TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

GEBO
Galdr-sound: geh-geh-geh (as in get; an even, cyclic repetition, swelling smoothly into the eh-sound and
diminishing just as smoothly)
Letter: G
(Gift) is for every man
a pride and a praise
help and worthiness
and of every homeless adventurer
it is the estate and substance
for those who have nothing else.
— Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
The name of this rune has been, variously, “gift,” “hospitality,” “generosity,” and “wedding.” Both
the name and the stave-shape of this rune show its being as the embodiment of the equal exchange of
those energies which, as shown by fehu, are set forth in earth as wealth. To the Germanic people, the act
of giving was a highly meaningful one, the process of exchange also being a binding of loyalty. A
common kenning for a lord was “ring-giver” speaking of the duty of a lord to give freely of his wealth to
his followers. By accepting a gift, one pledged one’s trueness. It was, indeed, thought of as shameful for a
man to live past a battle in which his ring-giver was slain. The breaking of this holy bond is always
followed by disaster, as shown by the end of Beowulf, in which the hero’s death is caused by the
cowardice of his men, who abandon him in his fight against the dragon. Widsith, the only man who
remained faithful, reproaches the others with the gifts which were the outward sign of the binding
between themselves and the lord. Hjalti’s speech in the Bjarkimal shows the same understanding:
In foul winds as in fair, keep faith with your lord,
he who withheld no hoard for himself
but gave us freely of gold and silver.
Strike with the swords he bestowed, and the spears
in helmets and hauberks you got from his hand
let shine the shields that he shared with you
thus honestly earning the wealth he gave. 1
Gebo also relates to the practice of sealing alliances between clans by either marriage or an
exchange of hostages, usually the sons of the lords who would then be fostered by the families of their
earher foes and slain if treachery took place. This is the reason for the presence of Freyr and Njord among
the Aesir, they being the hostages who ended the war between the Aesir and the Vanir, their Aesic
counterparts being Hoenir and Mimir. This understanding of loyalty-through-exchange works on every
level, as described in the Havamal:
41
Friends should share joy
in weapons and clothes
that are evident to one another.
Those who share gifts stay the fastest friends,