I see people have started suggesting
to each other _which_ Edred Thorsson
books they should be reading ;)
I don't know what good books in English
(most major works are in the Scandinavian
languages, and some in German) about runes
are available but it seems quite impossible
to me that they were written by Edred Thorsson.
I've just found my copy of "FUTHARK - A Handbook
of Rune Magic" and read a few pages. Let me quote:
"The I-rune ... does not represent matter, but rather
a concept of antimatter, which, when combined with the
energy flowing from Muspellsheimr, [sic] leads to the
formation of what we call "matter" (Midhgardhr).
... In many ways this mystery is the force of attraction,
gravity, inertia, entropy in the multiverse."
If you are reading texts like this you are certainly
not learning much about Old Norse or Germanic use of
runes. What the author seems to be doing is ransacking
physics and runic lore for words he can stuff into his
metaphysical system. What, pray tell, does gravity have
to do with entropy? What, pray tell, does either one
have to do with the I-rune?
Regards,
Haukur
P.S. 'Ransack' is an English borrowing from Old Norse.
In ON the verb is "rann-soekja"; literally "house-seek".