Magin Rose

The following books are either inspired by the runes or by the Northern Mysteries; they open windows onto past and present world-views, mystical experiences and personal soul journeys and imaginings.  May the rune might of those who share their journeys with us so generously be forever bright and strong.

The Way of Wyrd, Brian Bates, 1983

 Click here to purchase The Way Of Wyrd: Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer on Amazon.

A real gem of a book, The Way of Wyrd tells the story of a young man’s initiation into the Anglo-Saxon mystery tradition.  Based on historical sources, the book sparked a resurgence of interest in Wyrd and the Anglo-Saxon tradition – further information is available on Brian Bates’s site www.wayofwyrd.com.

The Spirit House was crowded with the entire population of the settlement, including children and even babes-in-arms, but no one moved or made a sound.  People sat still as carved icons, fire-shadows dancing on faces crammed three deep around the walls. Inside the Spirit Circle, bounded by ropes suspended from stakes pounded into the earth floor, only I sat next to the sorcerer, dry-mouthed, gripped by the imminent presence of the pagan powers of darkness.  (pg. 3) 

The Real Middle Earth, Brian Bates, 2002

Click here to purchase The Real Middle-Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages  on Amazon 

A description of a way of life in the Dark Ages rather than a novel.  Not specifically about the runes, The Real Middle Earth nevertheless provides a rich account of Northern cosmology, magickal and spiritual practices which is very readable and will stroke cords for anyone who has worked with the runes.

At full moon, the landscape of Middle-earth was cast in a silver glow, right to the distant horizon.  The brightness of the night, in a time before the urban glow could diminish it, must have imparted a sense of the enormous scale of the spiritual cosmos.  It stretched from the realm of the gods of Upperworld all the way through Middle-earth, and down among the spirits of the dead in the deep layers of the Lowerworld. (pg.175}

The Runes of Elfland, Brian Fround and Ari Berk, 2004

 Click here to buy The Runes of Elfland  on Amazon

This collaboration is absolutely beautiful and really good fun.  One of the Amazon reviewers I read described it as a ‘window onto a forgotten world’ and I would agree with this sentiment – it is not necessarily the most accurate or informative book if you are looking for traditional meanings and correspondences, but that isn’t to say that the text and pictures aren’t inspired by genuine kennings and intuitions.  A wonderful antidote to some of the dryer texts out there.

Here is vision and voice,
a pale hand raised in warning,
an empty seat in the high hall,
absence of the old wise ways,
blind eyes seen through the silent shroud.
Shall I speak more?
Grow silent?
Sink down?
Nothing frees us from fate. (pg. 48 – Nauthiz)