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The Runestone Saga is set in a Viking world after Ragnarok, the great war between the gods and the forces of chaos. The Midlands are a dangerous place, teeming with refugees from the nine worlds — demons, outlaws, ice wolves, jotun, and the dragur, the walking dead.
Map of the Midlands
Click the map for a printable pdf.
This gorgeous map made by cartographer Kevin Sheehan of manuscriptmaps.com shows three major islands, Eimyrja, Ithavol, and Muckelholm, and several smaller islands that make up the Midlands.
Viking ships
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The Sea Stallion from Glendalough at the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, DK.
Jarl Rikhard Karlsen uses a longship crewed my many men. |
A smaller ship at the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, DK.
Eiric Halvorsen uses a karvi crewed by two or three people, one in a pinch. The Wyrdspinners use a larger karvi with room for passengers and cargo. |
Runes
Runes are the letters in a set of runic alphabets used to write various Germanic languages before they were transcribed to modern the Latin alphabet. The earliest runic inscriptions were used from approximately 150 AD until about 700 AD in central Europe and 1100 AD in Northern Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes
Individual runes are sometimes used for divination, like Tarot cards, and given special meanings. https://runesecrets.com/
Here are some of the runes used by Reggin Eiklund.
| Name |
Image |
Meaning |
Function or Purpose |
| Algiz |
 |
Literally: elk |
Confers divine protection
Protection, safety, spirituality |
| Blodkyn |
 |
Blood kin |
Rune used for extracting power from others, especially through blood sacrifice
Created for Runestone Saga |
| Dagaz |
 |
Day or dawn. |
Hope and happiness
Awakening
Enlightenment |
| Eihwaz |
 |
Literal: Yew
Esoteric: Yggdrasil or Kundalini |
Strength,
endurance, longevity
Eternity
Immortality |
| Fehu |
 |
Literal: cattle
Phoneme: F.
Meaning: wealth |
Wealth, luck, new beginnings, prosperity
Energy, dynamic power |
| Hagalaz |
 |
Meaning (literal) hail
Destruction, chaos |
Severe weather
Catastrophe, crisis
Acceptance, surrender, opportunity
Disruption, change |
Ingwaz
or Yngvi |
 |
Older name for the god Freyr |
God of summer, of the sun and rain
Of fertility, virility, hard work and reward, prosperity
A deity of love, sexuality and fertility, representing masculine potency in particular. |
| Isa |
 |
Literal: ice
Stasis, stillness |
Concentration, will and focus |
| Kenaz |
 |
Rune of knowledge
Ken or knowledge |
Kenaz represents a torch, symbolizing the domesticated fire.
Brings light into the darkness, the light of the Knowledge. Kenaz is a rune of learning and teaching, |
| Leysa |
 |
Used to loosen the web of fate; dangerous and unpredictable. Can be used to raise the gods |
To loosen, untie, unfasten, unravel, untie, loosen; depart; purchase; redeem; tear; conceal a thing;
Created for Runestone Saga
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| Lykill |
 |
Key |
Opens locked doors, solves puzzles
Created for Runestone Saga |
| Naudhiz |
 |
Literally: Need-fire
Necessity |
Unfulfilled desire
Need, resistance, constraint, conflict, drama, effort, necessity, urgency, hard work, need-fire, life lessons, creative friction, distress, force of growth, the consequence of past action, short term pain for long term gain |
| Raidho |
 |
Meaning: ride, journey |
Rune for safe journeys, finding the right path, taking charge, being in control, initiative, adventure
Street-smarts, common sense |
| Sowilo |
 |
Meaning: sun |
Success, solace
Victory, guidance, mastery |
| Svefnthorn |
 |
Thorn of sleep |
‘Thorn of sleep; a Norse symbol that could put an adversary to sleep from which he wouldn’t awaken for a long time. |
| Thurisaz |
 |
Thor’s rune
Giant
Thorn
Giant, ogre, demon
Chaos |
Strong one, resistance
Destruction of enemies, curses binds and fetters
Awakening of the will to action
Breaking resistance of blockages in body, mind and spirit
Increased potency and prowess in romantic relationships
Danger, suffering |
| Uruz |
 |
Literal: aurochs |
Survival, endurance, physical health, stamina
Life force |
| Wyrd |
 |
Fate, destiny as woven by the norns |
Fate, destiny; rune is a criss-cross pattern; a cross-hatch symbol, like a net. As one of the lesser-known Nordic symbols, the Web of Wyrd is a symbol in Norse mythology that represents the interconnectedness of past, present and future. According to the myth, the Web of Wyrd was woven by the Norns/Nornir, the Shapers of Destiny in Norse mythology. |
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