Light in the Dark

What does light mean, and what lies far from it? This trail follows sun, fire, a torch, a lamp and a bright hall through eleven entries from four collections: two runes, four tarot cards, three passages from the Hávamál and two places from the Yggdrasil map.

The entries do not agree about light. Some count the sun and fire among the dearest goods or treat them as a guide; in others fire threatens a hall, a spark will not catch or the light is only partial, and one hall stands far from the sun. The rune and card meanings are this site’s own readings. Hávamál stanzas are from Olive Bray’s 1908 translation. The Eddic places come from the Poetic Edda and Snorri as given on each page. The connections are editorial choices made for this site, not a claim that the old sources formed one system.