Step 2 of 12 · Spells, Songs and Runes
Runes made by the Powers
Why this step
Stanzas 141 and 142 tell the hearer to seek hidden runes and interpreted signs, fashioned by the high Powers. Then comes a list of who graved runes for whom: Odin for the gods, Daïn for the elves, Dvalin for the dwarfs, All-wise for the Jötuns, and the speaker himself, last, for the sons of men. The entry reads this today as placing the runes at the root of every people’s knowledge. It is the poem’s own account, told by someone who claims a share in the making.
The text, stanzas 141–142
141.
Hidden Runes shalt thou seek and interpreted signs,
many symbols of might and power,
by the great Singer painted, by the high Powers fashioned,
graved by the Utterer of gods.
142.
For gods graved Odin, for elves graved Daïn,
Dvalin the Dallier for dwarfs,
All-wise for Jötuns, and I, of myself,
graved some for the sons of men.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 141–142 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
From the Lorebook
You are told to seek hidden runes and interpreted signs, fashioned by the high Powers. Odin graved runes for the gods, Daïn for the elves, Dvalin for the dwarfs, All-wise for the Jötuns, and the speaker some for men.