Why "Runes Of The Earth"?

[Rukh]

I'm sure that someone has asked this question before, but does anyone know why SRD used the word Runes in the title. It does not seem to match up, unless perhaps we are being figurative and speaking of the secrets of the Earth.
Just an idle thought; I recall that one of the main differences with the new Staff of Law was that it does not have runes carved into it. Linden felt this was because it didn't need it, but what if she were wrong...?

[Variol Farseer]

I don't know myself, but I imagine it is what you might call a semi-literal usage of the word. The secrets contained in the Earth are not 'runes' in the sense of letters, but Anele is able to read them nonetheless; and what he reads there is a major engine of the plot. That seems runelike enough to go on with, I suppose.

[lurch]

...Do I have to do this? Yes, yes I do.
..Rukh,,you ask why? I can only suggest a better question would be, How is it?
..." Runes of the Earth" is Classic Donaldson. How so one may wonder.
At one level, the Title begs the reader to crack open the Webster Collegate Dictionary and solve the mystery. But thats just it. The word Runes has at least 3 or 4 definitions sinking to basic ,,mysterious, ancient long forgotten mysterious " communication". Yes, all refered to the ancient Nordic tribes,,but lost in understanding over the millennia. So,,in classic Donaldson style,,the definitions still leave the question partially unresolved. ..and don't forget,,This Is Before One Has Even Began To Read The Tale. We're talking about just the Title!
...So, now ,,we're at the Level of Craftsmanship , the sophistication of the authors use of words if you will. SRD does refer to it in more than a few Gradual Interview answers. Its not only in what you are telling but how you tell it, has been his refrain. For myself,,how he tells it, is just as much as part of the story,,it reinforces, it parameters,,it guides, it is just as much as the " setting" as are the mountains, and valleys and rivers of the Land. Notice, that arcane language doesn't start until into the Land.
...And before you've even read page 1,,hopefully hes got you diving into a dictionary. Thats a good thing. At one level its about the Mystery ,,the ancient forgotten communication of the bedrock,,at another level, its about, the author's use of Language. In both cases..there isn't a definitive answer provided, just the mystery extended..He mite be talking about the unknowns all of us haven't faced yet..........Classic SRD....
...Or...possibly the worse pun ever...OH!.I thought he was refering to the Demondim...If the Earth was to have the runes,,it would definetly be in the form of the Demondim. This may have already been used, so its proper for me to repeat it,,because like its key word,,its never refered to in the singular, always in the plural......MEL

[Fist and Faith]

I bumped a couple of threads, but I'll put this passage from Runes here:

For all of her scrubbing, however, she could not remove the grass stains from her pants. They had become part of the fabric, indelible, and cryptic as runes.

[dlbpharmd]

...Do I have to do this? Yes, yes I do.
..Rukh,,you ask why? I can only suggest a better question would be, How is it?
..." Runes of the Earth" is Classic Donaldson. How so one may wonder.
At one level, the Title begs the reader to crack open the Webster Collegate Dictionary and solve the mystery. But thats just it. The word Runes has at least 3 or 4 definitions sinking to basic ,,mysterious, ancient long forgotten mysterious " communication". Yes, all refered to the ancient Nordic tribes,,but lost in understanding over the millennia. So,,in classic Donaldson style,,the definitions still leave the question partially unresolved. ..and don't forget,,This Is Before One Has Even Began To Read The Tale. We're talking about just the Title!
...So, now ,,we're at the Level of Craftsmanship , the sophistication of the authors use of words if you will. SRD does refer to it in more than a few Gradual Interview answers. Its not only in what you are telling but how you tell it, has been his refrain. For myself,,how he tells it, is just as much as part of the story,,it reinforces, it parameters,,it guides, it is just as much as the " setting" as are the mountains, and valleys and rivers of the Land. Notice, that arcane language doesn't start until into the Land.
...And before you've even read page 1,,hopefully hes got you diving into a dictionary. Thats a good thing. At one level its about the Mystery ,,the ancient forgotten communication of the bedrock,,at another level, its about, the author's use of Language. In both cases..there isn't a definitive answer provided, just the mystery extended..He mite be talking about the unknowns all of us haven't faced yet..........Classic SRD....
...Or...possibly the worse pun ever...OH!.I thought he was refering to the Demondim...If the Earth was to have the runes,,it would definetly be in the form of the Demondim. This may have already been used, so its proper for me to repeat it,,because like its key word,,its never refered to in the singular, always in the plural......MEL

Lurch, someday I'm going to break into your house, pop the period and comma buttons off of your keyboard and take a blow torch to them.

[Fist and Faith]

Unfortunately, the trial will go something like this:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on April 6, 2005, at 6:00 am, EST, dlb clearly stated his intentions of breaking and entering, as well as destruction of private property. Your duty is clear."

[dlbpharmd]

"Not Guilty by reason of insanity!"

[Avatar]

Caused by the excessive exposure to superfluous punctuation?

Come on guys, at least he's been kind enough to indicate paragraph breaks.

--Avatar

[wayfriend]

Lurch, someday I'm going to break into your house, pop the period and comma buttons off of your keyboard and take a blow torch to them.

