Have you seen the first robin yet?  We all know the first robin means that spring is here, but few people realize this idea evolved from traditional Saxon beliefs.  In old English folklore the robin is always ”male”, and mated or married to the “female” wren.  Both of these birds were sacred, giving rise to old English rhymes such as this:

Hurt a robin or a wren; never prosper, boy or man.

Harming a robin or stealing its eggs will bring bad luck.  Traditionally the result could vary from personal injury to the death of the offender’s livestock.  According to J.C. Cooper (Symbolic and Mythological Animals, Aquarian Press, p.194) the robin is sacred to the god Thunor.

The bird known to the pre-Christian Saxons as the réadda was the European robin, a species unrelated to the migratory American robin.  This bird retained its status into the Christian era as a sacred bird, as did the wren.  Hence this old rhyme:

The robin redbreast and the wren; are God Almighty’s cock and hen.

When the descendents of the Saxons eventually came to the shores of North America they named the indigenous red breasted thrush after the bird they were familiar with – the sacred robin.  But this American robin disappeared in the autumn!  Its behavior was entirely unlike the non-migratory European robin, a bird long associated with the Yuletide.  Unlike the European robin, this North American réadda deserted the land with the coming of winter.

What a relief to see the sacred bird return in the spring.  What a welcome symbol of divine blessing!  Many North American avian species migrate south every winter, but it is the robin we look to as a sign that spring has returned.  It is the réadda, the red-breasted bird sacred to red-bearded Thunor, that brings luck to the new year.

With the release of Travels Through Middle Earth now less than three months away, I have moved forward with the logical book to follow it.  Readers of Travels Through Middle Earth will quickly notice that the topic of magic is touched on only peripherally in that book.  This is because magic is not an inherent feature of traditional Pagan spirituality.  For our ancestors, magic was a skill, like hunting or farming or fighting.  Nevertheless, when people think of Germanic religion their thoughts almost always drift to the runes.  Any reader who does want to explore magic will undoubtedly look first to the runic mysteries.  And so my current project is titled Futhorc: Rediscovering the Lost Runes of England.

I say “book”, but Futhorc can be more accurately described as a kit.  I have been working in collaboration with Pagan artist Taren Martin, who is creating a beautifully illustrated deck of 33 rune cards to be packaged with the book.  Each card will feature the rune, the name of the rune, and an illustration depicting the mystery of that rune.  Our initial concept was a starter set of runes for the reader to use until he can buy or make his own rune set from wood, bone or antler.  But now that I have seen what Taren has created, I think many people will be using this deck as their primary runes.  I know that I want a deck of these rune cards for my own use!

Of course individual runes – whether printed on cardstock or engraved in chips of stone – are used primarily for wiglung (divination or augery).  Futhorc: Rediscovering the Lost Runes of England will cover this topic thoroughly, but it will also address runes as a modality for active magic (rúncræft).  The reader will learn how to create magic bindrunes, charms and shields.

Although I am well into the manuscript at this point, there is still time to make changes.  And so I am asking, what would you like to see in a rune book?  If you have found runes difficult to master, how can I make them more accessible to you?  Any ideas are welcome, and if I use your idea I’ll recognize your contribution in the book’s introduction.  If you have any ideas at all, please let me know.  You can send me an email via the “Contact” link here on AlaricAlbertsson.com.