Runes and other symbols have been horribly appropriated and used as emblems of hatred and violence. I differentiate myself and my runes and other symbols from people who use them to signify anything like that. My artwork about runes and the Web of Wyrd or any other symbol is not intended in any way to express or represent any sentiment of hatred towards anyone or anything.
Everybody has the right to thrive and be themselves, regardless of their various backgrounds, nationalities, religions, races, abilities, languages, dietary needs, genders and orientations.
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Web Of Wyrd Interpretation
The runes are a language group which includes a lot of symbolic meaning of various kinds. They are used to represent a wide variety of phenomena and situations.
Languages are often evolving and updating themselves as people use them. Runes and bindrunes are getting a lot of contemporary use.
This page is mostly about looking at what shape the runes might be geometrically in relation to the Web of Wyrd symbol:
I wanted to use runes in my artwork as symbolic language and as text, so I needed to decide how to make them first. I had read ubiquitous paraphrasings of the idea that the runes can be formed upon the Web of Wyrd symbol. I tried drawing a few different variations of the Web Of Wyrd symbol with lines in different places and on different angles, of varying lengths and drawn upon different grids, with the runes drawn along the lines of the symbol in a few different places, of different sizes, different angles and variations. I tried the Elder Futhark, the Long-Branch Younger Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon-Northumbrian Futhorc.
A rectangle composed of 2 x 4 squares can be used to draw this variation of the Web of Wyrd symbol:
I arranged the 3,3,3 lines that compose the Web of Wyrd symbol into 3 groups of 3 lines in a particular way. They look like a forward button ▷, the Hagall/Ior rune ᛡ and a backward button ◁:
If I was going to describe the 3 combinations of 3 lines of this symbol symbolically, I would say that the past/present/future overlapping can be represented with these shape combinations. The forward and backward shapes can be used to point to the past and the future. The Hagall/Ior rune ᚼ shape points in many directions simultaneously stemming from the centre, so it can represent the present/omnipresent when used in this context. The Stan rune ᛥ is formed when the forward/backward shapes overlap. It can be used to symbolise a long duration, like a stone or something that might be unchanging from the past into the future.
The longer lasting tangible forms of historical runes that we can still see are the ones that were carved into stone. The Stan rune ᛥ is interesting because it forms the edge of the Web of Wyrd symbol. Although the Web of Wyrd symbol seems to be a relatively new symbol, it can be formed by combining the Stan ᛥ, Ingwaz ᛜ and Hagall/Ior runes ᚼ, or other various combinations.
The Web of Wyrd symbol can function as a larger/smaller repeating fractal pattern:
THE WEB OF WYRD WITHIN THE WEB OF WYRD:
THE web-of-wyrd recurring:
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THE WEB-OF-WYRD PATTERN / THE W-O-W PATTERN:
When the Web of Wyrd symbol is repeated indefinitely beside itself it forms a pattern. I named it the Web-Of-Wyrd Tesselation. When the symbol overlaps as it repeats it forms a more consistent version of the pattern. I named it The Web-of-Wyrd Pattern / The W-O-W Pattern. The Web of Wyrd symbol can be fractalised upon the pattern.
The W-O-W Pattern can be made using the Hagall/Ior rune ᚼ, extending the lines and repeating it. It can also be made using a diagonal square grid if we begin at a crosspoint in the centre, add a central vertical line and then add every second vertical line going left and right simultaneously.
THE WEB-OF-WYRD BECOMING THE W-O-W PATTERN VIA TESSELATION:
THE W-O-W PATTERN:
THE WEB-OF-WYRD RECURRING UPON THE W-O-W PATTERN:
WYRD TIME:
THE WEB-OF-WYRD PATTERN RECURRING:
THE WEB-OF-WYRD TESSELATION RECURRING:
THE WEB-OF-WYRD TESSELATION:
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The runes fit on the Web of Wyrd symbol when some of them were scaled to different sizes and slightly altered. It seemed incomplete to me, and I really wanted to add some more lines to the symbol to make the runes align.
The runes aligned closely on a variation of the W-O-W Pattern that had twelve extra diagonal lines added to the Web of Wyrd symbol. I named it The 3,9,9 W-O-W Pattern, because it has three vertical lines, nine diagonal lines in one direction and nine diagonal lines in the other direction:
THE 3,9,9 W-O-W PATTERN:
THE extra lines in the 3,9,9 W-O-W PATTERN:
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THE ELDER FUTHARK FORMED UPON THE 3,9,9 W-O-W PATTERN:
When making the Elder Futhark on the W-O-W Pattern, Dagaz ᛞ and Gebo ᚷ had to be either twice as wide or half as tall as the other runes. It was a hard decision but I chose to use the smaller variations, and to keep the W-O-W Pattern rectangular. Othala ᛟ was an interesting shape. To keep the angles and make it the same height as the others, I had to change the length of the segments. It worked but I decided to keep the segments the same length as the others, so I made Othala ᛟ 3/4 height.
