Rudolf John Gorsleben was a German Ariosophist, Armanist (practitioner of the Armanen runes), journal editor and playwright. He was associated with the Thule Society during the Bavarian Soviet Republic of 1919 and, along with Dietrich Eckart, he was taken prisoner by the Communists, narrowly escaping execution. On 29 November 1925, Gorsleben founded the Edda Society (Edda-Gesellschaft), a mystic study group.