FEHU (FAY-hoo) is the first rune of the three rows or Aetts of the Elder Futhark. The word FEHU comes from the Proto-Germanic and is the origin of our modern word “fee”.
The literal and pictographic representation of FEHU is the domesticated cattle. Cattle were often used to pay debts, settle disputes, and establish other types of trade. The use of cattle in this way is documented in Tactitus’ “Germania” (Germania 12.80) as a way of paying societal or criminal fines. The rune still brings to mind that kind of association we have with “fee”: the stuff we use to pay our debts and obligations. Though sought after and valued as a means to an end, this is not the kind of wealth you want to focus on for your entire life.
FEHU represents money and the problems caused by valuing it above all else. “Money is kinsmen’s quarrel,” the rune poem says. “Path of grave-magic,” it continues, then “fire of the sea” or “flood-tide’s token”. Retrieving the wealth FEHU describes can require a dangerous and strife-filled path if we’re not careful. The Anglo-Saxon poem says it’s better to give it out if you have it. The Havamal and many of the sagas support this opinion.
The Havamal says (trans. Carolyne Larrington):
Generous and brave men live the best,
seldom do they harbor anxiety;
but the cowardly man is afraid of everything,
the miser always sighs when he receives gifts
…
Even a man who knows nothing
knows that many are fooled by money;
one man is rich, another is not rich,
he should not be blamed for that.
…
Cattle die, kinsmen die,
the self must also die;
I know one thing which never dies:
the reputation of each dead man.Fully stocked folds I saw for Fituing’s sons,
now they carry beggar’s staffs;
wealth is like the twinkling of an eye,
it is the most unreliable of friends.
I believe that FEHU should not be used to represent some kind of originating force or essence. It’s connection with monetary wealth and the dangers of same are so obvious that the esoteric leap to originating force seems to me a stretch. To call it also an originating force of the universe (as Edred Thorsson does), we are in essence saying that the origins of our universe are connected to money. Disposable cash. If FEHU is a beginning or originating force, it may be as the means to undertake a journey, but not as the journey itself, and certainly not as some primal force.
It is significant that FEHU is the first rune and OTHALA — the rune representing homestead, hearth, permanent home — is the last. FEHU is the beginning of the journey. The hacksilver in your pocket or on your wrist that gets you from one place to another. It’s your cab fare, bill money, the stuff you need on hand in order to make ends meet. It’s never the end goal, however. It’s just your first step. A head of cattle aren’t worth much if you’ve got no farm on which to feed them, an old Norse philosopher might say.
So with FEHU must come the understanding that a quest for money for its own sake is foolish and possibly dangerous (“grave-magic” and the story of Fafnir’s gold come to mind). Goals in life should be broader, farther-reaching, and have more personal and societal impact than simply wanting to accumulate disposable wealth. Money is fleeting, the Havamal tells us. It’s best not to rely on it more than necessary. Perhaps FEHU is a fitting rune for us to meditate on even — or perhaps especially — in the 21st century. FEHU is the money itself, the advice on how to use it best, and a warning against greed.
