Скачать или смотреть Runic Amulets After Christianization: Healing & Protective Inscriptions (Modern Erilar Episode 39)

Explore the fascinating evolution of runic amulets after the Christianization of Scandinavia. In this episode, the Modern Erilar delves into how rune writers adapted pre-Christian magical practices to a Christianized world, creating powerful charms, protective amulets, and healing inscriptions that blend old and new traditions.

We examine the mid-to-late Viking Age and medieval amulets, showing how their form, material, and inscriptions evolved. Lead amulets became common, and mass-produced inscriptions hint at the increasing popularity of standardized magical formulas. Despite Christian influence, rune writers continued to use charm operations, symbolic sequences, and naming expressions, sometimes combining Thor, local gods, or saints to protect, heal, or empower the wearer.

Learn about remarkable examples like the Södra Kvinneby amulet, which mixes Thor’s blessings with magical charm sequences, and later Christianized examples invoking Jesus, Mary, and saints to heal disease or protect against harm. Discover enduring magical formulas, such as the Tistel-Mistle-Kistel and Horn-Thorn-Corn sequences, which show continuity of folk magic within a Christian framework.

This episode highlights how runes functioned as magical tools, evolving from pre-Christian protective charms to Christianized amulets, and how encrypted or non-lexical rune sequences were used for protection, healing, and even curses.

Whether you are a historical runologist, a practitioner of rune magic, or a Viking Age enthusiast, this episode provides insight into the intersection of magic, religion, and material culture. See how runes were used to change the world, from controlling disease and misfortune to protecting newborns and empowering the living and deceased alike.

Join us as we trace the magical journey of runic amulets from pre-Christian tradition to medieval Christian innovation, revealing a continuity of supernatural practice across centuries.

2:58 Heathen mindset and approach to disease and its cures
4:52 Introducing Christian elements to cure
5:30 Fully Christian invocations
6:38 Curing by cutting runes
8:50 Tistel/mistel/kistel becomes horn/thorn/corn as protective symbolism evolved
13:58 Further reading

I use the Gullhornet and Gullskoen (https://folk.uib.no/hnooh/runefont/) runic fonts made by Odd Einar Haugen of the Universitet i Bergen, which are free to download (https://folk.uib.no/hnooh/runefont/).

Unfortunately, the British Library has been recovering from a cyberattack that has made their digitized manuscript collection inaccessible. I’ll try to add in links to the beautiful manuscripts to which I’ve previously had access when they are back online!