The rune's name: Fehu
The Numerology number: 1
The Meaning: Livestock, Riches, Landed property, Movable possessions.
The sound: F
The Germanic name: Fe (Fehu)
The Norse name: Fé
The Anglo Saxon name: Feo, Feoh
The Icelandic name: Fé
The Norwegian name: Fe
Fehu is called the Riches-rune since its numerological value is 24, which is the highest number.
Wealth/Increase
- Indicates wealth may be involved. Negative aspect could lead to greed.
Magical Working:
- To increase personal wealth
- Strengthen psychic power
FEHU
The meaning of this rune is 'cattle', a vital aspect of the life of any agricultural community and an important factor in the economy of a group of peoples initially
unacquainted with the use of money. The rune represents possessions won or earned and thus also material gain.
The Anglo-Saxon runic poem describes wealth as a comfort to all men, then goes on to add that they must bestow it freely if they wish to gain favour in the sight of the
Lord. This is not the Christian interpolation that it at first appears, as the bestowing of rewards and generosity is an important feature of much of the extant saga
literature. As we shall see later there is even a 'gift' rune.
The Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems take a more cynical view and regard wealth as a cause of discord among kinsmen. The Norwegian poem (NRP) compares
this to the wolf living in the forest, whilst the 'fire of the sea and path of the grave-fish' of the Icelandic text (IRP) is a clear allusion to its inspiration of Viking practices.
The rune may be linked to Frey or Freya. Oxen were sacrificed to Frey, as detailed in Gisli's Saga and Viga-Glum's Saga. IRP glosses 'gold' for this rune and both gold
and amber, which was mentioned by Tacitus as one of the trade commodities of the Aestii which fetched a good price from the Romans, are referred to in Norse myth
as the 'tears of Freya'. Significantly the Aestii were said to have worshipped the mother of the gods and worn her emblem, the wild boar. This will later be found linked
to Frey, Freya's brother, and while in later myth Freya tends to be the whore of the gods rather than their mother she has also been identified with Frigg.
The necklace Brisingamen, obtained by Freya at the price of sleeping with the four dwarf craftsmen who created it, is the symbol of Freya's wealth. The rich God Njord,
her father, has been implied here, but his place comes more properly when we examine Laguz.
Runes, as both letters and mnemonic symbols, undoubtedly had correspondences attached to them. Continuing the association of Fehu with Freya, the following
correspondences should be mentioned. Freya found her missing husband, Od, beneath a myrtle tree. Myrtle wreaths are said to have been worn by northern brides,
possibly as a symbol of the defloration of the first night.
The butterfly was called Freya's hen. Cats were sacred to Freya and drew her chariot. The cat isn't a particularly old domestic animal in Scandinavia, and a suggestion
has been made that the creatures which pulled the chariot may have been ermine. These could also have provided the white catskin gloves for the völva in Eirik the
Red's Saga. The main qualification for an animal being designated köttr, a cat, was the ability shared by both cats and ermine to catch mice.
With the advent of Christianity all the Norse gods were demoted to the status of common demons and Freya became the patroness of the witches. Her sacred animal,
the cat, became the archetypal witch's familiar, or animal go-between serving both the Christian devil and herself. Two of her sacred birds, the swallow and the cuckoo,
also fell from grace.
An identification of Norse paganism with later witchcraft isn't as fanciful as might at first appear. Several authors have already made the identification, and witch
persecutions were chiefly a Northern European phenomenon.
When speaking of Nerthus, who might be identified as a mother of the gods, Tacitus mentions that her carriage was drawn by kine. Two of Freya's titles are hörn and
syr, the former meaning liquid manure and the latter meaning sow. Both have, albeit differing, fertility connections, and sow would be an appropriate attribute in
opposition to Frey's boar.
Fehu is pronounced as F in modern English
