Poem: The Runes, The Speech of the High One

 

An Ancient Oracle of Divination and Alphabet

The following is one version of the famous passage taken from The Poetic Edda (c. AD 1200) which is said to be the speech of the High One and how the Runes came into being.

'The Speech of The High One'

The Poetic Edda (c. AD 1200) -  Photo by deviantart.com

Poem from: The Book of Runes by Ralph Blum

I know I hung on that windswept tree,

Swung there for nine long nights,

Wounded by my own blade,

Bloodied for Odin,

Myself an offering to myself:

Bound to the tree

That no man knows

Whither the roots of it run.

None gave me bread,

None gave me drink.

Down to the deepest depths I peered

Until I spied the Runes.

With a roaring cry I seized them up,

Then dizzy and fainting, I fell.

Well-being I won

And wisdom too.

I grew and took joy in my growth:

From a word to a word

I was led to a word,

From a deed to another deed.

The Poetic Edda (c. AD 1200)