Rune Root is a small multi-medium home studio located in Richmond, VA. We craft tools for ritual and reflection. Some of our offerings include small-batch candles, ceramics, adornments, botanically dyed linens, and leathercraft. Rune Root was born out of a passion to create sacred spaces in which to reflect, integrate, and heal. Our founder, Mac, was inspired by ancient symbols known as runes. Runes are not only the letters in an ancient language but powerful tools of reflection.

In Norse myth at the center of everything lies the Yggdrasil, the world tree. The Yggdrasil grows from a pool known as the The Well of Urd which holds the Norns, beings who weave the fate of all. To do this the the three sisters carve runes in the Yggdrasil's trunk sending their intentions through the tree and shaping everything in the nine worlds. The god Odin was relentless in his pursuit of knowledge. Odin envied the Norns. He committed himself to understanding the runes. But these symbols would not reveal themselves to anyone who couldn't prove they were worthy of possessing such insights so Odin hung himself from a branch of the Yggdrasil, impaling himself with his speer and peering into the Well of Wyrd. He stayed like this for nine days and nights when at the end of the ninth night the runes revealed themselves. Odin recalls in Hávamál (an Old Norse Poem that is part of the Poetic Edda):

Then I was fertilized and became wise;

I truly grew and thrived.

From a word to a word I was led to a word,

From a work to a work I was led to a work.

For Odin this was a death and rebirth. He sacrified a part of himself, to himself, in pursuit of his will. He allowed nothing, not even death, to stop him. Once Odin was able to wield the runes he beame one of the most powerful and influential of all the gods [1] .

References:

[1] The Poetic Edda. Hávamál, stanzas 138-163.