Bookworm Speaks!- The Book of Runes by Francis Melville

Bookworm Speaks!

The Book of Runes

by Francis Melville

Acquired: Borders Books and Music

Series: N/A

Hardcover: 128 Pages

Publisher: Barron’s Educational Series

Language: English

Subject: Non-Fiction

*****

The Subject: Discover the history of the runes, the meaning of the runic alphabet, and the power of the secret symbols they contain. 

Learn how to make your own runestones and how to use them for divination. 

Harness the magic of the runes—make protective talismans, petition the help of the Norse gods and perform runic blessings. 

The Review:

This book has been in Bookworm’s collection since before the Bookworm was the Bookworm. When he first bought it, he was interested in Nordic Mythology, but he had yet to become aware of New Age philosophies, beyond a genre of music on iTunes. Further rereads of this book have revealed that this is in fact a guide to a modern interpretation of Nordic Divination by use of rune stones. 

Historians and cultural enthusiasts would most likely gravitate away from such a book and it is not hard to see why. Even way back when Bookworm purchased this book, he shied away from the latter parts of the text as the divination bits were uninteresting compared the history of the runic symbols. 

The books formatting is excellent. A combination of photographs, artwork from all eras, and color coded pages which ascribes to each of the particular runes elemental motif. That was also part of this book’s initial appeal. Bookworm was (and still is) a huge fan of anything ‘four elements’ related. 

While Bookworm is not a patron of astrological philosophies, they are interesting to study merely for the mythological aspects that are integrated into them. This book is meant to fall into such a category and thusly, while interesting, is probably not something that should be put of Nordic Culture term papers. Then again…perhaps it could work. 

It is clear that the author put a lot of time and effort into the research (and arrangement) of this book the historical aspects mentioned therein may be a bit flimsy. For example: In the second section of the book, the text attempts to convey the reasoning why Viking’s wore horns on their helmets. It is a known fact that horned viking helmets are a work of fiction. This book was written some years so it was possibly due to ignorance on the part of the author, but a more thorough research effort might have revealed the truth. 

The focus of this book is mythology and not so much history but these small details can add up and may cheapen the whole experience for the reader. 

Final Verdict: While some readers may not gravitate to the New Age philosophies propagated by the latter parts of this book, The Book of Runes is a fascinating read into the history and culture of Nordic peoples and an interesting examination of symbology and mythology. Not to mention, a little bit of crafting!

Bookworm never did get around to making his own set. Maybe Tomorrow! It seems like a fun project if nothing else. 

Four Runes out of Five

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