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The Valknut (pronounced "VAL-knoot") is one of the most widely-discussed yet enigmatic of all of the symbols that appear in connection with Norse mythology. Visually, it's comprised of three interlocking triangles. Archaeologically, it appears on several runestones and pictorial memorial stones that date from the Viking Age and stand on the Swedish island of Gotland, as well as on grave goods from the Oseberg ship burial in Norway.[1] Its name isn't mentioned in any period sources; valknut is a modern Norwegian compound word that means "knot of those fallen in battle" and was introduced by Norwegians who lived long after the Viking Age.[2]

What, then, was the meaning of this symbol?

The short answer is that we don't know.

The longer answer is:

In the archaeological record, the Valknut appears only in connection with the cult of the dead, as in the aforementioned runestones and ship burial. Similar-looking symbols can also be found on the cremation urns of the Anglo-Saxons,[3] another Germanic people closely related to the Norse linguistically, ethnically, and in terms of their pre-Christian worldview and religion.

In most of these cases, Odin is also present. Even in instances where he's not present directly alongside the Valknut, we often find other symbols that are closely associated with him. For example, the Anglo-Saxon urns feature depictions of horses and wolves, two animals that are often the companions of Odin in the Norse mythological tales.

To find associations with both death and Odin together should come as no surprise, since Odin was, among many, many other things, a psychopomp - that is, a figure who ferries the spirits of the dead to the underworld and then back to the world of the living - as well as the leader of various hosts of the dead, such as the warriors of Valhalla and of the Wild Hunt.

Odin was also one of the most powerful of all magicians and shamans. In the literary sources, Odin and his attendant spirits such as the valkyries often use magic that is described in terms of binding and unbinding, tying up the mind or untying it. In the words of historian H.R. Ellis Davidson, "Odin had the power to lay bonds upon the mind, so that men became helpless in battle, and he could also loosen the tensions of fear and strain by his gifts of battle-madness, intoxication, and inspiration." She and others interpret the Valknut, with its knot-like appearance, as a symbolic expression of this idea.[4]

This explanation is all the more plausible since the form of heathen Norse magic that the sources mention the most often, namely seidr, used imagery related to spinning and weaving fiber to symbolize altering the course of events. Weaving in this symbolic sense and spiritual power were almost synonymous, so it should come as no surprise that a symbol involving power over life and death would be visualized as a knot.

A less satisfying explanation that some scholars have invoked is that the Valknut could be the " Hrungnir's Heart" ( Hrungnis hjarta) mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda: "Hrungnir had a heart made of hard stone and pointed with three corners, just like the carved symbol which has been called Hrungnir's heart ever since."[5] All that this description tells us about the visual form of "Hrungnir's Heart" is that it had a triangular shape. That's such a general description that the idea that Hrungnir's Heart and the Valknut are the same symbol could only really be taken seriously if the archaeological context in which the symbol appears were to match Snorri's description. As we've seen, this is far from the case. The "heart made of hard stone" is utterly incongruous with Odin's ecstatic magic.

So, given the present state of our knowledge, we can reasonably assume that the meaning of the Valknut has much to do with death, the transition from life to death and probably back again, Odin, and the power to bind and unbind. This powerfully and convincingly suggests a particular range of possible meanings. It tells us something of its meaning, but this is so general that it can hardly be the whole picture. Was the Valknut believed to impart a particular power over life and death? If so, did it impart this power to the one who drew the symbol or to the dead person over which it was drawn? Did it help to bring about a particular desired state of being within the realm of the dead, or did it hasten the return of the dead to life, or something else entirely?

Ultimately, then, while we can be relatively sure of the ideas with which the Valknut was associated, its particular meaning is a tantalizing mystery.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I've also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you'll probably find helpful in your pursuit.
References:
[1] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. A Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. p. 163.

[3] Ellis Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 147.

[5] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. A Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. p. 163.

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The Valknut - Norse Mythology for Smart People

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The Valknut (pronounced "VAL-knoot") is one of the most widely-discussed yet enigmatic of all of the symbols that appear in connection with Norse mythology. Visually, it's comprised of three interlocking triangles. Archaeologically, it appears on several runestones and pictorial memorial stones that date from the Viking Age and stand on the Swedish island of Gotland, ...

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The Raven banner... the flag flown by the Vikings when they raided the shores of their victims across Europe, or so the story goes...

