Some of the symbols treated in this article may be interpreted as pointing to Nazi ideology in certain contexts. Their use in the present article has nothing to do with it. Any such connotations are a recent development as compared to the long history of the most of these signs. Below both their original meaning in the Norse Viking culture and their use in Nazi Germany is treated, in order to demonstrate that the earlier, original tradition is much older.
It should be observed that the interest towards runology so characteristic for early 20th century German Nazi circles was heated by the works of Guido von List, occult runic revivalist. Von List created his own version of the Futhark known as Armanen runes, allegedly revealed to his “inner eye”. Later Karl Maria Willigut was responsible for their use during the Third Reich. Armanen Futhark derives from historic runes but does not belong to the Norse runelore.
Note that a few of these symbols are included into the list of symbols forbidden in Germany. However, Norse symbols are not hate symbols.
Tyr (Tiwaz, Teiwaz) Rune
Týr is the Norse god of war, portrayed as one-handed warrior. Týr’s symbol is sword. Once he played a very important role in the Germanic pantheon. Tuesday is actually Týr’s day (Anglo-Saxons called him Tiw). By the Viking Age Týr was somewhat overshadowed by Thor and Odin. The Icelandic rune poem associates the rune with the god of the same name:
God with one hand
and leavings of the wolf
and prince of temples.
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem explains the meaning of the rune tir using the imagery of a star that had the same name (probably the North Star):
Tiw is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes;
it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.
In Nazi Germany the Tyr rune was also known as Kampf-Rune (Battle rune) or Pfeil-Rune (Arrow rune) and was symbolic of leadership in battle. It was widely used by various young people organizations after World War I, and later by Hitlerjugend and SA. Worn on the upper left arm, it indicated the graduation from the SA-Reichsführerschule. It was also used as the badge of the SS Recruiting and Training Department, as well as the emblem of the Waffen-SS division “30 Januar”. The Tyr rune also marked the graves of SS men, thus replacing the Christian cross.
Sig Rune
Sig is the Armanen name of that rune. In the ancient Norse and Germanic runelore that rune always designated sun: its Elder Futhark reconstructed name is *sowilo, ’sun’, Younger Futhark name is sól, ’sun’, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc name is sigel, ’sun’. Guido von List changed the name to mean ‘victory’ (Sieg in German). The sequence of runes Sig and Tyr in his version of the Futhark together constitute Sigtýr, one of Odin’s names. In Nazi Germany Sig or Siegesrune (Rune of victory) was the most recognizable and popular symbol after Hakenkreuz (swastika). SS-runes insignia with two oblique Sig runes were created in 1933 by graphic designer Walter Heck. He got 2.50 Reichsmarks for the rights to this design. Nazi Siegesrune actually has nothing to do with the ancient sun symbolism of the *sowilo rune, the earliest Σ-forms of which substantially differ from later versions.
Hagall Rune
The star form of this rune is characteristic for the Younger Futhark, whereas its Elder Futhark form looks altogether different. Hagall means ‘hail’. The Icelandic rune poem describes it as follows:
Cold grain
and shower of sleet
and sickness of serpents.
In the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc this sign is called iar with the following explanation:
Iar is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;
it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness.
The meaning of the word iar is obscure. It is usually interpreted as ‘eel’ or ‘newt’. Note that the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc also has the rune hægl, ‘hail’ corresponding to the Elder Futhark *hagall and used for the same sound, but unlike the Younger Futhark and Armanen runes it does not have the star form.
The use of the Hagall rune in the design of the SS-Ehrenring (SS honor ring, also called deaths head ring) was explained by Himmler as follows: “The swastika and the Hagall-Rune represent our unshakable faith in the ultimate victory of our philosophy.” In Nazi Germany it was also used as an element of the SS wedding ceremony. In the Armanen rune row the name of this rune is Hagal.
