Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Qdoc - Tips - The Runes A Basic Guide
Qdoc - Tips - The Runes A Basic Guide
Contents
1 Runes 1
1.1 His
Histor
toryy and use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.
1.1.11 Orig
Origin
inss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Earlyy insc
Earl inscripti
riptions
ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Magical
Magical or div
divinat
inatory
ory use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4
1.1.4 Medie
Medieva
vall use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5 Runess in Eddi
Rune Eddicc lor
loree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Runi
Runicc alp
alphabe
habets
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.1 Elder
Elder Futhar
Futharkk (2nd
(2nd to
to 8th
8th centur
centuries
ies)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 Anglo-Sax
Anglo-Saxon
on runes
runes (5th to 11th
11th centu
centurie
ries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 “Marcoma
“Marcomannic
nnic rune
runes”
s” (8th
(8th to
to 9th cent
centurie
uries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.4 Younge
Youngerr Futhark
Futhark (9th to 11th
11th cent
centurie
uries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.5 Mediev
Medieval
al runes
runes (12th to 15th
15th centu
centurie
ries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.6 Dalecarl
Dalecarlian
ian rune
runess (16th
(16th to
to 19th
19th centuri
centuries)
es) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Ac
Acade
ademic
mic stud
studyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Bod
Bodyy of insc
inscript
ription
ionss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.55 Mo
1. Mode
dern
rn us
usee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5.1
1.5.1 Esote
Esoteric
ricis
ism
m . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . 9
1.5.2 J. R. R. Tolki
Tolkien
en and
and conte
contempor
mporary
ary ficti
fiction
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.66 Uni
1. nico
code
de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.77 Se
1. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.88 No
1. Note
tess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9.1
1.9.1 Bibli
Bibliogr
ograp
aphy
hy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.10 Externa
Externall links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Elder
Elder Fut
Futhar
hark
k 13
2.1 De
Desc
scrip
ripti
tion
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.22 Or
2. Orig
igin
inss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.1 Derivation
Derivation fro
from
m Italic alphabe
alphabets
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.2 Date and purpo
purpose
se of inv
inventi
ention
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 Run
Runee nam
names
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Insc
Inscripti
ription
on corp
corpus
us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
i
Contents
1 Runes 1
1.1 His
Histor
toryy and use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.
1.1.11 Orig
Origin
inss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Earlyy insc
Earl inscripti
riptions
ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Magical
Magical or div
divinat
inatory
ory use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4
1.1.4 Medie
Medieva
vall use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5 Runess in Eddi
Rune Eddicc lor
loree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Runi
Runicc alp
alphabe
habets
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.1 Elder
Elder Futhar
Futharkk (2nd
(2nd to
to 8th
8th centur
centuries
ies)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 Anglo-Sax
Anglo-Saxon
on runes
runes (5th to 11th
11th centu
centurie
ries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 “Marcoma
“Marcomannic
nnic rune
runes”
s” (8th
(8th to
to 9th cent
centurie
uries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.4 Younge
Youngerr Futhark
Futhark (9th to 11th
11th cent
centurie
uries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.5 Mediev
Medieval
al runes
runes (12th to 15th
15th centu
centurie
ries)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.6 Dalecarl
Dalecarlian
ian rune
runess (16th
(16th to
to 19th
19th centuri
centuries)
es) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Ac
Acade
ademic
mic stud
studyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Bod
Bodyy of insc
inscript
ription
ionss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.55 Mo
1. Mode
dern
rn us
usee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5.1
1.5.1 Esote
Esoteric
ricis
ism
m . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . 9
1.5.2 J. R. R. Tolki
Tolkien
en and
and conte
contempor
mporary
ary ficti
fiction
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.66 Uni
1. nico
code
de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.77 Se
1. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.88 No
1. Note
tess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9.1
1.9.1 Bibli
Bibliogr
ograp
aphy
hy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.10 Externa
Externall links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Elder
Elder Fut
Futhar
hark
k 13
2.1 De
Desc
scrip
ripti
tion
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.22 Or
2. Orig
igin
inss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.1 Derivation
Derivation fro
from
m Italic alphabe
alphabets
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.2 Date and purpo
purpose
se of inv
inventi
ention
on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 Run
Runee nam
names
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Insc
Inscripti
ription
on corp
corpus
us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
i
ii CONTENTS
2.4.1 Scandina
Scandinavian
vian insc
inscript
ription
ionss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4.2 Contine
Continental
ntal insc
inscript
ription
ionss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4.3
2.4.3 Distri
Distribut
butio
ionn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.4.4 List of insc
inscript
ription
ionss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.55 Uni
2. nico
code
de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.66 Se
2. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.7 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.8 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.9 Ex
Exte
terna
rnall li
links
nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Young
Younger
er Fut
Futhar
hark
k 19
3.11 Hi
3. Hist
stor
oryy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Run
Runee nam
names
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 Vari
ariant
antss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3.1 Long-bran
Long-branch
ch rune
runess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3.2
3.3.2 Short-
Short-twi
twigg run
runes
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3.3 Hälsinge
Hälsinge rune
runess (stav
(stavel
eless
ess rune
runes)
s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.4 Desc
Descenda
endant
nt scri
scripts
pts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.4.1
3.4.1 Medie
Medieva
vall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.4.2
3.4.2 Early
Early mod
moder
ernn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.55 Se
3. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.6 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.7 Ot
Othe
herr sou
sourc
rces
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.8 Ex
Exte
terna
rnall li
links
nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4 Anglo
Anglo-Sa
-Saxo
xon
n run
runes
es 22
4.11 Hi
4. Hist
stor
oryy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.22 Le
4. Lett
tter
erss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3 Insc
Inscripti
ription
on corp
corpus
us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.4 Ins
Inscri
cripti
ption
onss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.
