UPRIGHT
REVERSED
~ NYD (need) ~ n ~
The necessity to endure. That element in the human spirit which will not
allow it to accept its fate. Stubborn will to resist even when there is no
hope. Resistance against all odds. It shows itself in circumstances of
extreme trial such as deathly sickness or natural disaster: the cancer
patient who refuse to accept death; the accident victim who continues
to fight through icy waters after his consciousness has deserted him-
these people illustrate the power of Nyd.
There is no glory in Nyd. It is described in the poem Solomon and Saturn
as the worst lot that can befall a man. No credit arises from exhibiting
resistance to such supreme hardship because it lies beyond the level
of willful control. Nyd is sent by the gods to test and to teach. It produces
a tempering of the spirit. One who experiences Nyd and lives is the
stronger for it. In historical times, the death camps of Nazi Germany
generated large amounts of Nyd.
Nyd is linked with Haegl in several ancient references. In the Abecedarium
Nordmannicum the two runes occur on the same line, which reads:
"hail has need." In the Old English Rune Poem the verses for Haegl
and Nyd have parallel constructions:
Hail is the whitest of grains, it whirls down from heaven's height,
and gusts of wind toss it about; then it is transformed to water.
Hardship oppresses the heart; yet nonetheless often it is transformed
for the sons of men to be a source of help and salvation, if only they
heed it in time.
Nyd is the power in the human spirit that allows it to endure Haegl. The
two go together. Without great hardship the necessity to endure would
never be exercised. The shape of the Nyd rune suggests a broken cross,
or perhaps a man carrying on awkward and unbalanced load.
MEANINGS:
UPRIGHT:
Want, need, emotional hunger, starvation, dire extremity, limit of
strength, failure of hope, loss of human dignity, naked to the bone,
suffering beyond the will to resist, torment, afflictions of Job, tortures
of hell.
REVERSED:
Stubbornness in the face of death, defiance of fate, endurance,
subsistence on nothing, will to continue, persistence of life, survival
without glory or personal growth, refusal to surrender.
KEY: NECESSITY
