Othala represents the O in the runic alphabet and is the twenty-fourth rune of the older Futhark. Her names are Old Norse Odal, Old English Epel and Ethel, Gothic Utal and her other names are Odhal, Odthal, Ogthala, Otael, Othal, Othala, Othalan and Othilia.
It stands for the motherland. Literally, the name means motherland or ancestral land. Its esoteric meaning is inheritance, estate and noble.
The twenty-fourth rune of the elder Futhark means "possession" or "home". It is mainly associated with those possessions that are passed on to the next generation within the family. This includes first and foremost one's home. In addition, the runa othala can also be translated as "home."
What began with the first rune, Fehu, now ends with the last, Othala. Both signs, in their own way, represent prosperity and possessions. While Fehu represents, among other things, a new beginning, Othala can be compared to the end of a journey.
The runes of the older Futhark, like the Great Arcana of the Tarot, depict a kind of heroic epic. In the Tarot, the "Universe" is the final card. It expresses the consummating union with the cosmos, the homecoming to the Absolute from which we were created and to which we will one day return. Othala is also compared to a homecoming. One can now return to the sheltered care of one's family or tribe. In one way or another.
Perceval's search for the Holy Grail could be chosen as an example of a hero's journey. This began with his birth or his becoming conscious, expressed through Fehu. But the real journey started with the rune Raidho, when Perceval concretely set out to track down the Grail.
Some challenges had to be overcome. But he only found the holy chalice when Dagaz showed him the right way and he had achieved a certain inner purity. Now he can return to his own. He carries the chalice with him, knowing that it is not the Grail that makes him what he is now, but the arduous as well as enlightening path to find it.
Othala can also be seen as a symbol of the Holy Grail. However, it is not a chalice that can be placed in a display case. It is that enlightenment or reward that one experiences at the end of a hero's journey.