4.4.11 Fris
Frisia
iann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.
4.4.22 Engl
Englis
ishh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.3 Related
Related manu
manuscri
script
pt tex
texts
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.55 Se
4. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.66 No
4. Note
tess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.7 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.8 Fur
Furthe
therr re
readi
ading
ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.9 Ex
Exte
terna
rnall li
links
nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5 Runi
Runicc ma
magi
gicc 27
5.1 Hist
Historic
orical
al ev
evide
idence
nce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.1.
5.1.11 Taci
Tacitu
tuss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
CONTENTS iii
5.1.2
5.1.2 Epig
Epigrap
raphy
hy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.1.3 Mediev
Medieval
al sourc
sources
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2 Mode
Modern
rn sys
system
temss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2.1
5.2.1 Ralph
Ralph Blu
Blum
m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2.2 Stephe
Stephenn Flo
Flowe
wers
rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2.3
5.2.3 Step
Stephan
han Gru
Grund
ndyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.2.
5.2.44 Othher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ot
5.33 Se
5. Seee al
also
so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.4 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.55 So
5. Sour
urce
cess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.6 Ex
Exte
terna
rnall li
links
nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6 Runicc ins
Runi inscript
cription
ionss 32
6.1 St
Stat
atis
isti
tics
cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.1.1 Number
Number of kno
known
wn insc
inscripti
riptions
ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.1.2 Estimatess of total number of inscripti
Estimate inscriptions
ons produced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.2 Type
Typess of
of insc
inscribed
ribed ob
objec
jects
ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
6.3 Earl
Earlyy period
period (2nd to 4th
4th centuri
centuries)
es) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6.4 Sca
Scandi
ndina
navi
vian
an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6.5 Ang
Anglo
lo-Fr
-Fris
isia
iann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.6 Con
Contin
tinen
ental
tal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.6.
6.6.11 Goth
Gothic
ic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.6.2
6.6.2 Aleman
Alemannic
nic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.6.
6.6.33 Fran
Franki
kish
sh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.7 Ref
Refere
erence
ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.8 Ex
Exte
terna
rnall li
links
nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.9 Tex
Textt and image sources, contributo
contributors,
rs, and licens
licenses
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.9.
6.9.11 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.9.
6.9.22 Imag
Images
es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.9.3
6.9.3 Conte
Content
nt li
lice
cense
nse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 1
Runes
For other uses, see Runes (disambiguation). Theprocessof transmission of the scriptis unknown. The
oldest inscriptions are found in Denmark and northern
Runes (Proto-Norse: (runo), Old Norse: rún ) are Germany, not near Italy. A “West Germanic hypothesis”
the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic al- suggests transmission via Elbe Germanic groups, while a
phabets, which were used to write various Germanic lan- "Gothic hypothesis” presumes transmission via East Ger-
guages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for manic expansion.
specialised purposes thereafter. The Scandinavian vari-
ants are also known as futhark or fuþark (derived from
their first six letters of the alphabet: F, U , Þ , A , R , and 1.1 History and use
K); the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc (due to
sound changes undergone in Old English by the names of
those six letters).
Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic in-
scriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms
a specialised branch of Germanic linguistics.
The earliest runic inscriptions date from around 150 AD.
The characters were generally replaced by the Latin al-
phabet as the cultures that had used runes underwent
Christianisation, by approximately 700 AD in central Eu-
rope and 1100 AD in northern Europe. However, the use
of runes persisted for specialized purposes in northern
Europe. Until the early 20th century, runes were used
in rural Sweden for decorative purposes in Dalarna and
on Runic calendars.
The three best-known runic alphabets are the Elder
Futhark (around 150–800 AD), the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
(400–1100 AD), and the Younger Futhark (800–1100
AD). The Younger Futhark is divided further into the
long-branch runes (also called Danish, although theywere
also used in Norway, Sweden and Frisia); short-branch or
Rök runes (also called Swedish-Norwegian, although they
were also used in Denmark); and the stavlösa or Hälsinge
runes (staveless runes). The Younger Futhark developed
further into the Medieval runes (1100–1500 AD), andthe
Dalecarlian runes (around 1500–1800 AD). An inscription using cipher runes, the Elder Futhark, and the
Younger Futhark, on the 9th-century Rök Runestone in Sweden
Historically, the runic alphabet is a derivation of the Old
Italic scripts of antiquity, with the addition of some inno- The runes were in use among the Germanic peoples from
vations. Which variant of the Old Italic family in particu- the 1st or 2nd century AD.[lower-alpha 1] This period corre-
lar gave rise to the runes is uncertain. Suggestions include sponds to the late Common Germanicstage linguistically,
Raetic, Venetic, Etruscan, or Old Latin as candidates. At with a continuum of dialects not yet clearly separated into
the time, all of these scripts had the same angular letter the three branches of later centuries: North Germanic,
shapes suited for epigraphy, which would become char- West Germanic, and East Germanic.
acteristic of the runes.
No distinction is made in surviving runic inscriptions be-
1
2 CHAPTER 1. RUNES
sible that the early runes were not used so much as a sim-
ple writing system, but rather as magical signs to be used
for charms. Although some say the runes were used for
A bracteate (G 205) from approximately AD 400 that features divination, there is no direct evidence to suggest theywere
the charm word alu with a depiction of a stylized male head, a ever used in this way. Thename rune itself, taken to mean
horse, and a swastika, a common motif on bracteates “secret, something hidden”, seems to indicate that knowl-
edge of the runes was originally considered esoteric, or
restricted to an elite. The 6th-century Björketorp Rune-
stone warns in Proto-Norse using the word rune in both
senses:
The same curse and use of the word, rune, also is found
on the Stentoften Runestone. There also are some in-
scriptions suggesting a medieval belief in the magical sig-
nificance of runes, such as the Franks Casket (AD 700)
panel.
