), the cradle (of the life protecting and from death preserving womb), for support (creative strength) and the double arrow (birth and death are one) there exists likewise really close connections."

This is Blachetta's esoteric interpretation of this sign which as a thunder sign (and thus sacred to Donar) has a clear protecting purpose. The Blitzbündel also represents a pair of Perthro runes. Perthro visually resmbles the womb and symbolises not only birth but rebirth (Geburt und Tod sind eins). It is thus clearly a symbol which represents the returning Einheriar whose mission cannot be accomplished in a mere single earthly lifetime.

Thundermark Found on Ancient Germanic Spears

Runebinder recently discussed onhttp://volkisch-runes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/this-is-one-of-many-cheap-rings.html the appearance of an ancient symbol on modern runic jewellery. This symbol is considered by some scholars to be a Tamga, a clannic symbol of authority which can be traced back to the Aryan Sarmatian and Iranian tribes. It features on a number of ancient Germanic spears discovered in Germany, Denmark and eastern Europe, namely the Dahmsdorf and Vimose (Denmark) spearheads. The above image is of the Dahmsdorf spear.

J.T. Sibley in her The Divine Thunderbolt. Missile of the Gods (2009) considers this symbol to be a form of Keraunoi which are thunderbolt symbols found amongst various Indo-European cultures. The presence of this symbol in connection with swastikas and runes on Germanic spears strengthens this interpretation further. My own view is that this symbol is both a Keraunos and a Tamga.

What is remarkable is that this rarely seen symbol has thus re-emerged on a piece of runic jewellery possibly made in the far east. It would be interested to learn who designed the said piece of jewellery and what was the inspiration behind it.