What are the Runes of the Earth?

[Hellbinder]

Can someone tell me where in this entire book "runes of the earth" are mentioned, talked about, indicated, explained, or heck even brought up?

what does "Runes of the Earth" have at all to do with anything in this story?

[variol son]

As far as I can tell, the rune of the earth are the messages/stories/languages that Anele reads in the various rocks around the land.

And welcome to the Watch Hellbinder.

[Hellbinder]

aaah, That makes sense...

thank you..

I was looking in the book for like, literal "Runes" Like "Runes of power". etc..

You know like they need to save the land by finding the Runes of the earth, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Wurd etc

[Farm Ur-Ted]

Just finished reading the book this morning, and was wondering the same thing. I think that the above is correct, about Anele reading the history of the Land in the stone. But there was also mention near the end when Linden was washing her clothes that there were grass-stains that she couldn't remove from her pants: "They had become part of the fabric, indelible, and crypic as runes." (p466)

I think there's one other mention of the stains later in the book, but I can't remember where at the moment. I'm not positive, but I think these are the only times that the word "runes" is used in the book. It might be interesting to do a search on an e-version of the book. I don't know if the stains are important, or trivial, but the passage kind of stuck out for me.

Edit: I was looking around, and found a couple of old threads on the topic:
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5427
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6473

[Avatar]

Well, the stains have made an appearance before in the first Chrons...

And welcome to the Watch HellBinder and Farm Ur-Ted. Be welcome indeed.

--A

[callback]

In the first book, the stains acted pretty much as the rearing of the Ranyhyn did, as a silent acknowledgement by the Earth that, for good or ill, Thomas Covenant was the chosen champion of the Earth. Given the revelations at the horserite about the Ranyhyn supporting those they choose even if they seem doomed to fail, this may not be as optimistic as it sounds.

[Buckarama]

Well, using the internet and all it's wonders, I found out;



Runes - 1. Any of the characters in several alphabets used by ancient Germanic peoples from the 3rd to the 13th century.
2. A similar character in another alphabet, sometimes believed to have magic powers.
2. A poem or incantation of mysterious significance, especially a magic charm.

It also goes on to say,...

Old Norse, or Old English rn.]

Word History: Among early peoples writing was a serious thing, full of magical power. In its only reference to writing, the Iliad calls it “baneful signs.” The Germanic peoples used a runic alphabet as their form of writing, using it to identify combs or helmets, make calendars, encode secret messages, and mark funeral monuments. Runes were also employed in casting spells, as to gain a kiss from a sweetheart or to make an enemy's gut burst. In casting a spell the writing of the runes was accompanied by a mumbled or chanted prayer or curse, also called a rune, to make the magic work. These two meanings also appear in Old English rn, the ancestor of our word. The direct descendants of Old English rn are the archaic verb round, “whisper, talk in secret,” and the obsolete noun roun, “whispering, secret talk.” The use of the word to refer to inscribed runic characters apparently disappeared in the late 14th or early 15th century but was revived by Danish writers on Germanic antiquities, who adopted it from Old Norse toward the end of the 17th century. Appropriately enough, this sense of rune, which had faded away like a whisper, reappeared from the mists of the past.

I hate typing, thank goodness for copy and paste!

[iQuestor]

In the first book, the stains acted pretty much as the rearing of the Ranyhyn did, as a silent acknowledgement by the Earth that, for good or ill, Thomas Covenant was the chosen champion of the Earth.

I think the rearing was a pretty noisy acknowledgement, but otherwise I agree...