Meditations on YR: Confronting One's Valkyrie
Completed on 2 May 2021, this essay exemplifies a key concept: one should avoid dogma and, even when following in the footsteps of the masters who have gone before, seek a personal life-affirming relationship with, and understanding of, the runes. Failing to grasp this fine point certainly could jeopardize progress and block the path for the aspiring rune master. ********* I begin my meditations on the sixteenth rune, YR, by considering Hávamál strophe 161. Karl Hans Welz translates the strophe as follows: A sixteenth I know, To experience the pulse of love with you; I sing this, I am aware of the Goddess, And her feelings engulf me. [1] Here Welz’s translation varies significantly from the original Old Norse (ON). An alternative literal translation is more useful for my analysis: Þat kann ek it sextánda: ef ek vil ins svinna mans hafa geð allt ok gaman, hugi ek hverfi hvítarmri konu, ok sný ek hennar öllum sefa. A sixteenth I know, | if I seek delight To win from a m...