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The Barbelith Elder Futhark library - Fehu

00:04 / 27.01.02

Rex, May and I were talking around the M.O.B. watercooler the other day about the Norse Runes, specifically the Elder Futhark.

I mentioned to Rex that I would love to see a thread similar to the Barbelith Tarot one that he started and he thought it was a great idea. So, to begin I will paraphrase from Rex's first Tarot post:

"The Barbelith Collective is an eclectic albeit genius group with vast amounts of knowledge.
I would like to post up- one per WEEK- a name of one of the Elder Futhark runes and on that thread we would place our iterpretations of that card (no matter how outrageous...)".

To keep things straight, let's indicate when we are listing a divinatory vs. a thaumaturgical definition as they may (or may not) be different.

So, in the same spirit of the Tarot thread, let's begin with the first Rune:

Fehu
(proto-germanic: fehu; Gothic: faihu; Old English: foeh; Old Norse: fe)

I'll try and get ahold of some graphic representations of the staves as well for those unfamiliar with the names.

In the meantime, this page has pretty good images.

[ 29-01-2002: Message edited by: Lothar Tuppan ]

Rune index

19:05 / 27.01.02

Energy harnessed. From that: fire, growth, self-power, machines and tools, functionality. Everything is under control. Nice and smooth.

An image of personal strength to build upwards and outwards. Stronger with others. Osmotic transformation of the outside world according to will: a slow (and safe) process. Connecting to the root for endurance.

04:50 / 28.01.02

Fehu's most apparent meaning to me(divinatory & thaumaturgical)is of "kinsmen's strife, gold, wealth, abundance" - It is a sense of contention, of chaos in entropic form, falling from pure desire/passion/greed/instinct. Well handled it is a sign of good portent - if it comes in a time of balance it probably indicates good fortune in material matters. any imbalance introduced at that point however, causes the whole structure to fall, heavily.

Easily remembered as a tall but unstable peak. (This is a rather unpleasant meaning compared to most other interpretations I've seen - but it more true to my experience with her)

-= Vainamoinen an 't Fionn =-

afternote: "Norse tradition seeks a balanced approach to Fehu" here

[ 28-01-2002: Message edited by: Vainamoinen ]

15:53 / 28.01.02

Fehu, like Aleph, means "cattle" and translates escotericly as "wealth". There is energy money, energy that lets you do or aquire things. It is energy that can translate to different forms, but whose value is always known.

Depending on context, it could mean wealth or possessions directly, or interactions regarding them such as buying, selling, stealing, investing, or otherwise working with wealth. Abstractly, it can represent your power and ability to acomplish or gain. It may represent a transformation of one thing you do not need into another of similar value which you do, as cattle might be traded for grain.

I also see the web of wyrd as applied to econony and the ways money ties us together as a society represented in this rune. Thus, debts, employers, and contracts may be the subject of this rune's appearance, or those who the querent has such a relationship with.

18:02 / 28.01.02

from the linked page:

Oddly enough, I memorized the Anglo-Saxon rune alphabet in high school with a friend of mine so we could pass notes in geometry class. But I never learned the magical half of it... tried, but it never stuck.
I do recall my first initial related to balance and opposites coming together, which I quite liked.

[ 28-01-2002: Message edited by: grant ]

23:15 / 28.01.02

cusm's post also ties in with something that is always present for me in Fehu which is the interrelated aspects of 'fertility' in all it's forms, not just monetarily.

The 'web' of life and the food chain are also present in this rune whether it be a financial 'human' chain of employers, debts, etc. or a more 'fertility' type of chain such as death - becoming compost - nourishing new life.

Cause and effect going back incredibly far creates our current abundance, or lack thereof.

Also, for healing, transmutation of illnesses into health abundance.

Vanaheim, the color of gold, and a feeling of the nearness of Giants are also present for me in Fehu.

Wrecks City-Zen

17:36 / 29.01.02

Isn't incredible that the first letter of most alphabets begin with a symbol meaning "cattle" or "cow"?

Why is that?

Um...I have much more to post.I'll be back with my notes shortly.I just wanted to throw that in there...

17:52 / 29.01.02

quote:Originally posted by The King Is Dead:
Isn't incredible that the first letter of most alphabets begin with a symbol meaning "cattle" or "cow"?

And we haven't even gotten to Uruz yet.

p.s. 'Temple of Moo' this is your cue.

[ 29-01-2002: Message edited by: Lothar Tuppan ]

18:23 / 29.01.02

Because Cows were really important back when the alphabets were being formulated.

18:28 / 29.01.02

I read [in] a novel that the Bantu people call the cow "the god with the moist nose."

But I guess that could also be PATricky's dog.

[ 29-01-2002: Message edited by: Persephone ]

09:39 / 30.01.02

It's always a good idea to go back to primary sources, even if they are in kennings:

Old Norse Rune Poem:
Fe
Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen;
the wolf lives in the forest.

Anglo Saxon Rune Poem:
Feoh
Wealth is a comfort to all men;
yet must every man bestow it freely,
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.

Icelandic Rune Poem
Wealth
Source of discord among kinsmen
and fire of the sea
and path of the serpent.