Odal Rune
The Elder Futhark reconstructed name for this rune is *oþila, ‘inherited possession’. The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc name is eþel, ‘land, landed property’. It is not present either in the Younger Futhark or the Armanen rune row. The Anglo-Saxon rune poems explains its meaning as follows:
An estate is very dear to every man,
if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.
In Nazi Germany Odal rune was symbolic of the Blut und Boden (“Blood and Soil”) ideology, focusing on a concept of ethnicity based on descent and homeland. It was also the emblem of the Waffen-SS division “Prinz Eugen”, recruited from the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) community in Croatia. It was also used by Reichsbauernschaft and Hitlerjugend.
Leben Rune (Life Rune)
The Elder Futhark reconstructed name for this rune is *algiz, ‘protection’. It denoted the common Germanic sound *z, which corresponds to ON *-R in final position. In the Younger Futhark the same sign designated the sound m and was called maðr, ‘man’:
Delight of man
and augmentation of the earth
and adorner of ships.
In the Armanen rune row it is the 15th rune, which bears the name Man. This symbol was adopted by the SS Lebensborn Society and Ahnenerbe. In the SS documents and grave markers it showed the date of birth.
Toten Rune (Death Rune)
In the Younger Futhark this rune had the name ýr, ‘yew’:
Bent bow
and brittle iron
and giant of the arrow.
In the Third Reich it was understood as the turned over Life rune thus designating death. It showed the date of death in documents and on grave markers.
Eif Rune (Zeal Rune)
In the Third Reich it represented enthusiasm. The Eif rune was the early emblem of the SS adjutants assigned personally to Hitler. Origin unclear. Possibly a variation of the Elder Futhark *eihwaz rune.
Opfer Rune (Offering Rune)
In the Third Reich it represented self-sacrifice. Used by Stahlhelm war veterans’ association, as well as a badge commemorating the Nazis who perished during the 1923 Munich Putsch. Origin unclear. Possibly a variation of the Elder Futhark *eihwaz rune.
Ger Rune
In Nazi Germany it was a symbol of communal spirit and a variant sign of the Waffen-SS division “Nordland”. This symbol’s origin and its relation to the Anglo-Saxon ger rune remain unclear to me.
Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook)
Wolfsangel was a device to trap wolves. The symbol representing it was believed to have the magical power to ward off werewolves. The Wolfsangel sign does not belong to any runic tradition. In the 15th century it was adopted as an emblem of the German peasants’ revolt. Ever since it was regarded as symbolic of liberty and independence. In Nazi Germany it was an early emblem of NSDAP and later the emblem of the Waffen-SS division “Das Reich”. A squat version of the Wolfsangel was used as a badge of the Weer Afdeelingen, Dutch equivalent of the German SA.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Just a question, if paganism was that great, why did the real Vikings convert? For example, the Hauteville’s from southern Italy who were Normas, won the first Crusade. Dante, in his Divine Comedy, places Robert Guiscard in heaven with the great Christian warriors.
I don’t know if you mentioned this, not only are viking symbols not nazi symbols, modern Germans are not the same as Vikings, Saxons, or Franks. The Nazi’s made that up. THe germanic tribes were a whole bunch of groups. I always laugh when people say they are pure this or pure that. The Franks, which Charlemagne was, were a Germanic tribe which happened to subdue a bunch of other Germanic tribes.
They converted due to the fact that a lot of them preferred to live rather than be excecuted and destroyed by the missionaries… if the missionaries failed in one area.. they would come back with an army.. it wasnt that the vikings didnt like the idea of jesus its just the missionaries didnt want the vikings to worship god along side their old gods…
I don’t think that anyone is saying that paganism is particulary great but the Scandinavians certainly felt their Heathen culture was worth fighting for against the anti-culture of Christianity. I don’t understand your comment re: Nazis making Germans up or whatever. The Nazis were very aware of the origins of people and who were classed as Germanic which was why they admired the English so much and repeatedly sought to avoid a war with them. The 3rd Reich however was very much a Christian state. One of the 25 points of the Nazi state stated that Germany was a Christian state regardless of denomination. If the Nazis took any “paganism” on board it was more of the Sol Invictus Roman model of grandeur and authoritarianism rather than the self determinism and sufficiency of Northern Heathenism.
