Runes · Týr’s ætt
Ehwaz
Sound: e · The name: horse
- trust
- partnership
- steady progress
What the old rune poems say
Only the Old English poem has this rune. The horse, it says, is ‘a joy to princes’ in the presence of warriors, a steed in the pride of its hoofs, and ‘ever a source of comfort to the restless’.
How it is read today
Modern rune readers read Ehwaz as the rune of horse and rider, two who move well together. The modern books speak of trust, of partnership and of steady progress, and of the comfort the old poem offers the restless. This is a modern reading.
Reversed
Modern books read it reversed as restlessness, or a partnership out of step. That is a modern device.
As your rune of the day
Work with someone today at a pace that suits you both.
If you feel restless, do something steady alongside someone you trust.
Reading runes as an oracle is modern, from Guido von List (1908) and Ralph Blum (1982); the people who carved them, Vikings included, used them for writing, names and charm words.