Charm words, such as auja, laþu, laukaʀ, and most com-
monly, alu ,[21] appear on a number of Migration period
Elder Futhark inscriptions as well as variants and ab-
breviations of them. Much speculation and study has
been produced on the potential meaning of these inscrip-
tions. Rhyming groups appear on some early bracteates
that also may be magical in purpose, such as salusalu
and luwatuwa. Further, an inscription on the Gummarp
Runestone (500-700 AD) gives a cryptic inscription de-
An illustration of the Gummarp Runestone (500-700 AD) from scribing the use of three runic letters followed by the El-
Blekinge , Sweden der Futhark f-rune written three times in succession.[22]
Nevertheless, it has proven difficult to find unambigu-
The earliest runic inscriptions found on artifacts give the ous traces of runic “oracles": although Norse litera-
name of either the craftsman or the proprietor, or some- ture is full of references to runes, it nowhere contains
times, remain a linguistic mystery. Due to this, it is pos- specific instructions on divination. There are at least
1.1. HISTORY AND USE 5
a profane and sometimes even of a vulgar nature. Fol- when he began to handle weapons and show other signs
lowing this find, it is nowadays commonly presumed that, of nobility, Rig returned and, having claimed him as a
at least in late use, Runic was a widespread and common son, taught him the runes. In 1555, the exiled Swedish
writing system. archbishop Olaus Magnus recorded a tradition that a man
named Kettil Runske had stolen three rune staffs from
Odin and learned the runes and their magic..
In the later Middle Ages, runes also were used in the clog
almanacs (sometimes called Runic staff , Prim, or Scandi-
navian calendar) of Sweden and Estonia. The authentic-
ity of some monuments bearing Runic inscriptions found Detail of the Elder Futhark inscription on a replica of one of the
in Northern America is disputed; most of them have been 5th-century AD Golden Horns of Gallehus found in Denmark
dated to modern times.
Main article: Elder Futhark
1.1.5 Runes in Eddic lore
The Elder Futhark, used for writing Proto-Norse, con-
In Norse mythology, the runic alphabet is attested to a sists of 24 runes that often are arranged in three groups
divine origin (Old Norse: reginkunnr). This is attested of eight; each group is referred to as an Ætt. The earliest
as early as on the Noleby Runestone from approximately known sequential listing of the full set of 24 runes dates to
600 AD that reads Runo fahi raginakundo toj[e'k]a... , approximately CE 400 and is found on the Kylver Stone
meaning “I prepare the suitable divine rune...”[26] and in Gotland, Sweden.
in an attestation from the 9th century on the Sparlösa Most probably each rune had a name, chosen to represent
Runestone, which reads Ok rað runaʀ þaʀ rægi[n]kundu , the sound of the rune itself. The names are, however,
meaning “And interpret the runes of divine origin”. [27] not directly attested for the Elder Futhark themselves.
More notably, in the Poetic Edda poem Hávamál, Stanza Reconstructed names in Proto-Germanic have been pro-
80, the runes also are described as reginkunnr: duced, based on the names given for the runes in the later
The poem Hávamál explains that the originator of the alphabets attested in the rune poems andthe linked names
runes was the major deity, Odin. Stanza 138 describes of the letters of the Gothic alphabet. The letter /a/ was
how Odin received the runes through self-sacrifice: named from the runic letter called Ansuz. An asterisk
In stanza 139, Odin continues: before the rune names means that they are unattested re-
constructions. The 24 Elder Futhark runes are:[29]
This passage has been interpreted as a mythical repre-
sentation of shamanic initial rituals in which the initiate
must undergo a physical trial in order to receive mystic 1.2.2 Anglo-Saxon runes (5th to 11th cen-
wisdom.[28] turies)
In the Poetic Edda poem Rígsþula another origin is re-
lated of how the runic alphabet became known to hu- Main article: Anglo-Saxon runes
mans. The poem relates how Ríg, identified as Heimdall The futhorc (sometimes written “fuþorc”) are an ex-
in the introduction, sired three sons (Thrall (slave), Churl tended alphabet, consisting of 29, and later even 33, char-
(freeman), and Jarl (noble)) by human women. These acters. It was probably used from the 5th century on-
sons became the ancestors of the three classes of hu- wards. There are competing theories as to the origins
mans indicated by their names. When Jarl reached an age of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. One theory proposes that
1.2. RUNIC ALPHABETS 7
1.2.5 Medieval runes (12th to 15th cen- (the so-called Bryggen inscriptions). This indicates that
turies) runes were in common use side by side with the Latin
alphabet for several centuries. Indeed, some of the me-
Main article: Medieval runes dieval runic inscriptions are written in Latin.