I have a few quick questions.My great grandmothers family were kettermans.At some point they adopted the wolfsangle rune as their “coat of arms”.Was this common practice among German familys?Also,If this is the case,where would I find family runes for the rest of my German family names such as Alt,Stumpf,Hahn,Custer,ect.Thank you for your time.
Robert
Well andi, my theory to conversion was that over the generations the reason for converting was forgotten. A man on the mercian border of the Danelaw would get baptised and go “Hey guys, I’m a christian now, so the rath of your… I mean our god will come down upon you if you burn down my hall and kill my family in a border dispute” to his christian neighbors while laughing with his fellow “christian” Danes. His great grandson however,through culture mixing, Normans etc is a real christian
By the way, it’s spelled “Christian” with a capital “C”.
The idea of missionaires sending in armies to convert the poor powerless Vikings who couldn’t fight back because they were a bunch of sissies is ludicrous. The Vikings terrorized England for hundreds of years, and their favorite targets were Chruches, because they were defenseless. Vikings were converted little by little over a period of time. Lief Ericson for instance, converted to Christianity, and his father Eric the rd disowned him. As Vikings began to settle in Christian territories (Such as Dublin and Normandy) they began to adopt the religion of their neighbors. William the Conqueror is a good example…he was basically a civilzed Christian Viking. When he conqueroed England, it was already Christian.
The missionaires had a shrewd stradgedy of converting the ruler of a realm, and then his subjects would usually convert to please the ruler. Of course, this didn’t always work, and on at least one occasion the people rebelled and killed the king for converting to Christianity. St. Wilberforce converted an entire village of Odin worshippers by chopping down a tree sacred to Thor. When the non-existent Thor didn’t destroy him with lightning bolts, the people realized what suckers they’d been all those years and converted en masse to Christianity. It’s easy to smash an idol and not be killed for it (unless an outraged Pagan sacrifices you in atonement) and prove the idol had no power.
Pagans converted also because Christianity had a better message. Women fared better under Christianity, despite whatever you read by Silver Ravenwolf, as did slaves. Christianity gave a birght future of an afterlife in Heaven, while Paganism seemed a bit murky on this. Neopagans generally believe in Reincarnation, but Pagans didn’t know about it since it was an Eastern idea. A few groups believed in the “Transmigration of Souls”, which meant the soul of one dead person leapt into the body of a living one. What if you wound up in the body of your enemy? A Pagan coffin unearhted on the Tiber mentioned how the grave was “earth and fire” and painted a gloomy picture of the afterlife. If this was what was typical belief of European Pagans, it’s also a good indicator of why Christianity won out.
Originally the Christian missionaries jobs was to simply convert 1 or 2 people per village, then these would spread the ‘good word’ from within… After all traditional Vikings put little to no value on the word of an outsider. They could only be converted from within.
Over many generations Christanity spread through the lands, to be fair, the chruch was actually a very good neighbour…. at least until they had a taste of real power.
Then we have the dark ages.
Trust me, they were not ‘nice’ to women and slaves… just look at how they were treated:
‘Woman healer (not uncommon, it was womens work at the time), she must be tested to see if shes a witch, a servant of the devil… lets burn her at the stake, after all its commonly known that witches don’t burn, so if she dies shes innoncent… and if that idea doesn’t go down well, lets tie rocks to her and drown her, if she floats shes a witch…’
Brings new meaning to the phrase ‘catch 22′ huh?
But im not one to throw stones… yes the vikings were a brutal bunch, they raped, pillaged and murdered… but then so did all their neighbours… that was life at the time, you were strong, or you were a victim. You can’t judge them on todays morals (hell people have less morals today anyway).
That aspect of viking life was more cultural than spiritual, in a purely spiritual sense there isn’t actually a huge difference between any faith the world over…
All faiths encourage their followers to be better people, offering heavenly rewards.
