american futharch

Rune Lots of the American Futharch

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The American Futharch Runes aren’t just for writing. Among other things, they’re also for divination. I made several sets of varying sizes and shapes for myself, and have been casting with them regularly. But I also want to encourage others to cast with them as well.

To that end, I made four sets of American Futharch Rune lots out of birch rounds, to sell to others. This was a couple of months ago, and I put them on my Etsy store. It probably would have helped if I’d told anyone about them. 😀 Nonetheless, I sold two of the sets so far, and both in the same way—they were people who had heard about the American Futharch, and asked me if any rune lot sets were available. Naturally, I sent them the happy answer with my Etsy store link.

But it’s time I got around to telling everyone else, and in this case, that means this here blog. So here’s my Etsy store where, at the time of this writing, the remaining two sets are still listed. I carved and painted them by hand—yes, painted! In a world where just about every rune set in wood is made by wood burning, I insist on carving and painting in wood. And you can see the results, they are way more beautiful that way. I’ve never made a set by wood burning! 😀

I’ll eventually make more American Futharch sets for putting on my Etsy store, but that’s unlikely to happen before the start of 2025. So for now, these remaining two sets are the last ones currently available that have been made by the hand of the creator of the America Futharch—me! 😌

It is one of the two remaining sets that is above as the featured image for this post. Enjoy!

[Edit: As of mid-February 2025, the sets in this post are all sold out. Much thanks to those joining the American Futharch revolution!]

The Plant Cunning Podcast, featuring the American Futharch

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My third podcast appearance with the American Futharch recently debuted, last Wednesday, July 10. I’d been enjoying a vacation in Iceland (follow me on social media for the pics), hence the delay in my post here, but now I’m back in the ‘States, and thrilled to share this news with you all.

It’s on the Plant Cunning Podcast, by hosts AC Stauble and Isaac Hill:
Ep. 159: Eirik Westcoat on the American Futharch and Heathen Esotericism.

The audio edition is here directly on the Podcast Follow website, which also contains links for it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The video edition of the podcast is here on Youtube.

Enjoy! 😊

The American English Rune Poem

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A proper futhark needs a rune poem. The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc has its Old English Rune Poem (OERP), and the Younger Futhark has the Old Icelandic Rune Poem (OIRP) and the Old Norwegian Rune Poem (ONRP). Undoubtedly, there were rune poems for the Elder Futhark, the original ur-poem being in Proto-Germanic, but those were lost, as it seems no rune-carvings were made of them, at least none that survived. And they would have been way too long for the typical rune carvings of that era anyway!

So on the heels of my recent launch of the American Futharch rune row and its website, I now present the American English Rune Poem (AERP) that goes with it. And like the ancient rune poems, it’s in proper and traditional alliterative meter. In this case, it most closely resembles the meter, style, and didactic purpose of the OERP.

I’ve posted the full poem on my American Futharch website, but here, I’ll give you a taste with three of the stanzas:

Charcoal is chiefly chunky in form,
a fire-essence fashioned by man
from organic matter for gunpowder, art,
filtering, cooking, forging, and more.

Year is the unit that’s yoked to the sun,
the seasonal cycle of sowing and harvest,
the longer measure of our mortal lives,
and a wheel that turns, once for each Yule.

Lake is limited yet living with fish,
unseen on the surface when sailing across.
Its depths hold gold that dragons may guard,
and storms can stir the stillest waters.

You can see all 33 stanzas, from Fee to Ash, on my AERP page on my American Futharch website.

Copyright © 2024 Eirik Westcoat

Introducing the American Futharch and its Website

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Want to write exactly like an ancient runemaster? It hasn’t been possible, until now. 

I’ve got some things to say about that, so read on if you like, or you can jump ahead and see the website at https://americanfutharch.com if you prefer. But also read on nonetheless for the what, why, and how.

Ever try writing modern English with runes? Clunky, isn’t it? And that’s regardless of whether you’re using the Elder Futhark or the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. Inevitably, most such writing attempts inevitably cheat at some point by treating the runes as an alphabet, doing a “what rune can stand for such-and-such letter” kind of approach.

That’s not how the first ancient runemasters wrote in runes. Around the start of the Common Era (or somewhat before), writing in runes meant the Proto-Germanic language with Elder Futhark runes. And these three steps:

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