In reality, the raven banner was not a universal Viking flag, because the people in Scandinavia were not one nation. The society in Scandinavia was split into many small clans at the beginning of the Viking Age, and therefore every clan or Viking chieftain had their own flags and symbols to identify their clan.

The Viking flags did also not have the same rectangular shape as national flags have today, instead, it was triangular. And therefore the many rectangular-shaped flags with a raven printed on it, that you see popping up for sale across the web, is an inaccurate depiction of a Viking flag.

The Vikings used a raven banner

The Ravens played a major role in the Viking age, and by using ravens as a symbol on a banner, it is possible, that the Vikings believed that it gave the banners some kind of magical qualities, and therefore used it to strike fear into the heart of their enemies, by invoking the power of Odin.

Especially in warfare, since the Ravens are connected to the heathen God Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn) who is the God of war. Which could mean that this raven banner was seen as a war banner, and therefore only used in warfare.

Odin the all-father

The Christians probably thought that the banners were magical as well, but while the heathens saw it as something good, the Christians most likely believed that these banners carried evil pagan symbols.

The Ravens and therefore the raven symbols are most likely connected to Odin, who has on some occasions been called the Raven God. Odin is known under many different names, and this is probably because of his shapeshifting abilities and his lust to wander around Midgard in a disguise. Odin is indeed a very curious God, who is always in the pursuit of new knowledge, and he uses his two ravens Hugin and Munin to gather the latest news across the nine words every morning.

This is also something that the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson explains in the first part of the Prose Edda (also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda (Icelandic: Snorra Edda)).

Gylfaginning - 42 In Icelandic: "Hrafnar tveir sitja á öxlum honum ok segja í eyru honum öll tíðendi, þau er þeir sjá eða heyra. Þeir heita svá, Huginn ok Muninn. Þá sendir hann í dagan at fljúga um heim allan, ok koma þeir aftr at dögurðarmáli. Þar af verðr hann margra tíðenda víss. Því kalla menn hann Hrafnaguð, svá sem sagt er:

Huginn ok Muninn
fljúga hverjan dag
jörmungrund yfir;
óumk ek Hugin,
at hann aftr né komi,
þó sjáumk ek meir of Munin."

Translated into English: "Two ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and bring to his ears all that they hear and see. Their names are Huginn and Muninn. At dawn, he sends them out to fly over the whole world, and they come back at breakfast time. Thus he gets information about many things, and hence he is called Rafnagud (raven-god). As is here said:

"Huginn and Muninn
Fly every day
Over the great earth.
I fear for Hugin
That he may not return,
Yet more am I anxious for Munin."

What does the raven symbolize?

Besides the obvious of the ravens' connection to Odin, what else could the raven symbolize? In the legendary saga called the saga of Norna-Gest (In Icelandic: Nornagests þáttr) it describes what could be an explanation to the raven on the banner. And according to the source, war or bloodshed was carried out to make the raven happy, or in other words, to feed the raven.
In Icelandic:
"Nú er blóðugr örn
breiðum hjörvi
bana Sigmundar
á baki ristinn.
Fár var fremri,
sá er fold rýðr,
hilmis nefi,
ok hugin gladdi."
Translated into English:
"Now the blood eagle
With a broad sword
The killer of Sigmund
Carved on the back.
Fewer were more valiant
As the troops dispersed
A chief of people
Who made the raven glad."

Ragnar's Son Ubbe used the raven banner

Let's look at the sources we have available from the Viking Age, that mentions these raven banners, and I think we should start by looking at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, as we have done so many times before. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the first mention of the raven banner was recorded in 878 CE.

And according to Geffrei Gaimar's history of the English (Estorie des Engles written ca. 1140 CE), the raven banner was Ubbe's banner (gumfanun). Ubbe was the son of the famous Viking Ragnar Lodbrok Sigurdsson and he was the brother of Iware (Ívarr) and Halfdan (Hálfdan).