Peace and friendship are universal messages in every religion, the war murder and death comes not from the religions, but the people hiding behind them, using them as an excuse to commit acts of unthinkable inhumanity on their fellow man.
If you want to throw stones throw them at people, not faith.
Actually, the so-called “Dark Ages” weren’t as dark as people think. That’s a misnomer. Some good books on the subject are “How The Irish Saved Civilization” and “6 Modern Myths About Christianity and Western Civilization” by Philip Sampson The myth that women healers were condemned as witches began in the 19th century via Jules Michelet. The witch hunt era began in the Middle Ages, not the Dark Ages and prior to that, witchcraft was considered an offence about as equal to that of adultery, and witches were viewed as misguided, rather than evil. The idea of witches as evil had to be forced on society over a period of decades. The witch hut era was fueled by the desire for money more than anything. (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology R.H. Robbins). There’s really no connection at all to witches and Pagans…except in the imaginations of Wiccan writers. Many people romaticize what Viking religion was like, but there’s really no reason to think it was much different than the Pagan religions of their neighbours.
All religions aren’t the same, which is why Europeans ditched praying to trees and became Christians.
Wow, speaking of misguided….. I have to say all of you should read things orther than the internet. One and only one religion has killed more people in the name of their G than any other, and it wasn’t any of the pagans. There’s a national holiday dedicated to murder correuption and sin and people focus on ancient religions as issues? Anyway, people converted for many reasons. Some were forced, some did it out of rebelion, some because the word made sense to them. Believe it or not some were even bribed. This took generations to do. Bottom line all organized religions are corrupt at some point and divine at others. If you really want to be a good person follow the commandments, live life to the fullest, and keep an open mind. Ideas are the way not beliefs.
The paganism its great, was for money and Power. The pope offer money for conquer but one condition. Start to cut heads in towns then offer salvation with the Christ. Was very easy the conversion to a new god that people don’t believed. So what man is not a god born from a woman (that he said, women are created by satan to not allow man live in sanctity) that magic kings (people who practice magic are from satan) and pay tribute the new born with 3 gifts. the same gifts offer to the pagan gods in the same era? OMG o.O
DT, it’s ironic that you try to correct someone for not capitalizing the word “Christian”, yet your post is littered with spelling errors. Need I remind you that correcting one’s spelling, especially over something that perhaps only you feel is dear (such as capitalizaing christianity, which I will no longer do simply to thwart you), is the last refuge of a pseudo-intellectual?
Your history lesson there is flawed and filled with holes. It’s a shame that while you’re on the right track, you are spouting off inaccuracies. This is criminal because people come here looking to read into something, hoping to gain insight, and will be mislead by your half-truths and inaccuracies.
At best, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about and could use another history lesson (perhaps an unbiased, Westernized one) — and at worst, you’re intentionally ignorant.
Actually “Fidur”, all I see from you is sweeping generalizations but no specifics. It’s actually you who don’t know what you’re talking about. Pointing out “Net spelling errors is the mark of the lame, on the Internet, no one spells correctly anymore, and people who criticize other’s spelling on the internet is about like the loser who says “I’m a good driver” ala Sienfleid. Get a job as a proofreader, and you’ll have a field day. Chances are you’re yet another Neo-Nazi Cretin who thinks Aryans are superior. I suggest you read The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology, and you’ll see I’m right about witches (as already mentioned) and then decide. When you have the scholastic credentials of R.H. Robbins, then we’ll talk. Until then, bug off.
Hey guys, I`m a Norwegian pagan;
Anyway I figured I`d clarify some of this whole conversion part during the Norse ages, at least when it comes to Norway.
first, I`d like to state, that the Norse people were not vikings per say, a viking is someone who pillage land from the sea, while the Norse people mainly were traders and explorers, do keep in mind that I`m not stating that some of them weren`t “vikings” as one can only imagine it as a rather common “occupation/lifestyle” when one look at sources such as Snorre Sturlavsson`s writings (Kings saga).
