Continuing with my thoughts on some of the symbols that are important to Odinists.
********The Othala Rune*********
'Estate is very dear to every man,
if he can enjoy what is right and according to custom
in his dwelling, most often in prosperity.'
~ Old English Rune Poem
In the Elder Futhark the Othala rune represents the 'O' sound. Most of the Germanic tribes from Scandinavia, through Northern Europe to the British Isles and Iceland used the rune system before Christianity bought the alphabet that we use today.
Our ancestors placed great importance upon what they left for their children. In life, they had to maintain or preferably build upon not only their honour, family standing in the community but also their wealth, material possessions and estates to hand down to their descendants. For those with noble aspirations they also wanted their fame and glory for their deeds to live on after they died so their family name meant something to their people.
One word comes to mind - heritage, though Othala means much more. In the Norwegian Rune poems and the Old English rune poems one might translate Othala as the word 'estate' referring to property and holdings. It was often seen alongside the Fehu Rune which refers to wealth. Not wealth as in money or numbers on a bank account but something real, that you can hold in your hand. Something substantial like cattle or a house.
To an Odinist, living a life where one walks a path in balance with nature, the Gods and the lessons they teach us is part of our honour. If our people continue to build upon their honour with every generation who knows how far we might evolve? Maybe, if we dare to imagine it, we might even walk among the Gods themselves.
To offer further evidence to this I would refer to the later Old English Rune poems at the start of the christian times. They used the Othala Rune as a symbol that said you were taking the right path to 'heaven' by leaving an estate and good name etc when you died. This was obviously a left over from Odinist times.
With this in mind, you can see how the Othala rune might be a point of focus for our lives as no one wants to be the generation that fails, causing our people to start all over again There are no limits on how far we can evolve, not even the stars in the night sky.
I find the othala Rune to be useful when meditating on how I might walk the path that the Gods want us to walk. It's not easy in the modern world, that's for sure. To conclude when you see the othala rune and think of simple one word translations like 'heritage' or 'estate' it's not just what is being handed down from the past but IMPORTANTLY what you are doing in your life right now to hand down to future generations.
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