Tag Archives: Jorge Luis Borges

Twist

The answer to this stanza riddle is the word eolhx, meaning unclear. We know this is the name of the rune because this word appears in the only copy we have of the Rune Poem, printed in 1705… More

Battle

… More

Twigs for Divination

䷼ Hexagram 61

Name: Zhong Fu. Innermost Sincerity, Inner Truth, Inward Confidence

Image: An arrow hits the target dead center, passes right through. The target doesn’t wobble.… More

Rune Casting: Ger

You are coming out of it. It’s been a long time coming. What you’ve been missing, if you have been missing out, will return soon enough. This will be a rebirth of new life.… More

ᛄ

Ger is a little small. Look at it so teeny: ᛄ. You might not be able to see. It’s bigger now, it grew over time, but the poor thing was only half sized once. Sometimes Ger is carved … More

X≠Y≠Z: Y

Life is about to change for Y. The herd has been dwindling, with Z already exiled in wretchedness. X is on edge, chin elevated, ears pinned back, and has decided that Y’s days in… More

Life and Death

The Rune Poem stanzas Wealth and Human have so much in common they ought to be a matched set, except they already have their own partners, The Grave, and Need. Here are Wealth and Human… More

How to Hold it Together

You look happy on the outside but I can still see you coming apart. It’s your whole vibe: you’ve got no zip, zero, nada, and look at you. Loved by your family, yes some of them… More

L is for Letters for Titles

What do you do?

I am a writer.

What are you writing?

A blank period of time. Wilderness. I don’t even know. Say something. It’s too long to say. Damnit say something you’re… More

H is for Hægl

Good lord, you call me a god! O my dear,

I’ve a secret to tell you, it’s that I’m not here.

… More

X≠Y≠Z: No Z

X: Z left.

Y: It was your fault. You did this. I mean, I support you and whatever, but Z left because of you.

X: Because of Z. Z left, Z left us, Z abandoned us and why? We have such a blissful

… More

Œ is for Œdipean Riddle

You live in the house of two mothers immersed:

One births the other and the other births the first.

… More

Alphybettyformed Verbage
A is always for apple. B is for a lot of stuff. Ball, bear, boat, banana, so many B things. Very early we learn from the one to the infinite is but a step.

The Old English Rune Poem is an alphabet book. It looks like an alphabet book, but like a modern alphabet book there’s infinitely more to it, if you look close. Every stanza of the poem describes a letter, a rune. In Old English the word rune means secret. The secret is these letters weren’t just for writing. In secret, when nobody was looking, people could carve the runes into bits of wood and cast lots with them. Find out their fates. Answer a few questions. Solve some problems. They could do this because each stanza of the Rune Poem, gives a little bit of wisdom, a little picture of life, sometimes a warning. Always in the form of a riddle. The Rune Poem is a collection of riddles that could divine the future.

This poem has another secret hidden in its folds that fascinates me. There’s a riddle in this collection of alphabet riddles, deep in its structure. Take the letters, cut them apart from each other, carve them into bits of wood if that helps you, and line them up in a row. Now fold your line in half so number 1 is next to 29, 2 next to 28, etc. Make the pairs and read them together. They match each other. They sing duets about light, renewal, a song of home and exile. A song of the water cycle. A beautiful weapon is one thing but a thorn can really hurt you. Some things are dependable. Everything is temporary. The runes sing these things to themselves in the mirror, duet by duet, until you get to the clue, the key to the secret, number 15 in the middle -- Helix, standing alone all twisted, singing we should twine this poem aound itself and look at it again.

-- Vern Tonkin

© 2022

Tag Archives: Jorge Luis Borges

Twist

Battle

Twigs for Divination

Rune Casting: Ger

ᛄ

X≠Y≠Z: Y

Life and Death

How to Hold it Together

L is for Letters for Titles

H is for Hægl

X≠Y≠Z: No Z

Œ is for Œdipean Riddle

Rune Casting: Gifu

Translating Ac

How to Talk to God

How to Look Joyful

Axaxaxas mlö

Rune Casting: Ur

How to Move a Cow