I thought I had read most of the important books about runes – but here is one I missed!
I have been familiar with the Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark, and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc for literally decades. What I had NOT run across was a text on the Gothic runes.
Well, now I have, and it is amazing. It’s available through Lulu. Ten chapters, 260 pages, on topics including the history of the Goths (and theories of their origin), a breakdown of each individual rune and its meaning in Gothic, an original rune-poem by the author for each of the twenty-four runes, plus commentary, maps, and photographs – the works. Maes finishes up with an extensive list of sources for those who want to know more.
Gothic Runes is an electronic book (PDF), designed to print as an attractive paper volume for those who wish to do so.
A visit to Fritz Maes’ Lulu page reveals a fascinating list of other works by the author: Germanic Chivalry, which is mostly about fighting arts, Ringen, covering medieval German wrestling, and Princely Singers of Eros, about the composers of erotic love ballads during the Middle Ages. His works are listed at https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/fritzmaes.
– Stephen McNallen
