FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Answers about Elder Futhark rune readings at Yggr's Eye: formats, prices, turnaround, the free first reading, privacy, what is historical and what is not.
About the readings
- What is the Elder Futhark?
- The oldest runic alphabet, twenty-four characters, attested in inscriptions from around the 2nd century CE across the Germanic world. The names I use for the runes are scholarly reconstructions; no names survive from the Elder Futhark period itself.
- Is rune reading an ancient Norse practice?
- Not as practiced today. Tacitus describes Germanic lot-casting with marked wooden slips around 98 CE, but he does not say the marks were runes. The rune poems give names and images, not a divination method. Modern rune reading is largely a twentieth-century practice built on those older materials. I say this on every page because it is true, and because I think you deserve to know what you are buying.
- Then why read runes at all?
- Because the names, the poems and the myth around them give me a small, old vocabulary for thinking about a question, and because I can show you exactly where the sources stop and I begin.
- Do you predict the future?
- No. A reading is reflection and decision support. I will not tell you what another person is thinking, whether someone will return, or forecast your health, money or legal matters.
- What are reversed runes, and do you use them?
- A modern convention of reading a stave differently when it lands upside down. The rune poems never mention it. I note how each stave lands because it is in your photograph, but I do not treat inversion as a verdict.
- Do you use a blank rune?
- No. The blank rune is a late twentieth-century addition with no basis in any inscription, poem or saga. I read twenty-four.
Formats, prices and timing
- What formats do you offer?
- Single Rune Draw ($20), Three-Rune Spread ($40), Custom Rune Throw ($60), and The Nine Nights, a live deep dive ($150). Details on the how it works page.
- Is the first reading really free?
- Yes. One per person, any format except The Nine Nights, including the full custom throw. No payment step, no card on file.
- How quickly will I receive my reading?
- I reply to every request within three days. Recorded readings usually arrive within three days of approval. These are service commitments, and if I am running late I will tell you.
- What do I actually receive?
- A photograph of your actual throw and a recorded interpretation, delivered through a private link that expires after 90 days. For The Nine Nights, also the session recording and a written summary.
- Can you decline my request?
- Yes, and I will say why. The usual reason is that the question asks for a prediction I will not pretend to make.
The Nine Nights
- What happens in The Nine Nights?
- Intake questions first. Then a 45-minute live session on Zoom, recorded for you, with several casts photographed. Then nine nights during which you keep asking follow-ups on the same question. At the end, a written summary with reflection prompts.
- Will I see your face?
- Yes. On the live call you meet me without the hat.
The hat
- Why do you wear a hat that covers your eyes?
- One of Odin's names in Grímnismál is Síðhöttr, "Drooping-Hat". In Völsunga saga a one-eyed stranger enters the hall with his hood or hat pulled low and never gives his name. I wear the hat for that figure, the Wanderer who asked questions in other people's halls. I do not claim to be him, and the wide brim is a later artistic habit rather than something the texts describe. More on the Lore page.
Privacy
- Who sees my question?
- Only me. Requests are stored in a private project board and transactional emails are sent through a mail provider; both are listed on the privacy page with retention periods.
- Will you post my reading?
- Never. Cast photographs that appear on Instagram are my own practice throws or, rarely, a volunteer's reading published with written consent and a first initial only.
- How do I ask you to delete my data?
- Email support@yggrs-eye.com. The privacy page describes what is deleted and what is kept for tax records.
Your question
Still have a question?
Ask the runes instead. One question, in your own words. The first reading is free.