Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-12
CHAPTER II.
The Runic Ring.

| That same evening 1dris lay reading on
the hearth rug before a bright fire. Since
| their return from the moorland he had
| found his mother unusually quiet, and he
| had therefore, turned for companionship to
| his favorite book, The Life of King AL
| fred" Having reared the volume against
a footstool he rested mis- elbows upon the
floor, and his chin upon his hands, and In
this attitude was soon absorbed in the do
ings Of the Saxon hero.
Suddenly he looked up and addressed his
mother. who was sitting in an armchair
| watching him..
Mother, what are runes?"
What was there in this simple question
| to startle Mrs. Breakspear, for startled she
| certainly was?
| why do you wish to know? Who has
been talking to you about runes?'
This book says that the Vikings used to
carve runes on the prows Of their galleys.
What are runesw
The mothers face lost its look Of alarm,
replied. They were letters used in olden
times by the nations Of the north"
But how could letters carved on the
Prov protect the vessel?'
what pair of earnest dark eyes were
those fixed that moment upon the mother 8
face!
wei. as matter Of fact, they couldn't
But men fancied that they could They
WIZ tCiy SupeTSllllOuS IN those DAYS.
AS Idris showed a desire for further
KnoWledge his mother continued: 1.-THE old
Norsemen believed that these letters when
pronounced in certain order would have
a. masicad erect. Some runes would stop
an enemy's sword to break. Some would
| make the captives chains fall of. and
others again would cause the dead to come
iorth from the tomb and speak But you
know, dear Idle, all this is not true The
| 1unic letters have no such power But the
oid Morse people believed so much in tho
virtue OF these characters that they en-
,na them on the walls Of their dwell
inss, on their armOr. on their ships. on
protect "eu W
Were these letters like ours in shape?'
some Morse runes?"
MRS. Breakspear rose, and going 70 an
oak press produced small ebony casket
whose exterior was decorated with nina
combat eh'oseu III
seatng herself upon the hearth-rug beside
the little fellow she unlocked the casLet
sn a, h rte. the lid. Within upon the blue
urinp n ahn,,t .here lay silver ring. meas
ana ,11,t obviously of antique workmanship
ms said Mrs. Breakspear. ais q verv
How old?'
s,., more than two thousand years old Ira
ul,loh says that 1t was made bv Odn b,n,-
se .rr, 10 you know who he was. Idle ~
wba ne d oook Is. call him an imaginary deity
~, ~ means god who never Hved,,
lhen how can the ring have hear Wal.
"Sdir - mere never was an Odin?"
os Ooin, the god, is, of course. a fable. bu,
enca ne ne man man may have had a real exist
ence. he was, SO the wise tells us a w.
rlor' priest and king of the north ~
t aiter aeath was worshiped as DEITY ,rbo
, ZEE enc states that, having made up his mind
the 80, Uais gave TO himself nine wounds in
.iIe FORM OF circle, guiding the point OF his
spear by this ring, which was laid on his
breast TOT that purpose. The ring thus he
lame sacred In the eyes of his children and
descendants, and they showed their rever-
ehce Tor 1T by using 1t as an altar ring in
their religious ceremonies Guthrum the
famous Danish warrior, was of Odin's race
a TINS Is said to have been the Identical
hoiy ring. celebrated in history upon which
dom of Alfred" e
1dris listened with GREATNESS interest
Guthrum! Alfred! Odin! To think that
nr ra nipeher should possess ring that had
once belonged to these exalted characters.
1t was wonderful! If the relic were gifted
with memory and speech what an Interest,"
ing story 1t might unfold!
he turned the ring over In his hands. How
massive 1t was! None of your modern. moi
low bangles, but solid and weighty The
ancient silversmith had not been sparing OF
the metal.
Oh, coulonl we make lot OF franc
pieces out of t!' cried Idris.
The outer perimeter of the ring was en-
ameled with purple, and decorated with a
1our-lne inscription of tiny runic letters in
| goid, so clear and distinct In outline that a
| runologist would have had no difficulty IN
reading them; though whether the charac-
| tiers, when read, would have yielded any
| meaning, is different matter.
| Are these the runes?'' asked Idrls, point
ing to them. What funny looking things .
mere is one ike arrow and 10 4 ,S
again, and again. Why some of them are
| ike our letters. Here is one like b. and
| here is an and an x. What does ali this
writing mean, mother?"
No one has ever yet been able to inter-
| pref it. When you are older Idle you shall
study runes, and then perhaps you Will be
| able to explain the meaning"
Idris knitted his little brows over the in
| scription as if DESTROYS of solving the enig-
| ma there and then, without waiting till
manhoods days.
did Odin engrave these letters?" he
asked.
He may have done so. He is said to
know"
hand his eye became attracted by a broad.
black stain on the inner perimeter
What Is this dark mark?'
His mother hesitated ere replying:
1T is perhaps blood STAIN"
why isn't it red like blood?"
"A blood stain soon turns black l have
said that this was an altar ring. Let me
tell you what is meant by that. You know
II you go into La Chapelle des Pecheurs
you will see upon the altar a-what, Idris?'
"A crucifx," was the prompt reply.
We'll, If you had gone into any temple of
the Northumberland their temples were
often nothing more than a circle of tall
stones in the depth of a forest-you would
have seen on their altar large silver ring
And just as Catholics nowadays kiss a cru
ciiix and swear to speak the truth, so in
old Morse times men employed a ring for
the same purpose. Before they took the
oath the ring was dipped in the blood of the
sacrifice. Then if a man broke his word it
was believed that the god to whom the
| sacrifice had been offered would most surely
punish him.
The book that Idris had been reading
contained an account of the Morse mode
or sacrificing; and so with his eye still on
the dark stain, he said:
Mother, didn't the old Norsemen sope-
times offer up men on their altars?''
sometimes they did,
Then this stain may be a mans blood ~,
1T is very likely
Perhaps the very blood of Odin. made
when he gave himself the nine wounds ),
said Idris, in a tone of glee and fascinated
| by the ring, as children often are fascinated
| by things gruesome. What a long time
the stain has lasted! But 1t can't be Odin's
blood, he continued, with an air of mourn
fulneSS; the stain would have worn ~