In the Middle Ages, the Younger Futhark in Scandinavia
1.2.6 Dalecarlian runes (16th to 19th cen-
turies)
abcdþðefghiklmnopqrstuvyzæø
Main article: Dalecarlian runes
According to Carl-Gustav Werner, “In the isolated
Medieval runes
a b c de f g h i k l m n o p r s t u y å ä ö
Dalecarlian runes
1.5.1 Esotericism
Modern neopaganism and esotericism
Germanic mysticism and Nazi symbolism
Runes are popular in Germanic neopaganism, and to a
Further information: Runosophy, Armanen runes, lesser extent in other forms of Neopaganism and New
Wiligut runes, and Runengymnastik Age esotericism. Various systems of Runic divination
The pioneer of the Armanist branch of Ariosophy and have been published since the 1980s, notably by Ralph
one of the more important figures in esotericism in Ger- Blum (1982), Stephen Flowers (1984, onward), Stephan
many and Austria in the late 19th and early 20th cen- Grundy (1990), and Nigel Pennick (1995).
tury was the Austrian occultist, mysticist, and völkisch The Uthark theory originally was proposed as a scholarly
author, Guido von List. In 1908, he published in Das hypothesis by Sigurd Agrell in 1932. In 2002, Swedish
Geheimnis der Runen (“The Secret of the Runes”) a set esotericist Thomas Karlsson popularized this “Uthark”
of eighteen so-called, "Armanen runes", based on the runic row, which he refers to as, the “night side of the
Younger Futhark and runes of List’s own introduction, runes”, in the context of modern occultism.
which allegedly were revealed to him in a state of tem-
porary blindness after cataract operations on both eyes in
1902. The use of runes in Germanic mysticism, notably 1.5.2 J. R. R. Tolkien and contemporary
List’s “Armanen runes” and the derived "Wiligut runes" fiction
by Karl Maria Wiligut, played a certain role in Nazi sym-
bolism. The fascination with runic symbolism was mostly In J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit (1937), the Anglo-
limited to Heinrich Himmler, and not shared by the other Saxon runes are used on a map to emphasize its connec-
10 CHAPTER 1. RUNES
tion to the Dwarves. They also were used in the initial in early modern runic calendar staves (“Golden num-
drafts of The Lord of the Rings, but later were replaced by ber Runes”, Runic Arlaug Symbol U+16EE , Runic
the Cirth rune-like alphabet invented by Tolkien, used to Tvimadur Symbol U+16EF , Runic Belgthor Symbol
write the language of the Dwarves, Khuzdul. Following U+16F0 ). As of Unicode 7.0 (2014), eight characters
Tolkien, historical and fictional runes appear commonly were added, three attributed to J. R. R. Tolkien's mode
in modern popular culture, particularly in fantasy litera- of writing Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes, and
ture, but also in other forms of media suchas video games five for the “cryptogrammic” vowel symbols used in an
(for example the 1992 video game Heimdall used it as inscription on the Franks Casket.
“magical symbols” associated with unnatural forces).
1.8 Notes
[1] The oldest known runic inscription dates to around AD
150 and is found on a comb discovered in the bog of
Vimose, Funen, Denmark.[2] The inscription reads harja;
a disputed candidate for a 1st-century inscription is on the
Meldorf fibula in southern Jutland.
[2] Penzl & Hall 1994a assume a period of “Proto-Nordic-
Westgermanic” unity down to the 5th century and the
Gallehus horns inscription.[17]
[3] The division between Northwest Germanic and Proto-
Norse is somewhat arbitrary.[18]
1.9 References
[1] Runic (PDF) (chart), Unicode.
Runic Steel Stamps, Elder Futhark [2] Stoklund 2003, p. 173.
[3] “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language”. LT: LKZ. Re-
September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0. trieved 2010-04-13.
The Unicode block for Runic alphabets is U+16A0–
U+16FF. It is intended to encode the letters of the [4] Friedrich Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der
deutschen Sprache. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York
Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Frisian runes, and the Younger 2001, ISBN 978-3-11-017473-1
Futhark long-branch and short-twig (but not the staveless)
variants, in cases where cognate letters have the same [5] Nykysuomen sanakirja: “riimu”
shape resorting to "unification".
[6] Häkkinen, Kaisa. Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja
The block as of Unicode 3.0 contained 81 symbols: 75
runic letters (U+16A0–U+16EA), 3 punctuation marks [7] Mees 2000.
(Runic Single Punctuation U+16EB , Runic Multi- [8] Odenstedt 1990.
ple Punctuation U+16EC and Runic Cross Punctua-
tion U+16ED ), and three runic symbols that are used [9] Williams 1996.
1.9. REFERENCES 11
[10] Dictionary of the Middle Ages (under preparation), Ox- 1.9.1 Bibliography
ford.
• Antonsen, Elmer H. (1965), “On Defining Stages in
[11] Markey 2001. Prehistoric Germanic”, Language, 41 : 19, JSTOR
411849, doi:10.2307/411849.
[12] G. Bonfante, L. Bonfante, The Etruscan Language - see
page 119 • Bammesberger, A; Waxenberger, G, eds. (2006),
Das fuþark und Seine Einzelsprachlichen Weiter-
[13] Looijenga 1997. entwicklungen, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-
019008-7.
[14] Weisgerber 1968, pp. 135, 392ff.
• Blum, Ralph (1932), The Book of Runes – A Hand-
[15] Weisgerber 1966, p. 207. book for the use of Ancient Oracle: The Viking
Runes, Oracle Books, NewYork: St. Martin’s Press,
[16] Syrett 1994, p. 44f. ISBN 0-312-00729-9.
[17] Penzl & Hall 1994b, p. 186. • Brate, Erik (1922), Sveriges Runinskrifter (in
Swedish).
[18] Antonsen 1965, p. 36.
• Düwel, Klaus (2001), Runenkunde (in German), JB
[19] “runic alphabet”, Encyclopædia Britannica, A likely the- Metzler.
ory is that the runic alphabet was developed by the Goths,
a Germanic people, from the Etruscan alphabet of north- • Foote, P. G.; Wilson, D. M. (1970), The Viking
ern Italy and was perhaps also influenced by the Latin al- Achievement , London, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson, p.
phabet in the 1st or 2nd century BC. 401, ISBN 0-283-97926-7.
