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Reversed runes


Jolt

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Can someone give a more in-depth description of what it means to have a "reversed" rune.  For example, the Guide says that the most common rune for men is the Air and reversed Air runes; but I don't know what a reversed rune represents.  Also, is there a book where reversed runes were explained?

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A few of the runes can be depicted reversed, but I’ve never seen any separate explanation for it. When it comes to depicting runes in any visual form they can be placed any way round.  Have a look at the Gammadion / swastika  for a good example of a reversible symbol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gammadion . One of the main problems is of course that fonts usually only present letters one way up. I did toy with the idea of having reversed and rotated symbols when I made the Glorantha Core font, just to mix it up a bit, but I was under a time constraint. Some runes will tessellate as well, making well known patterns. The Earth and fertility rune is a well known pattern.

IMG_7329_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

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Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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1 hour ago, Jolt said:

Can someone give a more in-depth description of what it means to have a "reversed" rune.  For example, the Guide says that the most common rune for men is the Air and reversed Air runes; but I don't know what a reversed rune represents. 

The Air rune spirals inward in a counter-clockwise direction.  A reversed Air rune spirals inward in a clockwise direction.  Both versions are Air runes - there is no difference in use or play.  

For symmetry in someone's tattoos you might have one on one shoulder and the other on the other shoulder. 

You can do the same for the Water or Movement runes.  Again, no difference in meaning or usage.

As @David Scott notes you can get some interesting patterns out of these.  Perhaps they serve as clan tattoos, or spell foci, or the marks of enchantments.  I created these two years ago highlighting Orlanth as Trickster since when you overlap an Air and a reversed Air rune you get a hidden Disorder rune.

 

OrlantioRune1.jpg

OrlantioRune2.jpg

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The left-handed/reversed Air rune appears in Dragon Pass/WBRB.

Maybe that's significant?

 

After all, it's where the spirits for Argrath's warlock societies go...

 

Wait: I may have them inverted. Certainly the Air Rune, however, appears inverted on some counters versus the map.

 

I think the left handedness of the other direction is probably significant, however.

Edited by jeffjerwin
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39 minutes ago, jeffjerwin said:

The left-handed/reversed Air rune appears in Dragon Pass/WBRB.

Maybe that's significant?

 

After all, it's where the spirits for Argrath's warlock societies go...

 

Wait: I may have them inverted. Certainly the Air Rune, however, appears inverted on some counters versus the map.

 

I think the left handedness of the other direction is probably significant, however.

Nah. I believe @Jeff said in another thread that rune direction doesn't matter.

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Technically there is also the reversed Mastery Rune of fonritian slaves and their God but it's probably just an unusual aspect of the normal Rune. (If I remember well, they have a single divine affinity for pleasing their master and succedding at doing whathever their master is tasking them with)

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