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Rune 8 of 16

nauðr – The Naud rune

Sound
n
Meaning
need, constraint

The Norwegian rune poem

Nauðr gerer næppa koste; nøktan kælr í froste.

Need gives scant choice; the naked freeze in the frost.

The Norwegian rune poem is from the 1200s and has one verse per rune. The original is in the public domain; the translations are our own.

Commentary

Nauðr is constraint more than poverty — the situation where the choices run out. It is the rune used most often in Old Norse magical charms.

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