And then regarding the whole conversion from the old beliefs to the new ones (in Norway)
the norse people picked up sevral things from their travels, trade, war etc; and they were quite “friendly” in regards to cultural differences (to my knowledge. When Christianity grew in Norway, the news of it did of course reach the ears of the Nordic people, and some even let themself be baptised yet kept their old beliefs, simply to have the oppertunity to continue trading (this was demanded by some christians) this resulted in the reigion more or less getting pushed little by little upon the people. Eventually however Norway gained kings that were Christian and tried to force this religion further upon their entire people, such as Olav Trygvasson, this was mostly done in a quite brutal manner, Trygvasson did not manage to succesfully make his people Christian, and had to give up this idea.
It wasn`t until Olav Haraldsson got the throne at about 1015 that Christianity truely got a hold in the Norwegian Kingdom, Olav forced his people into accepting the faith by giving them an option; Either you worship the “true” god or be executed / lose your body parts and be exiled from the kingdom; Olav also destroyed sevral pagan art works, places of worship and such, however this was not enough for his people to convert fully, and many parts of the old ways would survive, even to these modern days, for example “Christmas” which in Norwegian is called Jul, decending from Yule (a norse holliday). Later the people rebelled against Olav, and he lost his throne at about 1028, then his life at 1030 during the battle of Stikklestad against the “rebels”; upon Olav`s death things happened with his corpse, such as his blood supposedly restoring a blinde man`s vision, his hair and nails growing, and his body not decomposing, and alot of other “miracles” at 1031 Olav was declared a “Saint” and people would pray to him for help and guidance and recieve the aid they hoped for.
To sum it all up; The norse people had little choice but convert to christianity, as it was that or be dishonoured. Also one can speculate that the Christian faith seemed stronger to the Norwegian people due to the acomplishments and “miracles” regarding Olav Haraldsson.
However I would like to state once more; that Olav did not succeed entirely, as many traiditions and such lived onwards, and sevral of the norse customs remained the same, and simply changed in name and purpose.
I do hope this have explained the whole thing decently to you all, and that you actually bothered to read what I wrote, furthermore I apologize for any typoes I might have had.
Thank you for your time
Kire.
DT, just so it`s said.. Before Christianity came to the Nordic countries, men and women were counted as -equals- and it wasn`t until Christianity truely got a hold of the nordic countries women were how to put it… “less worth”.
Hey Fidur!
Westernized history lessons are the most biased. If you want to find out real information check out books from various souces, especially from Europe.
It’s just like the news, in US (western culture) we have news channels that are bias and from one station to the next the same story is told from opposite ends, the same happens in the history books, but we don’t get the other side. the BBC gives you the news and doesn’t tell what to think about it because the people are supposed to think for themselves.
Also I saw many spelling violations a lot worse than capitalization, I might even have a few, it’s an interwebs post… FYI: people that think for themselves don’t really care about your opinion though they will read it and consider it if you make a good point. Yes, what I said applies to my post too, and that makes this a waste of time. I got nothin’ better to do.
The (Tyr-rune) is my symbol!
And the game!!
This might be a bit late but, to add just a point to the conversation on the reason why the norse converted to christianity I read somewhere that after ragnarok when the forces of the aesir and vanir fought the final battle against the forces of destruction. The nine world were destroyed in the ensueing chaos and from the ashes of the last battle a new world was created (much like the creation of the giant ymir from fire and frost two opposites i guess it’de be like to opposites again colliding and creating life and a world) and two humans a man and a woman survivded ragnarok by hidding I believe in a tree’s trunk and these two humans were protected by one god (supposadly baldr since he died before ragnarok) and through him his father and fellow aesir were continually worshipped. So since christians worship one god and the norse worshiped a pantheon through one god the christians might of attempted to morph this gods identiy into christ. Again just an idea, I’m not trying to disprove anyonne else’s idea. If any of this is wrong go ahead and say so, so that noone mistakes this for the truth. sorry for spelling mistakes if any