THE SPEECH OF THE HIGH ONE

I know I hung on that windswept tree,
Swung there for nine long nights,
Wounded by my own blade,
Bloodied for Odin,
Myself an offering to myself:
Bound to the tree
That no man knows
Whither the roots of it run.

None gave me bread,
None gave me drink.
Down to the deepest depths I peered
Until I spied the Runes.
With a roaring cry I seized them up,
Then dizzy and fainting, I fell.

Well-being I won
And wisdom too.
I grew and took joy in my growth:
From a word to a word
I was led to a word,
From a deed to another deed.

--The Poetic Edda (ca. A.D. 1200)


For those of you who are not knowledgable about this period and setting. It tells of a man, named Odin, The All Father, The God of Gods. How he wounded himself in strife, in order to attain understanding for humanity. By casting his Runes, during his final moments of hanging atop Yggdrasil, The World Tree he was given direction, and led into divinity.

The Oracle did guide him into his place, as she would any of you whom might pick up the Runes, and seek direction.

Penned by my hand on the 16th of Chronos, in the year 242 AF.