... And then dlbpharmd told his friend, who happened to be good with software, and so Lurch translation software was invented.

Let me run this last response through the deMELinizer.
*whir* //click// ...buzz...

Rukh,

I feel quite compelled to reply.

If I understand your question, you're wondering why Donaldson chose the word 'Runes' in his title. To answer, we must first understand what a 'rune' is. The WCD provides 4 definitions; the third one seems to bear on our//D*#^S//...

Darn thing stopped working ... Looks like the input exceeded the design specifications. I will be back with version 1.1 soon.

( to Lurch)

[Usivius]

Actually the significance of the title is found in SRD's answer to a GI question of the same type. He concurs with the questioning party that it has to do with Anele's ability to read the stories of the earth through the rock. It plays all through the story and Anele's role is very important.
That's just the quickest of breif explanations on my part (time to go home...)

[wayfriend]

My question is regarding the title: Does it refer to what Anele is grasping from the Stone?

You're right about Anele and the title. In the text, there is a deliberate confusion about Anele's perception of the knowledge contained within the bones of the Earth: he "sees" it, or he "hears" it, or he "feels" it; no one can be sure exactly which. It's a language problem: I simply don't know how to describe *exactly* how Anele registers what the stone around him is thinking. But there's an old line from somewhere (I can't remember it exactly) about "fate" or "truth" being "graven in the heart of the rock." So "The Runes of the Earth" refers to secrets written where no ordinary person can read them. Anele's blessing/curse is that he has learned how to read that secret language.

(11/13/2004)

Notice the similarities between Anele and the Elohim:

Our vision does not lie. Rawedge Rim and Woodenwold do not lie.

For certain visions we look elsewhere. The 'doing' of which you speak is more easily read on the surface of the Earth than in its heart.

Then again, the Elohim also equate themselves with the 'runes' which Anele reads -- something which SRD's seems to reveal

We are the Elohim, the heart of the Earth ... all truths are within us ...

[lurch]

..Okay,OKAY!! The " excessive" ( by only some standards) use of punctuation by ME, is meant to slow the reader down. In the pass, I've been accused of run on sentences loaded with too much info. So, slow it down , one clause at a time. Then take two aspirin and reply in the morning.
...I should have taken some linguistics classes. I am not getting my point across on the word , " Runes". The analogy mite be, the , " I heart whatever " phrases, heart being a symbol for the word Love; I heart( love) siamese cats, etc; very much like the emoticons used widely everywhere( of which, btw, I do NOT gripe about or threaten physical mayhem and violence to property)
..Well, Runes is being used kinda like that " heart". There are mysterys galore but no freekin answers, just like the real Runes( see the above Runestone). There is a subtle Irony involved here. One level of definition has " rune" as undecipherable. Yet, we are invited to read the book, the series, expecting a mystery solved. Talk about paradoxes; rite there ! the title!, before one even starts reading the story. Classic SRD!
....The Mayan also used their " gliphs" in the same way as we use emoticons or " heart" and ( and this pause is worth two commas), , they used with double meaning and with irony also.
..I find it amazing that SRD uses a wide spred of punctuation, some I haven't even tried yet. But, i'm getting kicked in the apostrophy for my usage. Like a wise and grateful poster stated above, just be glad I'm indenting my paragraphs.....................MEL

[Variol Farseer]

Well, Lurch, the standard on the Web is to double-space between paragraphs. It's not as easy to read on a screen as on paper (yet), and that extra bit of white space is a great relief for the eyes. I think if you just made that one small change, it would make your posts a lot easier for us middle-aged fuddy-duddies to read. You do make some very good points, but I often find your posts just a little too eye-splitting to follow.

How the Mayans used glyphs to indicate emotion is, alas, a moot point to me. I can't read Mayan either.

[danlo]

For all of her scrubbing, however, she could not remove the grass stains from her pants. They had become part of the fabric, indelible, and cryptic as runes.

Does this remind anyone of Covenant in Morinmoss?

[firelion]

I never paid much attention to the grammer portion of English class.I know that I structure sentences wrong(or is it wrongly)?And to be honest I really don't care if I drop a comma in the wrong place,or compose a run on sentence.I feel most people here are intelligent enough to figure out what I mean-even if I am not intelligent enough to know what I mean.

[Avatar]

For all of her scrubbing, however, she could not remove the grass stains from her pants. They had become part of the fabric, indelible, and cryptic as runes.

Does this remind anyone of Covenant in Morinmoss?

Very much so. And didn't I read somewhere that the significance of Covenants "moss stains" would still become apparent?

Lurch-- Wise is probably an overstatement, and as for gratitude, I certainly appreciate that you responded to my (much) earlier request/suggestion to do so, but that's about it.

As I've said, the punctuation doesn't bother me, but it still makes whether I read your (usually very good) posts or not a matter of how I feel, and how much time I have to spare. No doubt your eccentric punctuation has caused me, and many others, to miss what may otherwise have been excellent and valid points/ideas.

That said, I'm sure this further concession on your part will be likewise appreciated by everybody who wants to know what you have to say.

--Avatar