Ubbe's army bore the raven banner at the battle at Cynwit (Cynuit) in 878 CE where he, unfortunately, was defeated and then buried by the Danes in a very big mound in Devonshire, called Ubbelawe.
The Annals of St. Neots
Latin: "Dicunt enim quod tres sorores Hynguari et Hubbe, filie uidelicet Lodebrochi, illud uexillum tex'u'erunt et totum parauerunt illud uno meridiano tempore. Dicunt etiam quod, in omni bello ubi praecederet idem signum, si uictoriam adepturi essent, appareret in medio signi quasi coruus uiuus uolitans; si uero uincendi in futuro fuissent, penderet directe nichil mouens - et hoc sepe probatum est"

Translated into English: "It is said that three sisters of Hingwar and Habba [Ivar and Ubbe], i.e., the daughters of Ragnar Loðbrok, had woven that banner and gotten it ready during one single midday's time. Further, it is said that if they were going to win a battle in which they followed that signum, there was to be seen, in the center of the signum, a raven, gaily flapping its wings. But if they were going to be defeated, the raven dropped motionlessly. And this always proved true."
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - 878 A.D.
"Her hine bestæl se here on midne winter ofer Twelftan niht to Cippanhamme, 7 geridon Westseaxna land 7 gesæton, 7 mycel þeos folces ofer sæ adræfdon, 7 þæs oþres þone mæstan dæl hi geridon butan þam cyninge ælfrede, 7 he lytle wærede unyðelice æfter wudum for 7 on morfæstenum. 7 þæs ylcan wintra wæs Iweres broþor 7 Healdænes on Westseaxum on Defenascire, 7 hine mon þær sloh 7 .dccc. monna mid him 7 .xl. monna his heres, 7 þær wæs se guðfana genumen ðe hi Hræfn hæton."

Translated into modern English: "A.D. 878. This year about mid-winter, after twelfth-night, the Danish army stole out to Chippenham, and rode over the land of the West-Saxons; where they settled and drove many of the people over sea; and of the rest the greatest part they rode down, and subdued to their will; - all but Alfred the king. He, with a little band, uneasily sought the woods and fastnesses of the moors. And in the winter of this same year, the brother of Ívarr and Hálfdan landed in Wessex, in Devonshire, with 23 ships, and there was he slain, and 800 men with him, and 40 of his army. There also was taken the war-flag (guðfani), which they called "Raven"."

Very rare Viking silver penny

This very rare silver coin is another example of a depiction of the Viking raven flag. It was minted in York (Jórvík), by the Norse King of Northumbria in the 10th century. The symbol on the flag depicts a raven, however, it is a very simple design, so it difficult to be certain. It is possible that the Vikings had been influenced so much by the Christians that they used the cross on this coin. If you ask me, I would like to believe it is raven, with its wings stretched.

This silver coin was also minted in York, England in the 10th century, and here we can clearly see a depiction of a raven with outstretched wings. On the opposite side, there is a small cross in the center. So there can really be no doubt of the importance of ravens to the Vikings.

Raven banner at the battle of Ashington

According to The Gesta Cnutonis Regis which was written sometime around 1043 CE. King Cnut the great of England, Norway, and Denmark also used the raven embedded on his war banner. Which was recorded in 1016 CE at the battle of Ashington in Northumbria.

"At Ashington, you worked well
in the shield-war, warrior-king;
brown was the flesh of bodies
served to the blood-bird:
in the slaughter, you won,
sire, with your sword
enough of a name there,
north of the Danes' Woods." - Knýtlinga saga

In Latin: "Erat namque eis uexillum miri portenti, quod licet credam posse esse incredibile lectori, tamen, quia uerum est, ueræ inseram lectioni. Enim uero dum esset implicissimo candidissimoque intextum serico, nulliusque figure in eo inserta esset imago, tempore belli semper in eo videbatur coruus ac se intextus, in uictoria suorum quasi hians ore excutiensque alas, instabilisque totoque corpore demissus."

Translated into English: "For the Danes had a banner possessed of a wonderful property, which although I believe it will seem incredible to the reader, nevertheless, because it is true, I will insert it for him for the sake of truth. For although it was woven of a very plain bright silk and had no figure embroidered on it yet always in time of war a raven seemed as it were to appear on it, in victory opening its beak and beating its wings, restless in its feet, but very quiet drooping in its whole body in defeat." (Hrafnhildur Bodvarsdottir, p.111)

Raven flag on the Bayeux Tapestry

The raven banner can also be found on the Bayeux tapestry which was woven after the battle of Hastings in 1066. This tapestry depicts the invasion of the Normans led by William the Conqueror, and on this tapestry, we can see two examples of the banner with one more clearly depicted than the other.

