Odin's Rune Song

Odin's Rune Song
I know myself hanging on the wind cold tree for nine icy nights.
Wounded by the spear, consecrated to Wodan
I consecrated to myself.
I was hanging on the mighty tree which conceals man
Where man grew out of its roots.

They offered me neither bread nor wine
So I bent down in search.
I recognized the Runes; wailing I grasped them.
Until I sank down from the tree.

Now I began to increase, to be wise,
To grow and to feel well.
From the word, word grew after word
And deed shaped to deeds with deeds.

Now I know the songs like no wise one knows
And none of the children of men.
And should these songs, o human child, be un-learnable to you for sheer endless time;
Grasp them as you get hold of them, use them as you hear of them.
Hail you if you retain them!

THE MAGICAL POEM
F A
I know the Songs that no wise woman knows
And none of the children of men.
The first Song is HELP, and help it will
Against sorrow, hurt, and any distress.

U R
A second I know; quite useful to the children of men
Who practice the healing hand:
It chases disease and all pain,
It cures hurts and all wounds.

T H O R N
A third Song I know: If urgency tells me
To tie the opponent with magic
Then I dull the steel of my foes
So that their swords will not cut anymore.

O S
A fourth Song I know: If an enemy puts
A tie of pliable limbs;
Then I speak the spell, the shackles break on the feet
And the fetters break on the hands.

R I T
This I know as a fifth: If in hostile flight
An arrow shoots into the crowd;
Not matter how it threatens, I block its force
By grasping it tightly with the look of my eyes.

K A
A sixth on is mine: Should a warrior hurt me
With the roots of soft wood;
This warrior who awakens the hate within me
Shall be struck before it gets me.

H A G A L
A seventh I know: If the hall blazes high in flames
Above all the people;
No matter how it burns, I still save them all.
The Magic I know to perform.

N O D
An eighth one is mine: quite useful to hear
For all the people in danger and need.
Where hate should arise between man and man
I settle it fast.

I S
A ninth one I know: I danger is out in the sea
To protect my dear ship
I conjure the wind on the billowing floods
An I sing into slumber the sea.

A R
A tenth one I know: When ill wishing spirits
Fly high in the air; I cause them to turn around
Back to their homes, deprived of their covers;
Back to their roots, bewildered their minds.

S I G
This I know as eleventh: Then I Lead
Into battle the friend, the beloved;
I sing it into his shield, so he will win in battle
And luck around him everywhere.

T Y R
A twelfth one I know: If I see the hanged man
On the tree, shaking in the wind
Then I scratch and I stain Runes
The warrior can talk and descends from the tree.

B A R
A thirteenth I name: If I wet the Son
With holy water
When he is facing the foes he cannot perish
And no blade can strike him into the dust.

L A F
A fourteenth I sing to all the assembled people
When I name the Divine names;
For nobody knows the characters of Albs
And of all Aesir as well as I do.

M A N
A fifteenth I count: That which Volkrast, the gnome
Sang by the gates of the day;
To strength for the Aesir, and to force for the Albs,
And to clear my own senses.

Y R
A sixteenth I know:
If from wise maiden I desire joy of love
Then I change the intent of the maiden
And I turn her feeling around.

E H
A seventeenth I know:
To join together two lives
In love through wise law;
Both are willing, and no one will lightly part after this.

G I B O R
An eighteenth I learned, but I would not let this
Know a just anyone else; for the best Everyone keeps for himself.
That which leads to the end of the songs.
The one only knows who is in my arms as my only lover.

Odin