I’ve recently made my first podcast appearance with the American Futharch, and it’s on Random Heathen Ramblings, by Midgard Musings. It’s S5, EP18 – Introducing the American Futharch Runes.
The audio-only form of the podcast is free, and available on many platforms, including:
The video-version of the podcast is available to his subscribers at Patreon.
Enjoy!
In just a few weeks, the American Futharch will come to a public heathen event for the first time. That will be the annual East Coast Thing, which is one of the longest-running heathen events in the country. I’ll be presenting a one-hour workshop on the American Futharch there, at some point during the four days of the festival, May 16–19. (The exact time slot has yet to be determined.)
The deadline for registration and payments is May 10, so you still have some days to register. https://eastcoastthing.org/
Since last year, it’s been in Maryland, not too far from Deep Creek Lake. I’ve been attending the event since the mid 00’s, and it’s always been great.
Here’s the title and abstract for my presentation:
The American Futharch: Runes That Speak Your Language!
Write exactly like an ancient runemaster! The original Elder Futhark was perfectly fit to its language, Proto-Germanic, enabling PG speakers to write anything they said as a precise, phonetic transcription—the magic of concertizing their speech directly into material forms. By reforming the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, I have created the American Futharch, a new system of 33 runes with that same perfect fit to American English, and the rune names are all from today’s English.
In this workshop, you’ll learn the American Futharch, the path to mastering the mysteries of your speech, and the three-step process to use with it so that you, too, can write exactly like an ancient runemaster. But writing with them is only the beginning: they are built for magic, divination, esotericism, poetry, and more, and some of these topics will be touched on. These Runes can truly Do All The Things! This is the debut public heathen event for the American Futharch, where it will be the “œpandi nam” heard ‘round the world!
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
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:
Continue readingThat anthology I mentioned a few weeks ago has now been announced by the publisher:
The Rune Poems: A Reawakened Tradition
Edited by P.D. Brown and Michael Moynihan
Published by Arcana Europa / Gilded Books
It is now available for preorder at the publisher’s website. I have contributed the following three rune poems to this anthology:
I proofread the whole thing for P.D. and Michael, so I have already seen first-hand how truly amazing this book is. My fellow contributors are a very august company to be printed with. The 15 contributors include writers, poets, musicians (including three lead singers in renowned neofolk bands), occultists, artists, and scholars (five PhDs, including myself).
Part 1 of the book includes the well-known traditional ancient rune poems (Old English, Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Abecedarium Nordmannicum) with excellent new translations by Dr. Michael Moynihan, with an abundance of helpful notes. There is also much new material on the little-known and little-studied Early Modern Swedish Rune Poem, complete with a translation.
Part 2 is where the magic is, with a collection of new modern rune poems that reawaken and continue the rune poem tradition. There are 19 written poems, 15 of which are written in English, with one poem each in German, Polish, French, and Old Saxon, all with English translations; plus 1 visual poem, consisting of 24 wood-burned images. I’ve seen the original 24 woodblocks of that visual poem, and while black and white photos ultimately cannot do it justice, I think this book treats us to the best possible black and white capture of it. The written poems are all profound, deep, and overflowing with the Mead of Inspiration.
The cover art of this fine volume is by Dawid Rudziński, who also made the above-mentioned visual poem and the stellar artwork that graces the covers of my Eagle’s Mead.
This is a must-have volume for anyone who seeks esoteric wisdom through either the Runes or the Mead of Poetry.
The Skaldic Eagle is please to announce another new book! Now available through various online retailers, it is…
Galdored Runes (June 2020)
• A paperback collection of 31 poems from Eagle’s Mead.
• Cover art by The Skaldic Eagle.
• Now officially released on June 20.
• See more details and retailer links on the Galdored Runes page.
Or just jump to the Amazon listing to buy it.
You can also read a poem from it, “Carve the Fuþark,” which has recently been featured on the Rûna Eormensyl blog.
Eagle’s Mead:
Initiatory Poetry and Prose
Copyright © 2019 Eirik Westcoat
Skaldic Eagle Press
xvi, 302 pages
Cover art by David Rudziński
Today, as heathens celebrate Ostara, the goddess of the dawn, on the spring equinox, my other book of poetry has finally arrived! Most of its content has never appeared on my blog or anywhere else. Now available in hardcover only. The official publication date is March 20, 2019.
This is a book for initiates, magicians, occultists, esotericists, sages, heathen prophets, and other travelers of the hidden realms, one that will not be understood by others.
To find it, either this IndieBound link, Amazon link, or Barnes & Noble link will take you to the casewrap hardcover edition, where it is now available.
Various other Amazon country-sites have it listed also. However, many of the non-U.S. Amazon sites are showing things like “Temporarily out of stock” or “Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 months.” Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm with Amazon and print-on-demand hardcovers. The book should print when you order it. Some Amazon sites show these statuses for the hardcover of my first book, even when it’s been available without interruption or changes since July 2017! In any case, rest assured that the book indeed is now released, whatever status the sites may be showing.
For further details, including a brief table of contents, see my Press / Books page.
Wassail!
Eagle’s Mead:
Initiatory Poetry and Prose
Copyright © 2019 Eirik Westcoat
Skaldic Eagle Press
xvi, 302 pages
Cover art by David Rudziński
It will soon be here: my other book of poetry (with prose!), and most of its content has never appeared on my blog or anywhere else. Now available for preorder in hardcover only. The official publication date is April 30, 2019.
This is a book for initiates, magicians, occultists, esotericists, sages, heathen prophets, and other travelers of the hidden realms, one that will not be understood by others.
To find it, either this Amazon link or this Barnes & Noble link will take you to the casewrap hardcover edition. If you’re outside of the United States, your Amazon country-site of choice probably has it listed already.
For further details, including a brief table of contents, see my Press / Books page.
Wassail!
That’s how he did it, by hanging from a tree,
how Óðinn won the ancient runes.
He challenges us to change our lives
by seeking those mysteries. And so we must,
by hanging also on a hallowed tree.
But what is Yggdrasil, and where might it be,
Continue reading
The cold Oslo winter persisted, and the Skald fortified himself for the long siege, working diligently on his master’s thesis. But after 15 weeks, as winter’s assault finally relented, the Skald finished his glorious text of 36,000 words about his ancient counterpart, the figure of the skald as found in the probable works of Snorri Sturluson: Edda, Heimskringla, and Egils saga. After a brief celebration and much relaxing that included plenty of sight-seeing, the Skald prepared to face the final contest in his master’s degree. With his lady from his time in Iceland by his side once more, he undertook the ordeal of a trial-by-lecture in a runology course and emerged victorious. It is said he celebrated the day with fine rum and a cigar in the afternoon, and by a sushi dinner and a bottle of mead with his lady in the evening. He rested the next day, composing this verse:
My wode had waxed through the winter’s dark
and opened my flow of artful words.
O’er pages of ink, I poured the Mead,
Continue reading
The Skaldic Eagle 