[20] “DR 360”, Rundata (entry) (2.0 for Windows ed.). • Jacobsen, Lis; Moltke, Erik (1941–42), Danmarks
Runeindskrifter, Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaards
[21] MacLeod & Mees 2006, pp. 100–1.
• Larrington, Carolyne trans (1999), The Poetic Edda,
[22] Page 2005, p. 31. Oxford World’s Classics, ISBN 0-19-283946-2.
• Looijenga, JH (1997), Runes Around the North Sea
[23] Foote & Wilson 1970. and on the Continent AD 150–700 (dissertation),
Groningen University.
[24] Foote & Wilson 1970, p. 401.
• MacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006), Runic
[25] MacLeod & Mees 2006. Amulets and Magic Objects, Woodbridge, UK;
Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, ISBN 1-84383-205-
[26] “Vg 63”, Rundata (entry) (2.0 for Windows ed.).
4.
[27] “Vg 119”, Rundata (entry) (2.0 for Windows ed.). • Markey, TL (2001), “A Tale of the Two Helmets:
Negau A and B”, Journal of Indo-European Studies ,
[28] Seigfried, Karl E.H. (Mar 2010), “Odin & the Runes, Part 29: 69–172
Three”, The Norse Mythology (blog).
• McKinnell, John; Simek, Rudolf; Düwel, Klaus
[29] Page 2005, pp. 8, 15–16. (2004), Runes, Magic, and Religion: A Sourcebook ,
Wien: Fassbaender, ISBN 39-00-53881-6.
[30] Grimm, William (1821), “18”, Ueber deutsche Runen
[Concerning German runes] (in German), pp. 149–59. • Mees, Bernard (2000), “The North Etruscan The-
sis of the Origin of the Runes”, Arkiv för nordisk
[31] Jacobsen & Moltke 1942, p. VII. filologi, 115: 33–82.
[32] Werner 2004, p. 20. • Odenstedt, Bengt (1990), On the Origin and Early
History of the Runic Script, Uppsala, ISBN 91-
[33] Werner 2004, p. 7. 85352-20-9.
[34] http://sciencenordic.com/ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An Introduction to En-
•
Elder Futhark
[] []
[f] u þ a r k g [w] h n i j p ï z s t b e m l ŋ d o
13
14 CHAPTER 2. ELDER FUTHARK
of the Vimose inscriptions to the 2nd century (while the Note that the “mature” runes of the 6th to 8th centuries
Goths had been in contact with Greek culture only from tend to have only three directions of strokes, the vertical
the early 3rd century). Conversely, the Greek-derived and two diagonal directions. Early inscriptions also show
4th century Gothic alphabet does have two letters derived horizontal strokes: these appear in the case of e (men-
from runes, (from Jer j) and (from Uruz u). tioned above), but also in t, l, ŋ and h.
The angular shapes of the runes, presumably an adap-
tation to the incision in wood or metal, are not a Ger- 2.2.2 Date and purpose of invention
manic innovation, but a property that is shared with other
early alphabets, including the Old Italic ones (compare, The general agreement dates the creation of the first runic
for example, the Duenos inscription). The 1st century alphabet to roughly the 1st century. Early estimates in-
BC Negau helmet inscription features a Germanic name, clude the 1st century BC, [6] and late estimates push the
Harigastiz , in a North Etruscan alphabet, and may be a date into the 2nd century. The question is one of estimat-
testimony of the earliest contact of Germanic speakers ing the “findless” period separating the script’s creation
with alphabetic writing. Similarly, the Meldorf inscrip- from the Vimose finds of ca. 160. If either ï or z indeed
tion of 50 may qualify as “proto-runic” use of the Latin derive from Latin Y or Z, as suggested by Odenstedt, the
alphabet by Germanic speakers. The Raetic "alphabet of first century BC is ruled out, because these letters were
Bolzano" in particular seems to fit the letter shapes well.[3] only introduced into the Latin alphabet during the reign
The spearhead of Kovel, dated to 200 AD, sometimes ad- of Augustus.
vanced as evidence of a peculiar Gothic variant of the
runic alphabet, bears an inscription tilarids that may in Other scholars are content to assume a findless period
fact be in an Old Italic rather than a runic alphabet, run- of a few decades, pushing the date into the early 2nd
ning right to left with a T and a D closer to the Latin or century. [7][8] Pedersen (and with him Odenstedt) suggests
Etruscan than to the Bolzano or runic alphabets. Perhaps a period of development of about a century to account for
an “eclectic” approach can yield the best results for the their assumed derivation of the shapes of þ and j
explanation of the origin of the runes: most shapes of from Latin D and G.
the letters can be accounted for when deriving them from
several distinct North Italic writing systems: the p rune The invention of the script has been ascribed to a single
has a parallel in the Camunic alphabet, while it has been person[9] or a group of people who had come into contact
argued that d derives from the shapeof theletter san (= ś) with Roman culture, maybe as mercenaries in the Roman
in Lepontic where it seems to represent the sound /d/. [4] army, or as merchants. The script was clearly designed
for epigraphic purposes, but opinions differ in stressing
The g, a , f , i, t, m and l runes show no variation, and are either magical, practical or simply playful (graffiti) as-
generally accepted as identical to the Old Italic or Latin pects. Bæksted 1952, p. 134 concludes that in its earliest
letters X, A, F, I , T , M and L, respectively. There is also stage, the runic script was an “artificial, playful, not re-
wide agreement that the u , r , k , h , s , b and o runes re- ally needed imitation of the Roman script", much like the
spectively correspond directly to V, R, C, H, S, B and O. Germanic bracteates were directly influenced by Roman
The runes of uncertain derivation may either be original currency, a view that is accepted by Odenstedt 1990, p.
