An older male "reads" the position of sticks to divine the future, while others look on. The sticks are known as runes.
This illustration dates to 1905. It shows an older male "reading" the position of sticks to divine the future, while another man, woman, and child look on. The sticks are known as runes and the practice was to cast them on a white cloth to keep them clean and also to define the boundaries of the casting. The older man is the rune caster and the Norse did not believe that he foretold the future exactly but looked to figure out the cause and effect and to offer a likely outcome. By definition, runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet.
Size: 3548px × 2095px
Photo credit: © Ivy Close Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: alphabet, ancient, deities, divination, foretelling, future, german, germanic, legend, myth, mythology, norse, reading, religion, runes, saga, scandinavia, scandinavian, seer, soothsayer
