Name Friedrich Marby | Died 1966 | |
Friedrich Bernhard Marby (10 May 1882 – 3 December 1966) was a German rune occultist and Germanic revivalist. He is best known for his revivalism and use of the Armanen runes row. Marby was imprisoned during the Third Reich, which may have been due to a denunciation by Karl Maria Wiligut. According to the Odinist magazine Vor Tru, Marby "was one of the most (if not the most) important figures in the realm of runic sciences" with an impact felt not only by contemporaries but "among today's researchers and practitioners."
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Early life
Born in Aurich, Ostfriesland, Friedrich Marby trained as a printer and served professionally as an editor.
Rune scholarship
From 1924, he began publishing his theories and research.
There was a school of rune scholars who interpreted the Eddas completely in anti-Semitic fashion, but Alan Baker in his book Invisible Eagle singles out Marby as one of the exceptions.
Marby, along with Siegfried Adolf Kummer, was criticized by name in a report made to Heinrich Himmler by his chief esoteric runologist, Karl Maria Wiligut. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke states that Wiligut censured them "for bringing the holy Aryan heritage into disrepute and ridicule", suggesting "this criticism may have led to Marby's harsh treatment in the Third Reich."
According to Vor Tru, Marby spent eight years and three months in the camps at Flossenburg, Welzheim, and Dachau before being released on 29 April 1945. He resumed publishing his magazine Forschung and Erfahung (Research and Experience) and books. He died in 1966.
Marby's "runic gymnastics" (Runengymnastik) was advocated as "Rune-Yoga" (also "Runic Yoga", "Stadhagaldr") by Stephen Flowers ("Edred Thorsson") from the 1980s.