innovations, or adoptions of otherwise unneeded Latin 171 in the light of the very primitive nature of the earliest
letters. Odenstedt 1990, p. 163 suggests that all 22 Latin (2nd to 4th century) inscription corpus.
letters of the classical Latin alphabet (1st Century, ignor-
ing marginalized K ) were adopted (þ from D , z from Y ,
ŋ from Q, w from P, j from G, ï from Z ), with two runes 2.3 Rune names
(p and d ) left over as original Germanic innovations, but
there are conflicting scholarly opinions regarding the e
(from E ?), n (from N ?), þ ( D ? or Raetic Θ ?), w ( Q Each rune most probably had a name, chosen to represent
or P ?), ï and z (both from either Z or Latin Y ?), ŋ (Q ?) the sound of the rune itself.
and d runes.[5] The Old English names of all 24 runes of the Elder
Of the 24 runes in the classical futhark row attested from Futhark, along with five names of runes unique to the
400 (Kylver stone), ï , p [lower-alpha 1] and ŋ [lower-alpha 2] are Anglo-Saxon runes, are preserved in the Old English
unattested in the earliest inscriptions of ca. 175 to 400, rune poem, compiled in the 8th or 9th century. These
while e in this early period mostly takes a Π-shape, its M- names are in good agreement with medieval Scandinavian
shape ( ) gaining prevalence only from the 5th century. records of the names of the 16 Younger Futhark runes,
and to some extent also with those of the letters of the
Similarly, the s rune may have either three ( ) or four ( ) Gothic alphabet (recorded by Alcuin in the 9th century).
strokes (and more rarely five or more), and only from the Therefore, it is assumed that the names go back to the
5th century does the variant with three strokes become Elder Futhark period, at least to the 5th century. There
prevalent. is no positive evidence that the full row of 24 runes had
been completed before the end of the 4th century, but it
2.4. INSCRIPTION CORPUS 15
is likely that at least some runes had their name before 2.4.1 Scandinavian inscriptions
that time.
This concerns primarily the runes used magically, espe- Words frequently appearing in inscriptions on bracteates
ciallythe Teiwaz and Ansuz runes which aretaken to sym- with possibly magical significance are alu, laþu and
bolize or invoke deities in sequences such as that on the laukaz. While their meaning is unclear, alu has been
Lindholm amulet (3rd or 4th century). associated with “ale, intoxicating drink”, in a context of
ritual drinking, and laukaz with “leek, garlic”, in a con-
Reconstructed names in Common Germaniccaneasily be text of fertility and growth. An example of a longer
given for most runes. Exceptions are the þ rune (which early inscription is on a 4th-century axe-handle found
is given different names in Anglo-Saxon, Gothic and in Nydam, Jutland: wagagastiz / alu:??hgusikijaz:
Scandinavian traditions) and the z rune (whose original aiþalataz ( wagagastiz “wave-guest” could be a personal
name is unknown, and preserved only in corrupted form name, the rest has been read as alu:wihgu sikijaz:
from Old English tradition). The 24 Elder Futhark runes aiþalataz with a putative meaning “wave/flame-guest,
are:[10] from a bog, alu, I, oath-sayer consecrate/fight”. The ob-
The rune names stood for their rune because of the first scurity even of emended readings is typical for runic in-
phoneme in the name (the principle of acrophony), with scriptions that go beyond simple personalnames). A term
the exception of Ingwaz and Algiz: the Proto-Germanic frequently found in early inscriptions is Erilaz, appar-
z sound of the Algiz rune, never occurred in a word- ently describing a person with knowledge of runes.
initial position. The phoneme acquired an r -like quality The oldest known runic inscription dates to 160 and is
in Proto-Norse, usually transliterated with ʀ , and finally found on the Vimose Comb discovered in the bog of
merged with r in Icelandic, rendering the rune superflu- Vimose, Funen.[12] The inscription reads harja, either
ous as a letter. Similarly, the ng-sound of the Ingwaz a personal name or an epithet, viz. Proto-Germanic
rune does not occur word-initially. The names come from *harjaz (PIE *koryos) "warrior", or simply the word for
the vocabulary of daily life and mythology, some trivial, “comb” (*hārijaz). Another early inscription is found
some beneficent and some inauspicious: on the Thorsberg chape (200), probably containing the
theonym Ullr.
• Mythology: Tiwaz, Thurisaz, Ingwaz, God, Man, The typically Scandinavian runestones begin to show the
Sun. transition to Younger Futhark from the 6th century, with
transitional examples like the Björketorp or Stentoften
• Nature and environment: Sun, day, year, hail, ice, stones. In the early 9th century, both the older and the
lake, water, birch, yew, pear, elk, aurochs, ear (of younger futhark were known and used, which is shown
grain). on the Rök Runestone where the runemaster used both.
• Daily life and human condition: Man, wealth/cattle, The longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark, and
horse, estate/inheritance, slag/protection from evil, one of the youngest, consists of some 200 characters and
ride/journey, year/harvest, gift, joy, need, ul- is found on the early 8th century Eggjum stone, and may
cer/illness. even contain a stanza of Old Norse poetry.
The Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus reading raïhan
“deer” is notable as the oldest inscription of the British
2.4 Inscription corpus Isles, dating to 400, the very end of Roman Britain and
just predating the modifications leading to the Anglo-
Saxon futhorc.
