An introductory guide to the Elder Futhark runes, with detailed watercolour illustrations and write ups.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Finally Here!
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Aug 13, 2021 at 03:24:53 PM
Well friends, comrades and supporters, after a very long journey the hardcovers have finally arrived in my living room. I won't bore you with too many details but hopefully this post can cover everything you need to know from here! I hope to have them all sent out over the next two weeks. So a bit behind my August deadline of arriving them to you, but c'est la vie, that's how things go sometimes. Still pretty close to my deadline, and with minor delays along every step I still feel as though that's pretty good timewise!
They will be updated periodically as I ship them, so keep checking back. Use the tracking info on Canada Post or any other tracking website to follow your shipment and find expected delivery times.
If you can't find your Pledge number, log into Backerkit Here and you will find it. Sorry if it's confusing but due to privacy policies I can't list your info by name or other personal information.
EU & UK
For EU members: Your order was made prior to needing to collect VAT so it is exempt. You may have to tell customs when your order comes what the date was of ordering.
For UK members: If you did not log in and pay the VAT I will be covering it for you. Thank you if you did! If not, your shipping will not come with tracking so as to balance out the fees.
Rune of the Day
Today, I'd like to share Othala. Othala is the rune of the hearth, of home and family and the sign of a cycle complete. Our hero has completed his journey, laid down his axe and shield, and finds comfort in the space he has created and calls home. The image is said to be that of a building (innangard, the inner world), seen from above with four walls and a fence that extends out into the outside world (utangard). It is a space of safety and comfort created by humans, for humans, and can be passed on to future generations. This rune is therefore also associated with genetic memory and one's legacy.
Othala - Hearth - Home & Family
I share Othala today to represent my project coming home, and finding completion in this cycle. This may be my final update to you all, and I am thankful for whatever support you have provided. If you wish to follow me and my art on future journeys, please use any of the following links below, as this is only one end that signals yet another new beginning.
May the Aesir & Vanir bless you on all of your journeys!
Paperbacks are on Their Way! And the Hardcovers are Floating on the Ocean
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Jul 08, 2021 at 03:58:01 AM
Paperbacks
Woo! Thanks for being patient everyone. Amazon was of course a couple weeks late with the paperbacks and then they all showed up in the midst of me being so chaotically busy I've hardly slept! But they're now all packaged (with the exception of a couple who purchased other items) and they're going to be off soon.
I ended up paying an average of $5 per shipment over what I had estimated for shipping, but think of it at my gift to you! Find your tracking numbers below:
For UK backers: if you did not sign into Backerkit and update your order to cover VAT costs I did not provide tracking, as this puts me about $15 over the amount you paid for shipping. If you paid VAT you have tracking.
For EU backers: your governments now want IOSS and Harmonized Item codes for sales to the EU. I have been canceling new sales to the EU because of this and the mess I've had to deal with with the UK. These sales occurred prior to the new shipping laws so they should hopefully be exempt, if there are any issues please be sure to tell your postal service that these items were purchased in November 2020. I've also opted to send them as "samples" rather than sales, with the Harmonized item code in hopes this helps them arrive sooner. In the event your items are returned I will try to sort another way of getting them to you, but they all have tracking so there should be no issues.
Hardcovers
Look at this pallet of hardcovers!
Stack of 500 Hardcovers!
Don't get too excited, this photo was taken in China before they left the harbour! They're currently overseas and making their way here. I now have to find time to clean my attic to make room!
Another, just for fun
They should be here soon!
Rune of the Day
Today I'm choosing Wunjo for you. Wunjo is the rune of celebration and merriment. The image is said to be that of a flag, a symbol that is raised upon a pole for us to all unite under. This can be seen on the maypole, which is raised at Beltane/May Day/Walpurgisnacht for the purpose of wrapping ribbons around while dancing. The message is that we have all come together from our own paths and journeys to create something that we can only do when there are many of us. Humans are not solitary beings, and so the greatest joy is in celebration with others.
Wunjo - Joy - Community & Celebration
Phew, summer is full of Wunjo. There is so much going on, so many people to see, so much work to do, so much green and wonders to enjoy. This is the time to be free and dance around whatever hearths you find, with whatever family and friends you have, in whatever wonderful land it is you have to be in.
In frith,
-Dawn
Paperback Proof and Printing Update - UK VAT info
almost 3 years ago
– Tue, May 25, 2021 at 09:51:53 AM
In keeping you folks up to date with my current progress, I wanted to make sure you all got to see what the paperback edition looks like. But first, some housekeeping things!
Current Progress
Hardcover Copies - Printing is now underway! The proofing took a bit longer, just because there was a bit of back and forth between me and the publisher, so that took an extra couple of weeks when I had hoped for days. Printing is expected to take 14 days, and shipping to my door from China will be 6-8 weeks. So your books will begin to be shipped out mid-late July.
Paperback Copies - After some playing around with KDP it appears I can only really order author copies to myself, so this week I will be submitting the fixed manuscript and ordering those. Shipping will be taking place late June.
UK Backers and VAT
Some of you may have noticed that the VAT came into effect mid campaign. This has caused something of a hiccup for me, and I have spent months trying to register for the VAT but have run into issues I'm currently trying to fix. The books and rewards I have sold to you did not collect the VAT that I am required to pay, though Backerkit has been updated to include the VAT tax. I noticed when I tried to lock addresses to send the paperbacks, that Backerkit requires you to log in and approve the VAT.
