Bindrunes: Don't Mess Around!

Original information provided by Dr. Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen (Nordic Animism).

Full credit of this information goes to him.

A MISUNDERSTOOD SYMBOL.

Before launching this observation, let me first make it clear that from a scholarly perspective, the meaning of a symbol can not be detached from the way people engage it. If people today interpret this symbol as “give luck”, then that does indeed hold some validity as a consequence of that contemporary engagement of the symbol. In the following however, I’ll share a different, more plausible (I believe) and more gloomy interpretation of the Iron age meaning of the symbol.

The symbol is read as "GIBU AUJA", supposedly meaning “give luck”. This merchandize friendly interpretation means that the symbol intensively commercialized, by hippies, tattooists, jewelry makers, Viking nostalgics etc. But let us take a moment to consider other possible Iron Age meanings associated with the symbol.

The words “gibu auja” only appear in one place in the Iron age context. It is on a socalled bracteate amulet from the 5th century Denmark. The meaning of the word “auja” is uncertain and the symbol does not appear on the bracteate. The symbol appears on another bracteate found in Southern England. Since the words appear on a bracteate, have ᚷ ᚨ (G and A) as first letters then the logic is that the G-A- bindrune on another bracteate could in theory represent those two words. I guess it could also be any other words beginning on G and A. The bottom line is that even if we assume that "auja" actually can be translated as luck, then well…. though “Gibu Auja” does appear on a bracteate, the association to a different bracteate that has the symbol still appears a somewhat speculative leap of imagination.

What may be a better interpretation of the symbol? Well the symbol also occurs on a different object, a spearshaft from a sacrificial bog in the Danish island Funen. The Proto-Nordic elder futhark inscription on the Kragehul spear is super difficult, but part of it goes something along these lines

“I - am called Muha, the eril of Asugisal - [I] power-sacralize: ᚷ+ᚨ, ᚷ+ᚨ, ᚷ+ᚨ (the symbol three times)

As part of the rune carvers formula, this dude first states his cool name, that he is a rune master of an Asugisal, which may be a lord. And as such he pronounces his “power-sacralizing”, the effective part of this formular is this symbol repeated three times. Why would anybody write this symbol on a spear as the religiously effective part of what is usually called a rune carvers formula?

Here it comes. Spears sacralized stuff for Odin who is also named The Spear God. Throwing a spear over a battle, sticking it in the temple ground (Ribe), placing it over a body in a grave (Birka) or spear marking a body as a sacralization for Odin (Ynglinga Saga). In later sources Odin was associated with the letter ᚨ whose name áss or earlier *ansuz means “a god”. The name of the letter ᚷ is the unattested proto-germanic word *geƀō or gyfu in Old English. This means “gift”, so, the spear has a sacralization that goes: “gift-god - gift-god - gift-god”, and it is found together with sacrificed weapons. It doesn't seem so difficult to figure out. The symbol probably sacralizes something as a gift for an early form of the god Odin or a similar battle related deity.

The Kragehul spear was likely either hurled at those enemies who won the battle and sacrificed the spear with the rest of the weapons in the bog, or it was used to sacralize the sacrifice by the religious expert who made the sacrifice on be half of the group that won the battle.

In both cases the reading of the symbol is the same. It sacralizes a battle sacrifice for Odin, either in the form of the sacrifice made in the bog, or as a sacralized battlefield like we know it from a narrative in Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa, where the leader of an army emulates a myth of Odin throwing his spear at the enemy with the formula: “Odin owns you all!”

Still similar symbols do occur on the Undley bracteate and on the Rök stone. So, it is possible that sacralizing something as a battle sacrifice for Odin is not the only Iron Age reading of the symbol. At the end of the day “Give – God” could have many meanings. Perhaps it could also be a prayer and there are names meaning “gift-from-god” in many languages.

However, when you are prowling the hippie market for something cool, runic and Nordic, I would still encourage you to just stop and think for a moment before you have tattooed on your body, a symbol that has as one of it’s primary meanings, sacralizing a battle sacrifice to Odin.