Main article: Elder Futhark inscriptions
Old Futhark inscriptions were found on artifacts scat-
In this early period, there is no specifically West Ger- • Øvre Stabu spearhead (ca. 180), rauni-
manic runic tradition. This changes from the early 6th jaz
century, and for about one century (520 to 620), an • Illerup inscriptions (9 objects)
Alamannic “runic province”[14] emerges, with examples • Mos spearhead (c. 300), gaois(?)[18]
on fibulae, weapon parts and belt buckles. As in the East
Germanic case, use of runes subsides with Christianiza- • Golden horns of Gallehus (ca. 400)
tion, in the case of the Alamanni in the course of the 7th • Einang stone (400)
century. • Kylver Stone (400)
• Rö Runestone (400–450)
2.4.3 Distribution • Kalleby Runestone (5th century)
• Möjbro Runestone (400–550)
There are some 350 known Elder Futhark inscriptions • Järsberg Runestone (500–550)
with a total of approximately 81 known inscriptions • Hogganvik runestone (5th century)
from the South (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and 267
from Scandinavia.[15][16] The precise numbers are debat- • Bracteates: total 133 (see also Alu)
able because of some suspected forgeries, and some dis- • Seeland-II-C (500)
puted inscriptions (identification as “runes” vs. accidental • Vadstena bracteate
scratches, simple ornaments or Latin letters). 133 Scan- • Tjurkö bracteate
dinavian inscriptions are on bracteates (compared to 2
from the South), and 65 are on runestones (no Southern • Period II (550–700)
example is extant). Southern inscriptions are predomi- • Skåäng Runestone (6th century?)
nantly on fibulae (43, compared to 15 in Scandinavia). • Björketorp Runestone
The Scandinavian runestones belong to the later period
• Gummarp Runestone
of the Elder Futhark, and initiate the boom of medieval
Younger Futhark stones (with some 6,000 surviving ex- • Istaby Runestone
amples). • Stentoften Runestone
Elder Futhark inscriptions were rare, with very few active • South-Eastern Europe (200–550): 4 AD.
literati, in relation to the total population, at any time,
so that knowledge of the runes was probably an actual • Gothic runic inscriptions (200–350)
“secret” throughout the Migration period. Of 366 lances
excavated at Illerup, only 2 bore inscriptions. A similar • Continental inscriptions (mainly Germany; 200–
ratio is estimated for Alemannia, with an estimated 170 700): 50 legible, 15 illegible (39 brooches, 11
excavated graves to every inscription found. [17] weapon parts, 4 fittings and belt buckles, 3 strap
ends, 8 other)
Estimates of the total number of inscriptions produced
are based on the “minimal runological estimate” of • Thorsberg chape (200)
40,000 (ten individuals making ten inscriptions per year
for four centuries). The actual number was probably con- • Bülach fibula
siderably higher. The 80 known Southern inscriptions are • Charnay fibula
from some 100,000 known graves. With an estimated to- • Nordendorf fibula
tal of 50,000,000 graves (based on population density es-
timates), some 80,000 inscriptions would have been pro- • Pforzen buckle
duced in total in the Merovingian South alone(and maybe
• English and Frisian (300–700): 44; see futhorc
close to 400,000 in total, so that of the order of 0.1%
of the corpus has come down to us), and Fischer 2004,
p. 281 estimates a population of several hundred active
literati throughout the period, with as many as 1,600 dur- 2.5 Unicode
ing the Alamannic “runic boom” of the 6th century.
Further information: Runic (Unicode block)
2.4.4 List of inscriptions
The Elder Futhark is encoded in Unicode within the uni-
After Looijenga 1997, Lüthi 2004. fied Runic range, 16A0–16FF. Among the freely avail-
able TrueType fonts that include this range are Junicode
• Scandinavia and FreeMono. The Kylver Stone row encoded in Uni-
code reads:
• Period I (150–550)
• Vimose inscriptions (6 objects, 160–300)
2.8. REFERENCES 17
[2] Westergaard 1981 postulates occurrence in 34 Vimose • Looijenga, Jantina Helena (1997), Runes around the
and 23 Letcani, rejected by Odenstedt 1990, p. 118. North Sea and on the Continent AD 150–700 (disser-
tation), Groningen University.
• Looijenga, Tineke (2004), Texts and Contexts of the
2.8 References Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 90-
04-12396-2
[1] Vänehem, Mats, Forskning om runor och runstenar (arti-
cle), Stockholms Lans Museum. • Lüthi, Katrin (2004), “Von Þruþhild und Hariso:
Alemannische und ältere skandinavische Runenkul-
[2] Elliott 1980, p. 14. tur im Vergleich”, in Naumann, Hans-Peter; Lanter,
[3] Gippert, Jost, The Development of Old Germanic Alpha- Franziska; et al., Alemannien und der Norden,
bets, Uni Frankfurt. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 318–39, ISBN 3-
11-017891-5
[4] Stifter 2010, p. 374.
• Martin, Max (2004), “Kontinentalgermanische
[5] Odenstedt 1990, pp. 160ff. Runeninschriften und 'Alamannische Runenprov-
inz'", in Naumann, Hans-Peter; Lanter, Franziska;
[6] Moltke 1976, p. 54: “the year 0±100”.
et al., Alemannien und der Norden , Berlin: Walter
[7] Askeberg 1944, p. 77. de Gruyter, pp. 165–212, ISBN 3-11-017891-5
[8] Odenstedt 1990, p. 168. • Nowak, Sean (2003), Schrift auf den Goldbrakteaten
der Völkerwanderungszeit (PDF) (diss), Göttingen.
