Divination Notes: Rune Ingwaz

Ingwaz is a rune strongly associated with the god Ingvi-Freyr. It is in position 22 of the Futhorc alphabet. It has two variants. The first is a diamond. The second is a square. Both are drawn from the central portion of the image for this glyph. It is not associated with a specific letter within the modern English alphabet. This is because it is a glyph for a dipthong, specifically the -ng sound. This dipthong glyph fell out of use as the Roman script began to replace Runic in England and surrounding areas.

Unlike many other runes, this one has only one rune poem associated with it. It is from the Anglo-Saxon peoples. The poem translates to: Ing was first among the East Danes / so seen, until he went eastward / over the sea. His wagon ran after. / Thus the Heardings named that hero. It is often considered an obscure and hard to decipher text by many who refuse to consider that Ing was the name of these people's ancestral god (hence why they were called the Angles, which could also have been written the Ingles). The wagon spoken of would be Ingvi-Freyr's famed ship Skithblathnir if this poem was viewed from this context.

Traditionally, this is a rune of blessings and fertility. It is also considered a rune of wealth. I personally consider it to be a rune of gestation and growth. As the rune itself visually is very close to what a wheat ear looks like or of what a seed would look like. It is a benevolent rune with no untoward implications, generally, due to the fact it can not be read merkstave. Depending on how it falls in a reading, it may indicated a time of growth or a time of prosperity. If it arrives in a reading surrounded by negatively aspected runes, it serves to soften the harshness of those other runes.