Woden is also the god of transformation and would thus be linked to the art of alchemy. My theory about the runic 'formula' ALU, aided by the work of Wulf Ingessunu, essentially places it as an alchemical principle. This, I believe, partly explains the presence of these runes upon funerary urns; the greater alchemical work serves perhaps its most important purpose at the point of death.

https://teleg.eu/s/AEHTEMEN/1412