Meaning: A road, a ride
Symbolises: A wild hunt, Death,
Transformation, Travel
Mythology: Hel – The Goddess of
Death
Fylgja: Red rooster
Tree: Elder
Plant: Coltsfoot
Class: Trell
Old Norwegian Rune Rhyme:
Riding it is said worst for horses;
Regin forged the best sword
Hel is the goddess of death and begins
life half alive and half dead. She never
leaves the land of lost souls except to lead
the wild hunt with Odin. Even the wild hunt
can be seen as the meeting point between the
world of the living and the world of the
dead. Hel is always associated with death,
or a state of non living. Rei can be seen as
the counterpoint to As. Odin knows all
things and sees all that happens in the nine
worlds. He rules the hall, Valhalla, where
the fallen heroes come for their reward. Hel
on the other hand rules the underworld where
there is always darkness and she takes in
those who have achieved little in life and
can make no claim of heroism. As suggests a
sensible journey, Rei suggests the hard
journey over trackless wastes where horses
break down with exhaustion and the rider
does not even notice. For As the sword may
be the best but if handled wrongly or if it
breaks will bring disaster, as did the sword
forged by Regin in the Volsung saga. This
rune suggests a difficult and fruitless
journey, or a situation a long way from
where it should be. It also suggests the
wrong course and bad, misguided, decisions.
It also suggest that the journey is still
important, if the journey is avoided just
because there may be a problem then nothing
can be gained. Every thing we gain must be
done so at a proportionate risk for it to be
worth anything. |