The Raven flag depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

The first example of the raven banner can be seen when the Normans ride into battle. Here a knight carries a lance or a spear, with what seems to depict a raven embedded on a triangular-shaped flag, with loosely hanging threads as decoration.

The second example which is a bit more unclear is shown where the brothers of Harold Godwinson are slain. As you can see this flag does not have the raven embedded on it, but it does have a triangular shape.

A new Nordic flag

I've always wondered how a new Nordic flag based on the ancient raven banner design would look like. However, most of the flags that I have seen from across the web, have mostly been designed on rectangular shape.

I would like to encourage designers to use the triangular shape and make a new and modern version of the raven banner, and if possible with the use of runes as well. This is the Odal/ Othalan rune, not really a Viking rune since it derives from the elder futhark, but it is my favorite rune. It stands for heritage and tradition, and I would argue that it could stand for the homeland as well. However, keep in mind, that the raven banner, was most likely only used as a war banner.

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Raven Banner the Viking flag of War - Nordic Culture

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The Raven banner... the flag flown by the Vikings when they raided the shores of their victims across Europe, or so the story goes... In reality, the raven banner was not a universal Viking flag, because the people in Scandinavia were not one nation.

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The Raven Banner is an old Viking Age banner believed to be totemic (used as a representative totem) in nature. The raven is often believed to represent Odin's two ravens Huginn ("thought") and Muninn ("mind"/"memory"), and is seen throughout European representations of Viking invasions of Western European and Christian kingdoms. The symbol, by virtue of being Norse, was reshaped into being a vague white power symbol similar to the Valknut. Regardless, the symbol of the Norse style raven is used for fearmongering and as a symbol of white pride, ironically also representing a lack of knowledge or memory of history or where they may truly be from.

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Relatively unknown in terms of purpose or connection, the valknut is seen by many as a general symbol of Viking Age Scandinavian heritage, often connected religiously to the practice of Germanic Neo-Paganism, and more specifically as the primary emblem of the worship of Odin/Óðinn/Wotan. Although likely religious in nature, like the Celtic Cross and Swastika it was co-opted to become a hate symbol of Nordic pride and supremacy. The symbol's value is connected to ritual purpose and the religion of Germanic Neo-Paganism, and as such those who use the symbol for hate are denounced by the community as racists and white supremacists.

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The white supremacist version of the Celtic Cross, which consists of a square cross interlocking with or surrounded by a circle, is one of the most common white supremacist symbols.

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The Celtic Cross is the variant of the Crucifix seen almost exclusively in Celtic Europe (British Isles, Brittany, France) and originates from the Early Middle Ages. The symbol had come to be a rallying point for the preservation of Celtic culture, but was mutated by white supremacists into a hate symbol alongside the Iron Cross to represent European heritage, however it is not used nearly as often as the other symbols, with the exception of the hate group Stormfront.

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The Elder Futhark Odal rune (ᛟ), also known as the Othala rune, represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is * ōþalan "heritage; inheritance, inherited estate".

It was in use for epigraphy during the 3rd to the 8th centuries. It is not continued in the Younger Futhark, disappearing from the Scandinavian record around the 6th century, but it survived in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, and expressed the Old English œ phoneme during the 7th and 8th centuries. Its name is attested as ēðel in the Anglo-Saxon manuscript tradition.

The rune is encoded in Unicode at code point U+16DF: .

The Common Germanic stem ōþala- or ōþila- "inherited estate" is an ablaut variant of the stem aþal-. It consists of a root aþ- and a suffix -ila- or -ala-. The suffix variant accounts for the umlauted form ēþel. Germanic aþal‑ had a meaning of (approximately) "nobility", and the derivation aþala‑ could express "lineage, (noble) race, descent, kind", and thus "nobleman, prince" (whence Old English atheling), but also "inheritance, inherited estate, property, possession". Its etymology is not clear, but it is usually compared to atta "father" (cf. the name Attila, ultimately baby talk for "father").

There is an apparent, but debated, etymological connection of Odal to Adel (Old High German adal or edil), meaning nobility, noble family line, or exclusive group of superior social status; aristocracy, typically associated with major land holdings and fortifications.[self-published source? ]

The term oþal ( Old High German uodal) is a formative element in some Germanic names, notably and variants;, the stem aþal is more frequent, found in Gothic names such as Athalaric, Ataulf, etc. and in Old High German names such as , and Adel. Unrelated, but difficult to separate etymologically, is the root aud- "wealth, property, possession, prosperity"; from this root are names such as and other English names with the ed prefix (from Old English ead), German and various Germanic names beginning with ed- or od-. Possibly related is euþa, euþu a word for "child, offspring" (attested in Old Norse jóð, and possibly in the name of the Iuthungi).

