Gebo (ᚷ) — Gift, Sacred Exchange

Gebo (ᚷ), seventh rune of Freyr's ætt, embodies the gipt — the gift and its indissoluble bond of obligation. The Hávamál (stanza 145) names gift-giving among the essential rune-powers, and stanza 42 declares: 'A man should be loyal through life to friends, and return gift for gift.' The X-shaped stave itself depicts the crossing of two forces in balanced exchange. In the Norse social order, gebo governs all bonds of reciprocity — between chieftain and retainer, between the gods and humankind, between the living and the dead. There is no gebo without counter-gift; the cycle of giving is what holds the social fabric of the hall together.

Cross-Tradition Resonances