Lessons - Tests

Lesson 8 - Tests and Reading

Comprehension Test

1. What must any true master of the runes achieve?
2. Why did certain things get chosen to be used as rune glyphs?
3. Which rune should anyone who has faced bankruptcy or experienced a period of poverty in their lives be able to grasp the meaning of?
4. Name something which it is believed is depicted by a rune glyph
5. Name a rune relating to travel or transport?
6. Name a rune suggesting natural destructive powers
7. Name a rune relating to fertility
8. Name a rune of things slowing down or stopping?
9. Name a rune of protection
10. Name a rune relating to home, family, clan and nation

Further Exercises

Your one task for this lesson is to start learning the rune meanings. However, don't panic. We know this is not something you will accomplish in a week or two. The course is designed to give you time and space to focus on this learning activity. The next eight lessons will not require you to have a full grasp of the rune meanings, though you will undoubtedly get more out of them if you do. We recognize that you need time and opportunity to learn at your own pace.

However considerable hard work is still required from you. You will never successfully complete this course if you do not achieve an understanding of the rune meanings. The course does not stop during this period either and you will be required to continue learning other things at the same time. You will therefore require dedication and focus to make the best of this opportunity. It is not a task you can afford to neglect. We would suggest you focus on an Aett at a time, starting with Frey's Aett (we will be using this approach in future exercises to assist you). This gives you a manageable number of runes to learn and you can also study them as four pairs of runes.

Reading

In Bernard King's Way of the Runes, Chapter 6: "Using the Runes for Divination", read from page 116 "The Meaning of the Runes" to the end of the chapter.

Compare the meanings which King gives for the runes to those in this lesson. You will see that they are broadly compatible but there are differences. It is not possible to produce a definitive list of rune meanings. We have the Rune Poems to guide us to how they were regarded historically but this is the beginning. As we saw in Lesson 4 Odin found the runes in a moment of self-realization and part of their secret is that they come from within. Every reader will have different emphases and find slightly different things in the runes. As you start to open yourself up to the runes you will find new levels of meaning developing

You should now look at some other lists of rune meanings given on web pages to see how they vary. Some suggestions are:
The Viking Oracle
Griminir's Runes
Reading the Runes
Elfbright
Runes by Shadowchaser
Runes by Dave
Rune Meanings in Divination and Fortune Telling
Know How to Read Them

But at this stage the more you look at the better. Remember to read critically always and not take things at face value.

At this stage you should also go back and review the previous 7 Lessons since as you now have some idea of the rune names and meanings you should be able to find new things within these lessons. There will be an examination later in the course to help you gauge your understanding of the contents of these lessons.

You have completed the exercises. Select the following link for the answers
Lesson 8 - Test Answers

Please ensure you mark these exercises before moving on to the next lesson and do not take more than one Lesson a week.

If you have any questions, comments or difficulties with the exercises and you have formally registered with the Rune School please email coursehelp@runeschool.org quoting your student ID number.