Odal was associated with the concept of inheritance in ancient Scandinavian property law. Some of these laws are still in effect today, and govern Norwegian property. These are the Åsetesrett (homestead right), and the ( allodial right). The tradition of Udal law found in Shetland and Orkney in Scotland, and also in Manx law on the Isle of Man, is from the same origin.

The o-rune is attested early, in inscriptions from the 3rd century, such as the Thorsberg chape ( DR7) and the Vimose planer ( Vimose-Høvelen, DR 206). The letter is derived from a Raetian variant of the letter O.[citation needed ] The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐍉 (derived from Greek Ω), which had the name oþal.[citation needed ]

Wolfgang Krause (1964) has speculated that the o rune is used as an ideograph denoting possession in the Thorsberg chape inscription. The inscription has owlþuþewaz, read by Krause as O[þila] - W[u]lþu-þewaz "inherited property - the servant of Wulþuz".

The odal rune is found in some transitional inscriptions of the 6th or 7th century, such as the Gummarp, Björketorp and Stentoften runestones, but it disappears from the Scandinavian record by the 8th century. The Old Norse o phoneme is now written in Younger Futhark with the same letter as the u phoneme, the Ur rune.

The Anglo-Saxon runes preserve the full set of 24 Elder Futhark runes (besides introducing innovations), but in some cases these runes are given new sound values due to Anglo-Frisian sound changes. The odal rune is such a case: the o sound in the Anglo-Saxon system is now expressed by ōs ᚩ, a derivation of the old Ansuz rune; the odal rune is now known as ēðel (with umlaut due to the form ōþila-) and is used to express an œ sound, but is attested only rarely in epigraphy (outside of simply appearing in a futhark row). Epigraphical attestations include:

the Frisian Westeremden yew-stick, possibly as part of a given name Ƿimod (Ƿimœd)

the Harford (Norfolk) brooch, dated c. 650, in a finite verb form: luda:gibœtæsigilæ "Luda repaired the brooch"

the left panel of the Franks Casket, twice: tƿœgen gibroþær afœddæ hiæ ƿylif "two brothers (scil. Romulus and Remus), a she-wolf nourished them".

The Anglo-Saxon rune poem preserves the meaning "an inherited estate" for the rune name:

ᛟ byþ oferleof æghƿylcum men,
gif he mot ðær rihtes and gerysena on
brucan on bolde bleadum oftast.

[An estate] is very dear to every man,
if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.

The rendition of the Odal rune with wings or feet ( serifs) was the emblem of ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen operating during World War II in the Nazi Germany-sponsored Independent State of Croatia. This rendition has been used by the Neo-Nazi Wiking-Jugend in Germany, and in South Africa by the Anglo-Afrikaner Bond, the , the Blanke Bevrydingsbeweging, and the Italian neo-fascist group National Vanguard. This particular rendition has no historical significance outside of Nazi Germany. Because of its Nazi associations, Strafgesetzbuch 86a bans any usage of the Odal rune as with most other symbols if used in a Neo-Nazi context.

Another version with arrows on the end was used by the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland.

Post war military usage was incorporated into the Bundeswehr with a stylized "Othala rune" being featured on the shoulder insignia of the Hauptfeldwebel with it also being used by the ranks succeeding it.

It was used by the Afrikaner Student Federation and the far-right wing White Liberation Movement.

In November 2016, the leadership of the National Socialist Movement announced their intention to replace the Nazi-pattern Hakenkreuz swastika with the Odal rune on their uniforms and party regalia in an attempt to enter mainstream politics.

The symbol was used with the Black Sun/Sonnenrad/Schwarze Sonne, Tyr rune, Celtic Cross, Kolovrat swastika, the neo-Nazi slogan Fourteen Words and Archangel Michael's Cross of the Romanian fascist group Iron Guard by the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant.

The rendition of the Othala rune both with and without feet/wings ( serifs) is used by Odinists and Asatruar interchangeably, usually without any relation to National Socialism or the Völkisch movement.

