The Othala rune

Sound «О», image: inheritance, kin.

Meaning of the Othala rune

Ancestral land: inheritance, home, roots, what was handed down and is yours by right. Othala is family, property, tradition, the footing your people left you. Hold to your own. This is a rune of what already belongs to you, and the strength in it is old, tested and closer to hand than you remember.

Othala reversed

A break with the roots: a home lost, a quarrel with family, an inheritance that turned into a weight. You pulled away from your own and built nothing new in its place. Othala reversed asks which part of that old ground is still worth standing on before you let go of all of it.

Othala in a spread

If it comes up upright, read it by the meaning above. If it falls upside down, read the reversed meaning: the rune's force goes backwards or turns harmful. A single rune gives you the leaning, and for an answer with a thread through it you draw three: what is behind, what is now, what comes ahead.

Othala as a talisman

Othala guards home and kin, the rune of inheritance, roots and what is yours by right. As a talisman it draws the footing of your ancestors, a solid house and the wealth that builds from one generation to the next. As a charm it protects property, peace in the family and the tie to your roots. Hung at the threshold and handed down.

FAQ

Is the Othala rune a good sign or a bad one?

Runes do not split into good ones and bad ones. Othala speaks of inheritance, kin, and in a spread it hints at where the force is leaning. It is no final sentence, and a lot depends on which runes fall beside it.

What does the Othala rune mean reversed?

When Othala falls upside down its force turns around and either goes backwards or does harm. The reversed meaning is spelled out above.

Which aett does Othala belong to?

The aett of Tyr, one of the three groups of the Elder Futhark, eight runes each. The aett tells you which octave the rune sits in and which runes it neighbours.

The rune said its piece in short. The arcana tell it more slowly.

✦ The Major Arcana