“Adulruna: The Runic Alchemy of Johannes Bureus” by Various Authors

The Swedish polymath Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), Royal Librarian and close friend of King Gustavus Adolphus, is primarily known as an exponent of “Gothicism,” the idea that the ancient Goths of Scandinavia were the first rulers of Europe, and Sweden the true origin of Western culture. But he was also an early student of runology, as well as a practicing alchemist. Influenced by the Neoplatonic revival of the Renaissance, Bureus viewed alchemy as part of a Prisca Theologia stemming from the ancient Goths, arguing that the Scandinavian runes constituted a “Gothic Cabala” in which the secrets of all sciences – including alchemy – had been hidden for posterity. PAPERBACK