So, please, if you could all log in to Backerkit and approve the VAT charges to your credit cards I would be eternally grateful. If you are not willing to pay the VAT I will still send your rewards as soon as I get my account sorted with the UK government, though please know that paying the VAT myself will cost money out of my pocket.
I will do my best to make sure this does not cause shipping delays, I will likely ship and then deal with any charges made later.
The Paperback
Okay, okay, onto the happier things you are all excited for. Amazon in its infinite cheapness decided to put a super tacky strip that says "Not for Resale" on the cover, but do not fear, this ugly strip will not be on the versions sent to you!
Paperback Copy via KDP
A Peek Inside
Second Peek
As you can see, the art quality is still high, though the book itself is significantly thinner. It will also make a lovely coffee table art book and I hope you are all happy with the result!
Rune of the Day
Today I'll pass on the rune from my daily draw, as it is also fitting now. This is Nauthiz, meaning need or necessity. It is simultaneously a need, a lack of something, and the fulfillment of that need. Nauthiz comes with the feeling of constriction, pressure, or maybe as a fire under your ass. It isn't comfortable, but that removal of your comfort zone puts you in motion and fuels innovation. The image is that of a firebow, where the need is warmth and the person creating the fire is using primitive tools that are available to them to fill that need.
Nauthiz - The Need Fire
I'm now rounding up the last bits, all the things I need. And, given my August deadline I had set for myself last year, it appears that everything will be right on time when I need them to be! But it's getting close to the deadline and giving me that uncomfortable feeling of constriction also.
Thank you all again and forever! Having these two copies in hand and having books on the way is a massively exciting feeling. I look very much forward to doing markets with them! Even watching my friends interacting with them, using the tables, reading excerpts from it to their kids, and enjoying the feeling of the book has been surreal and rewarding so far. I'm very much excited for you all to get to share in that enjoyment also!
With love,
-Dawn
IT'S HERE!!!!!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 04:05:01 AM
Yay!!! A year of work and waiting and effort and support and the very first proof came in the mail today. See the awkward video below, but here I'm going to do the housekeeping notes so we're all on the same page.
The book shown in the video is the proof *only*. It is the singular one copy sent to me to approve the printing process, and then we have about 6-8 weeks of printing and shipping in a seacan before they arrive to me to be shipped out. So be excited, but please don't start looking in your mailboxes just yet, you have to wait for the summer!
I'm not a fan of videos of myself but I do hope you enjoyed!
The real thing
Paperbacks
I'm now set up with Amazon! Please don't let your friends purchase yet though as I'm still waiting for my proof from them, which should arrive by May 18. I'll have to suss out if it's cheaper to send these rewards individually through Amazon or from my home with your prints, but paperback backers may find their prints and books coming soon, within a month or so!
Other Rewards
Prints, done, runes, check, dicebags, two left. Cuffs are coming, I got a new precision tool through a grant for DragonheART and am excited to use it for even better products!
Many things ready to go
Rune of the Day
Because it's been a while and you might like one, your rune today is Raidho. This rune represents progressive, forward movement and is known as the travel rune. It is about the steps in initiation and progress, similar to how its representative image of the chariot pulls the sun across the sky every day.
Raidho - To Ride - Travel & Rhythm
This rune today represents progress, and the journey this book has taken to travel across the ocean to my hands. And to honour the journey I have taken in its creation.
Thank you all for being there with me! Keep tuned!
-Dawn
PS. If you can't contain your excitement, don't forget to visit my companion website!
Quick Update
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 08:02:38 PM
Not much to update, but someone has requested it and to be fair since it has been a month it is about time. I was waiting until the proof is in hand so that I can show off the shiny book in its physical form but that proof is a couple weeks from being here so this update will be pretty boring. The files are being sent to the printer for the hardcopies, a couple weeks later than I had wanted but I had to go through and do one more big format and proofing edit.
My publisher has been having all of the chats with the printer so these last couple weeks have been a very hands off and waiting time for me! Stay tuned for your update with the pictures of the pretty book proof sometime in the next while. I'll get my publisher around to helping me set up print and demand for the paperbacks soon after he's finished with the hardcopies
Rune of the Day
Isa is the rune of ice. It's shape is that of an icicle, and I view it as a kind of seal or zipper that closes us off from the outside world and turns us inwards. Most things are on pause, but underneath the ice, water still flows. In these periods of hermitage and introspection we're still processing and small changes are happening below the surface. We shut ourselves off to the outside world and can find peace on the inside for a time, setting off our problems and emotions to deal with when the environment is more favorable.
Isa - Pause & Introspection
So, have patience, is the message I have for you now. After I am able to show off the proof when it arrives we must still wait 7-8 weeks for the books to print and cross the ocean (hopefully things should be moving again by then). I won't have much to update then but I promise things will be moving, and I'll be working at completing some of your other rewards. All of your rune sets are complete, art prints are done, I'm pecking away at bags and cuffs but not rushing them as I have to wait on the books anyways. I gave myself an August deadline but at the rate things are moving, everyone should have their rewards a couple months earlier so there is still lots of time!
