Rune bag and casting tray

  

I used to keep my runes in my belt pouch – but once that was finished, it was filled with other gear. So I made another bag to keep the rune set in and draw them from.

There wasn’t any real plan for making the bag. I just had an idea in my head of what the design could look like.

The idea was to make the bag like the classic, simple leather pouch. But I wanted to add a piece of thick vegetable-tanned leather in the middle for more support. After tightening it, however, it turned out to be far too small. The runes would fit inside, but I couldn’t draw one without looking down – and you can’t be looking at the runes when you’re drawing them at random.

So I had to cut a few extra scraps and expand the bag. It works. When pulled tight, it’s now deep enough.

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With my burner, I’ve burned a wyrd symbol on both the inside and outside of the bag. I’m fully aware that wyrd is a modern symbol – but it looks great. It represents the Norns’ threads woven together: past, present, and future. The symbol suits runes perfectly, especially for the day when I draw three runes symbolizing past, present, and future.

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Finally, I made a locking system for the bag. I took an old antler (15 kroner from the thrift store), cut some small buttons, and drilled 1.5 mm holes in them. The buttons were lightly sanded. My moccasin lace was a bit hard to get through the holes, but it actually “locks” quite nicely.

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The leather tray for casting runes is a circle with an edge sewn on. The edge is drawn in a bit with a lace. That way, the runes stay gathered, don’t roll away, and have a place to be cast.

Inside the tray, I burned a Vegvísir stave. That one doesn’t have anything to do with ancient times either – it’s from an Icelandic book, Galdrabók.
But the symbol is cool, and it makes good sense that where the runes are cast and guidance is sought, there should be a wayfinder rune.

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The cost of a couple of bags like this? Not much. Rivets, lace, and so on I already had lying around. The antler came from the thrift store, and the leather is from sofas at the recycling station.