This end table is made from a chainsaw cut naturally fallen oak tree from southern MN. The edges are chiseled free of bark and rot and dried for over a year. The crack which opened up during the drying process has been held together by three black walnut butterfly inlays for strength and decoration. The oak slab is mounted on raw steel legs which also brace the cracks in the wood. Around the edge is an Old Norse verse written in Elder Futhark runes from the Vǫluspá in the Poetic Edda.

The verse reads:

Vǫluspá 3                                                                                               

Ár var alda

þar er Ymir byggði,

vara sandr né sær

né svalar unnir,

jörð fannst æva

né upphiminn,

gap var Ginnunga,

en gras hvergi.

The Seeress´s Prophecy 3

Young were the years,

when Ymir made his settlement,

there was no sand nor sea,

nor cool waves,

earth was nowhere

nor the sky above,

chaos yawned,

grass was nowhere.

The English translations are from The Poetic Edda: A New Translation by Carolyne Larrington. Oxford University Press. 1996

ᚨᚱ ᚹᚨᚱ ᚨᛚᛞᚨ ᚦᚨᚱ ᛖᚱ ᛉᛗᛁᚱ ᛒᛉᚷᚷᚦᛁ ᚹᚨᚱᚨ ᛊᚨᚾᛞᚱ ᚾᛖ ᛊᛇᚱ ᚾᛖ ᛊᚹᚨᛚᚨᚱ ᚢᚾᚾᛁᚱ ᛃᛟᚱᚦ ᚠᚨᚾᚾᛊᛏ ᛇᚨ ᚾᛖ ᚢᛈᛈᚺᛁᛗᛁᚾᚾ ᚷᚨᛈ ᚨᚱ ᚷᛁᚾᚾᚢᚾᚷᚨ ᛖᚾ ᚷᚱᚨᛊ ᚺᛖᚱᚷᛁ

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse

Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Old Norse Verse