The Odal rune was used as one of the protection runes of the Shadowhunters in the film adaptation of the first in the series of Cassandra Clare books City of Bones. It was shown prominently on the character poster for Izzy, who wears it on her collarbone. It was also used throughout promotional material to highlight the stories themes of family and inheritance.

An instrumental track on Agalloch's second album, The Mantle, is called Odal.

The eighth track of Wardruna's third album, Runaljod - Ragnarok, is called Odal. The song ends with a long pronunciation of the name.[clarification needed ]

In April 2014, the British Topman clothing company apologised after using the Odal rune in one of their clothing lines.

The television show Sleepy Hollow used the version with wings/feet in season 3, calling it the emblem of Thura.

The superhero web serial Worm features a white supremacist supervillain called Othala, who wears the rune (with serifs) as her emblem.

In the second book in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan, the Othala rune is translated as "inheritance." This is particularly significant to Hearthstone, representing his brother's death and his abuse at the hands of his father.

The dictionary definition of ᛟ at Wiktionary

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The Elder Futhark Odal rune (ᛟ), also known as the Othala rune, represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is * ōþalan "heritage; inheritance, inherited estate". It was in use for epigraphy during the 3rd to the 8th centuries.

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Originating as a letter in the Norse Elder Futhark runic alphabet, the rune was meant to represent family lineage or inherited and at least once is compared to the derivative term "dada," or atta in Old English. It is currently used to represent the racial superiority of white Americans, who cherry picked its interpretation as heritage and lineage, misusing it to symbolise said superiority.

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The swastika as used by the Nazis is a symbol identified with hatred of ideologically "inferior races," ironically contrasting with its historical symbolism of peace and protection across the Eurasian world, ranging from Buddhism and Mesopotamia to the regional pantheons of the European peninsula. it became the symbol of the "Aryan" race with the rise of Hitler's Nazi regime and Nazi-influenced pseudoscientific archaeology.

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swastika, equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles, all in the same rotary direction, usually clockwise. The swastika as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune is widely distributed throughout the ancient and modern world. The word is derived from the Sanskrit svastika, meaning "conducive to well-being." It was a favourite symbol on ancient Mesopotamian coinage. In Scandinavia the left-hand swastika was the sign for the god Thor's hammer. The swastika also appeared in early Christian and Byzantine art (where it became known as the gammadion cross, or crux gammata, because it could be constructed from four Greek gammas [ Γ ] attached to a common base), and it occurred in South and Central America (among the Maya) and in North America (principally among the Navajo).

In India the swastika continues to be the most widely used auspicious symbol of Hindus, Jainas, and Buddhists. Among the Jainas it is the emblem of their seventh Tirthankara (saint) and is also said to remind the worshiper by its four arms of the four possible places of rebirth-in the animal or plant world, in hell, on Earth, or in the spirit world.

The Hindus (and also Jainas) use the swastika to mark the opening pages of their account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings. A clear distinction is made between the right-hand swastika, which moves in a clockwise direction, and the left-hand swastika (more correctly called the sauvastika), which moves in a counterclockwise direction. The right-hand swastika is considered a solar symbol and imitates in the rotation of its arms the course taken daily by the Sun, which in the Northern Hemisphere appears to pass from east, then south, to west. The left-hand swastika more often stands for night, the terrifying goddess Kālī, and magical practices.

In the Buddhist tradition the swastika symbolizes the feet, or the footprints, of the Buddha. It is often placed at the beginning and end of inscriptions, and modern Tibetan Buddhists use it as a clothing decoration. With the spread of Buddhism, the swastika passed into the iconography of China and Japan, where it has been used to denote plurality, abundance, prosperity, and long life.

In Nazi Germany the swastika (German: Hakenkreuz), with its oblique arms turned clockwise, became the national symbol. In 1910 a poet and nationalist ideologist Guido von List had suggested the swastika as a symbol for all anti-Semitic organizations; and when the National Socialist Party was formed in 1919-20, it adopted it. On September 15, 1935, the black swastika on a white circle with a red background became the national flag of Germany. This use of the swastika ended in World War II with the German surrender in May 1945, though the swastika is still favoured by neo-Nazi groups.

Adam Augustyn.

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swastika, equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles, all in the same rotary direction, usually clockwise. The swastika as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune is widely distributed throughout the ancient and modern world. The word is derived from the Sanskrit svastika, meaning "conducive to well-being."