OTHILIA ( OTHEL )

(homestead)

Home, Domestic Matters, the family and family finances, stability, responsibility and Duty

Othala is sometimes placed as the final rune, but it seems to make more sense to follow the suggestion that Dagaz, the Awakening, should be the last rune. Othala is the rune of the sacred enclosure, the homeland, the village, the homestead. It is the rune of the home and family, its customs, duties and responsibilities that go along with maintaining family ties.

In the Rune poems, othala is said to be `beloved of every human' but this domestic contentment is linked with a good harvest, i.e. material comfort. Because odal refers to land owned by generations rather than leased from a lord, it speaks of permanence and stability and so represents domestic stability and security and living with others rather than branching out alone. Though the Norse people were great wanderers, nevertheless, the homestead was important to them and as shown in the rune laguz, establishing the new homestead ,however temporary in a new land, was a priority.