All of the poems refer to the double-edged sword that wealth can bring: happiness and strife.

For me Fehu is the key to the Rune alphabeth, it's the opening mark, that which talks of the beginnings, and what is initially important. It points the way to deeper things.

09:39 / 30.01.02

This site has a phonetic guide, a link to sound files for pronouncing each rune, and also links to another page with meanings.

Graphically, this rune looks like fire to me, which is also what that page says it sounds like phonetically.

I'm also curious if this site here is as good as it looks.

09:39 / 30.01.02

The phonetic guide there pretty closely corresponds to both Freya Aswynn's and Edred Thorsson's pronunciations (in 'Songs of Yggdrasil' and 'Rune Songs' respectively).

I could have saved a lot of money if I had known about that site (Freya's reading of the Havamal is worth the price of her CD though

).

The other site looks pretty good at a first glance. I at least agree with the author's statements about the main sources in the opening article. (hir slight reservations about Pennick's stuff mirrors my own)

09:39 / 30.01.02

quote:Originally posted by Wyrd:
It's always a good idea to go back to primary sources, even if they are in kennings:

Good advice. Thanks for posting the verses Wyrd.

Darkside of the Moo

20:16 / 30.01.02

My rune.It's all about me.

Moo

I can't wait for Uruz.The fiction suit rune...

( and the crowd says "HUH", and the cow says "MOO")

I can't wait a week...

Ground Zero

20:22 / 30.01.02

The staves reaching up towards the heavens- the bringing down of the spirit/power/ call it what you like.Compare this to the rune that replaced "F" in english for the first spot..."A" in which the power is received.

I guess we'll get to that.

Wrecks City-Zen

18:33 / 31.01.02

The big switch-a-roo...from cattle to Gods the divinity of the bovinity.

11:25 / 01.02.02

Take stock, do not undervalue what you have.

First image that came on Ingestion of Fehu, was that of a calf suckling from its mother.

Sustainable wealth is of importance, the lineage of cattle and family, reveal an intertwining legacy. family is of worth, it is a continued exertion of the self through blood. The cattle/livestock are also genetic lines of power/will exertion. They dictate a trade worth as well as a status held. Family and livestock equal heritage.

Money is not the same, it has no bodily secreations to bind it into the ecosytem and flow of nature. Be aware off this.

Others will be jealous of our power/will extention through family and livestock/material wealth. We will be jealous in return, creating staus judgements.

We (humans/animals) are born into a family/lineage. As humans we exert the will to create judgement on this, this is our blessing/curse.

What is importnat to you? What do you value?

I am sated, my belly, heart and mind full. This is what FEHU brings to me. Satisfaction in fulfillment, ingestion of selfworth and attainment of material needed to exert power/will.

I rediscover and put up/out my sacred items, I construct my sacred space. I realise I have so much already, that is not disposable and is long lasting.

I look now for assistance in extending my power/will, my intent pure. I have to face pride/own judgements, before asking others for material resources/money.

I am in a network, behind me and infront of me, as I gather livestock/material worth, I must be clear on what I value and give away all that is uneccessary.

I will be sick and empty, without what I truly need and by having things that are of no use/value.

FEHU is now in me, mating with my DNA.

Wrecks City-Zen

18:36 / 13.03.02

Funny...

One magic text I have associates this rune with the tower of the tarot. I always associated it with either the fool or the magus.Any thoughts as to why this association was made?

13:32 / 14.03.02

Tower = hubris, destruction brought by wealth & worldly accomplishment.

Wrecks City-Zen

18:03 / 14.03.02

Is there a relation between 'Fehu' and ' Audhumula' The divine bovine?

18:13 / 14.03.02

Freya Aswynn links Audhumula with Uruz, actually, and Fehu the primordial fires of Musphil, making the two a sort of yin and yang, Thurisaz being the conflict of where they meet.

18:45 / 14.03.02

Thorsson also links Uruz with Audhumla. Considering the linguistic connection between 'uruz' and 'auroch', this seems to be what the original Norse connection was.

Wrecks City-Zen

19:45 / 14.03.02

The cosmic cow...mother of the milky way...

The mother and savior of mankind. Humanity was placed into a block of salt which she licked and produced offspring from...

"The salt of the earth"
Hmmm....

02:31 / 29.12.04

Fehu is the rune of mobile wealth or energy. Regardless of the form this wealth takes, its power comes from its movement, the exchange of energy. Money is only worth the goods for which it may be exchanged; money unspent is only potentially powerful, and of no value in itself. Cattle are valuable because they may be bred, traded, milked, or killed and eaten; if you do nothing with them, they will merely eat and eventually die. Potential must be realized, energy must be utilized, wealth must not be hoarded. Make wise and judicious use of resources, without waste, but use them; do not allow them to languish untapped. A good unrecognized and unused is no good at all.

The associated kennings call to mind the legend of the Rhine treasure, curse of the Volsungs. Andvari's gold and the cursed ring cause strife among Otter's kinsmen, and when Fafnir hoards the treasure in his greed he is transformed into a dragon; holding the gold is of no benefit, and indeed becomes harmful.

Know what you have, and use what you have.