Runes and magic of Beowulf and the Volsungs SagaIn the Old English poem Beowulf and the Icelandic The Volsungs Saga, a saga representing oral traditions dating to the fourth and fifth centuries, we see mention of runes, which were used with connotations of magic or charms. An unknown author wrote The Saga of the Volsungs in the 13th century, basing its story on much older Norse poetry. Iceland was settled by the Vikings around 870-930, who brought there the famous lay of Sigurd and the Volsungs. Native Icelandic poets loved the story of Sigurd and the Huns, Goths and Burgundians, with whom he interacted. This prose story is based on traditional Norse verse called Eddic poetry, a form of mythic or heroic secular that developed before A.D. 1000 in the oral folk culture of Old Scandinavia. In The Saga of the Volsungs, the hero Sigurd is the one who best corresponds to the hero Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. George Clark in "The Hero and Theme" mentions: "The form of Beowulf taken as a whole suggests both the 'Son of the Bear' type of folk tale (especially as we find it in Scandinavia) and the “combat myth”. . . .” (286). The “combat myth” is what this saga is. When Sigurd was born, he was the grandson of King Eylimi; when Beowulf was born, he was the grandson of King Hrethel. The king said of Sigurd that “none would be the same or equal” (55), and this proved true; Beowulf, in his youth, was so strong that “he was the strongest of all living men” (196). The similarities between Sigurd and Beowulf continue through both works. The Icelandic skald is the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon scop. He was a storyteller. The Icelandic material draws on a long oral tradition, as does that of the Anglo-Saxons, dating back in their accounts to the fourth and fifth centuries (Byock 2). The skalds remained in the royal courts of Scandinavia like their southern counterparts. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon narrative poem with oral traditions dating back to the 6th century. We see the first mention of runes in this poem in connection with the magic sword. When the hero is in mortal combat with Grendel's mother in the sea, he is about to be killed by the monster when suddenly God shows him the presence of a special sword nearby on the wall..