There is no evidence that Vegvisir, the norse compass was used during the Viking age. The book also claims that the symbol should be drawn on the forehead in blood, just like the symbol Helm of Awe. The Galdrabok gives the same description for the use of the runic stave, but says that it could also be used for spiritual guidance and protection. The Huld Manuscript says of the symbol that: If this sign is carried, one will never lose one’s way in storms of bad weather, even when the way is not known. The round version of the symbol first appears in the Galdrabok, a grimoire which it is claimed dates from the 16 th century, but was first published in 1921, and the current locations of the original manuscript, if it ever existed, is unknown. It has also been suggested that each represents one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology, with the centre point being Midgard, the location of the human subject of the spell. So, the symbols probably have other meanings. Though we know that the Vikings did not use a compass that looked like Vegvisir, but rather a sun stone, to navigate. It has been speculated that each symbol represented one of the cardinal directions, much like a compass. The symbol in the Huld Manuscript is square, rather than the round version that is common today, and is composed of eight staves, each ending with different symbols. It depicts the Vegvisir symbol, which means “that which shows the way”, combining “vegur” which means way, with “visir”, which means pointer. Vegvisir, the Viking Compass, is first recorded in the Huld Manuscript, compiled by Geir Vigfusson in the 19 th century. Hundreds of them are known and they were used for a variety of purposes. Their magic was based around Galdrastafir, which are runic staves. Runic magic based on the Viking tradition continued to be practiced in Iceland in the centuries that followed the end of the Viking period, and was particularly well-known between 14. As a master of the runes, Egil was able to identify this as the source of her illness, destroy the rune and replace it with a different runic message that would help the girl. This was probably placed there by a local boy trying to help the girl, but whose knowledge of the runes was limited. Investigating the situation, he discovers a whalebone with a crudely carved rune in her bed. In the saga of Egil, the eponymous warrior encounters a farmer whose daughter is very ill. Viking runic magic is also described in the sagas. Similar items with runic inscriptions survive from Viking times: tools, jewelry, amulets, bones, wood and stone. The most popular was the runic word ALU, the meaning of which is unknown. The Germanic ancestors or the Vikings also commonly carved certain rune combinations onto jewelry, probably for protection. The same practice is described in the Viking poem known as the Lay of Hymir, when the chips are thrown into blood to read the future. In one text the Romans described the Germanic tribesmen as carving runes onto sticks and throwing them on the ground as a form of divination. The ancestors of the Vikings already practiced runic magic, as the Romans observed the Germanic ancestors of the Viking using rune magic a thousand years earlier. This is suggested by the fact that the Norns, the Norse fates, are often described as writing the fate of men by carving runes into this same tree. It is possible that the runes were contained within Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life that connected and nourished the nine worlds of Norse mythology.
Only at the end of this ordeal were the secrets of the runes revealed to him. Odin hung himself from the tree of life Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights pierced by his own spear. They were discovered by Odin, the king of the Norse gods and the god of wisdom and war.
The Vikings did not believe that the runes were invented, but rather were something that formed part of the fabric of the universe. The Vikings believed that the runes, when used correctly, had the power to make ideas real. To the Vikings, the nordic runes were more than just a system of writing and a way to represent the world and ideas.
It was a wayfinding symbol, also often called the Viking or Norse Compass.īut how does this modern Icelandic norse symbol of magic relate to earlier Viking runic magic, and what do we know about how the Vikings used the runes to change the course of destiny? Origin of the Vegvisir The rune had the power to ensure its wearer never got lost, and always found their way home, even when they did not the way. Vegvisir is an Icelandic runic stave, that evolved from earlier Viking runic magic.
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