THE names of the elder futhark runes:
Fehu ᚠ
Uruz ᚢ
Thurisaz ᚦ
Ansuz ᚨ
Raidho ᚱ
Kenaz ᚲ
Gebo ᚷ
Wunjo ᚹ
Hagal ᚺ
Naudhiz ᚾ
Isa ᛁ
Jera ᛃ
Eihwaz ᛇ
Perthro ᛈ
Algiz ᛉ
Sowelu ᛋ
Tiwaz ᛏ
Berkano ᛒ
Ehwaz ᛖ
Mannaz ᛗ
Laguz ᛚ
Ingwaz ᛜ
Dagaz ᛞ
Othala ᛟ
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THE long branch YOUNGER FUTHARK FORMED UPON THE 3,9,9 W-O-W PATTERN:
When I made the Long Branch Younger Futhark on the W-O-W Pattern, I tried adding circles to the grid to make curved lines in the runes. I decided to keep all of the lines straight so that the bindrunes can interlock seamlessly.
THE names of the long branch younger futhark runes:
Fe ᚠ
Ur ᚢ
Thurs ᚦ
Ass ᚬ
Reid ᚱ
Kaun ᚴ
Hagall ᚼ
Naudr ᚾ
Isa ᛁ
Ar ᛅ
Sol ᛋ
Tyr ᛏ
Bjarkan ᛒ
Madr ᛘ
Logr ᛚ
Yr ᛦ
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THE ANGLO-SAXON-NORTHUMBRIAN FUTHORC FORMED UPON THE 3,9,9 W-O-W PATTERN:
Some of the runes in the Anglo-Saxon-Northumbrian Futhorc have smaller segments that almost seem like other runes had their segments bent in half.
THE names of the anglo-saxon-northumbrian-futhorc runes:
Feoh ᚠ
Ur ᚢ
Thorn ᚦ
Os ᚩ
Rad ᚱ
Cen ᚳ
Gyfu ᚷ
Wynn ᚹ
Haegl ᚻ
Nyd ᚾ
Is ᛁ
Ger ᛄ
Eoh ᛇ
Peorth ᛈ
Eolhx ᛉ
Sigel ᛋ
Tiw ᛏ
Beorc ᛒ
Eh ᛖ
Mann ᛗ
Lagu ᛚ
Ing ᛝ
Daeg ᛞ
Ethel ᛟ
Ac ᚪ
Aesc ᚫ
Yr ᚣ
Ior ᛡ
Ear ᛠ
Cweorth ᛢ
Calc ᛣ
Stan ᛥ
Gar ᚸ
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References:
Crawford J 2017, Writing English in Runes, viewed 19/08/23, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A271ohcO7Yc>.
Eugene B 2022, Writing in Runes Revisited- What we can learn from Tolkien, Mine Wyrtruman, viewed 28/10/23, <https://minewyrtruman.wordpress.com/2022/01/13/writing-in-runes-revisited-what-we-can-learn-from-tolkien/>.
Foster J, Norse Bindrunes, Galdrastafir.com, viewed 02/12/2023, <https://galdrastafir.com/bindrunes.htm>
Galdr Verbal Rune Magic, Sunnyway.com, viewed 02/12/2023, <https://archive.org/details/galdr-verbal-rune-magic/mode/2up>
GermanicMythology.com, RunatalsÞáttr Oðins _Odin´s Rune-song, viewed 08/08/2023, <http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/ThorpeEdda/thorpe07.html>.
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Harger A 2023, The Web of Wyrd, Whispers of Yggdrasil, viewed 08/08/23, <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2023/02/22/the-web-of-wyrd/>.
Heilung 2015, In Maidjan, Bandcamp, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://heilung.bandcamp.com/track/in-maidjan>.
Hopkins J & Fountain LE 2020, Web of Wyrd, Mimisbrunnr.info, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/ksd-web-of-wyrd>.
Marius 2023, Old Norse Concept of Fate and The Web of Wyrd, Vikingr.org, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://vikingr.org/magic-symbols/web-of-wyrd>.
Oldnorse.org, Runes, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://oldnorse.org/what-are-runes/>.
Renet 2019, Ancient Symbols, Valhyr, viewed 08/08/23, <https://valhyr.com/blogs/learn/the-ancient-symbols>.
Simonjkyte, Futhorc, Behind The Times, viewed 09/09/2024, <https://behindthetimes.home.blog/futhorc/>.
Skjalden 2020, Norns are the personifications of the past, the present, and the future, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://skjalden.com/norns/>.
Taylor K E 2020, Futhorc: The Anglo-Saxon Runes & Runology, Druidry.org, viewed 09/09/2024, <https://druidry.org/resources/futhorc-the-anglo-saxon-runes-runology>.
The Anglo-Saxons, Runes, TheAngloSaxons.com, viewed 09/09/2024, <https://www.theanglosaxons.com/runes/>.
The English Companions, The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, TheEngliscanGesithas.org, viewed 09/09/2024, <https://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/written-and-spoken-old-english/old-english-alphabet-2/the-anglo-saxon-rune-poem/>.
Vikingrune, How to Write in Old Norse With Futhark Runes: The Ultimate Guide, The Viking Rune, viewed 09/09/2023, <https://www.vikingrune.com/write-in-futhark-runes-old-norse-guide/>.
Unicode, Runic, viewed 08/08/2023, <https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U16A0.pdf>.
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Alison Lobbe 
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