[9] Moltke 1976, p. 53.
• Odenstedt, Bengt (1990), On the Origin and Early
[10] Page 2005, pp. 8, 15–16. The asterisk before the rune History of the Runic Script, Typology and Graphic
names means that they are unattested reconstructions. Variation in the Older Futhark , Uppsala, ISBN 91-
[11] “Runic”, Nordic life. 85352-20-9.
[12] Ilkjær 1996, p. 74 in Looijenga 2003, p. 78. • Page, Raymond Ian (2005), Runes, The British Mu-
seum Press, ISBN 0-7141-8065-3.
[13] Martin 2004, p. 173.
• Rix, Helmut (1997), “Germanische Runen und
[14] Martin 2004. venetische Phonetik”, in Birkmann; et al., Vergle-
[15] Fischer 2004, p. 281. ichende germanische Philologie und Skandinavistik,
Festschrift für Otmar Werner , Tübingen, pp. 231–
[16] Lüthi 2004, p. 321. 48, ISBN 3-484-73031-5.
18 CHAPTER 2. ELDER FUTHARK
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes to encrypt part of the text, and Ög 43 in Ingelstad,
runes, i s a runicalphabet and a reduced form of the Elder which uses a single Elder Futhark rune as an ideogram,
Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the are also sometimes included as transitional inscriptions.[1]
9th century, after a “transitional period” during the 7th By the late 8th century, the reduction from 24 to 16 runes
and 8th centuries. The reduction, somewhat paradoxi- was complete. The main change was that the difference
cally, happened at the same time as phonetic changes led between voiced and unvoiced consonants was no longer
to a greater number of different phonemes in the spo- expressed in writing. Other changes are the consequence
ken language, when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse. of sound changes that separate Old Norse from Proto-
Thus, the language included distinct sounds and minimal Norse and Common Germanic (mostly changes to the
pairs that were written the same. vowel system).
The Younger Futhark is divided into long-branch (Dan-
ish) and short-twig (Swedish and Norwegian) runes; in
the 10th century, itwas further expandedby the“Hälsinge • The first ætt was reduced to its first six letters,
Runes” or staveless runes. fuþąrk, losing the g and w runes (the old a rune is
The lifetime of the Younger Futhark corresponds roughly transliterated as ą for Old Norse as the phoneme it
to the Viking Age. Their use declined after the expressed had become more closed).
Christianization of Scandinavia; most writing in Scandi-
navia from the 12th century was in the Latin alphabet, • The second ætt lost the æ and p runes. The j rune
but the runic scripts survived in marginal use in the form was rendered superfluous due to Old Norse sound
of the medieval runes (in use ca. 1100–1500) and the changes, butwas kept with thenew sound value of a.
Latinised Dalecarlian runes (ca. 1500–1910). The old z rune was kept (transliterated in the context
of Old Norse as ʀ) but moved to the end of the rune
row in the only change of letter ordering in Younger
3.1 History Futhark.
Further information: Old Norse orthography • The third ætt was reduced to four runes, losing the
e, ŋ, o and d runes.
Usage of the Younger Futhark is found in Scandinavia
and Viking Age settlements abroad, probably in use from
the 9th century onward. While the Migration Period In tabular form:
Elder Futhark had been an actual “secret” known only The Younger Futhark became known in Europe as the
to a literate elite, with only some 350 surviving inscrip- “alphabet of the Norsemen”, and was studied in the in-
tions, literacy in the Younger Futhark became widespread terest of trade and diplomatic contacts, referred to as
in Scandinavia, as witnessed by the great number of Abecedarium Nordmannicum in Frankish Fulda (possi-
Runestones (some 6,000), sometimes inscribed with al- bly by Walahfrid Strabo) and ogam lochlannach "Ogham
most casual notes. of the Scandinavians” in the Book of Ballymote.
During a phase from about 650 to 800, some inscriptions
mixed the use of Elder and Younger Futhark runes. Ex-
amples of inscriptions considered to be from this period
include DR248 from Snoldelev, DR357 from Stentoften,
DR 358 from Gummarp, DR 359 from Istaby, and DR
360 from Björketorp, and objects such as the Setre Comb The ogam lochlannach, Book of Ballymote, fol. 170v
(N KJ40).[1] Ög 136 in Rök, which uses Elder Futhark
19
20 CHAPTER 3. YOUNGER FUTHARK
• Thurs (“giant”)
• As/Oss 3.3.2 Short-twig runes
• reið (“ride”) In the short-twig runes (or Rök runes), nine runes appear
as simplified variants of the long-branch runes, while the
• kaun (“ulcer”) remaining seven have identical shapes:
• hagall (“hail”)
• nauðr (“need”)
• ísa/íss (“ice”)
3.3.3 Hälsinge runes (staveless runes)
• ár (“plenty”)
• sól (“sun”)
• Týr
•
•
björk/bjarkan/bjarken (“birch”)
maðr (“man”)
fuþrkhniastbmlʀ
• lögr (“sea”) Staveless runes
variants of voiceless signs were introduced to denote the Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 448–61. ISBN
corresponding voiced consonants, or vice versa, voice- 3-11-015455-2. p. 451.
less variants of voiced consonants, and several new runes
[2] Nordic Medieval Runes
also appeared for vowel sounds. Inscriptions in medieval
Scandinavian runes show a large number of variant rune-
forms, and some letters, such as s, c and z, were often
used interchangeably (Jacobsen & Moltke, 1941–42, p. 3.7 Other sources
VII; Werner, 2004, p. 20).
• Jacobsen, Lis; Moltke, Erik (1941–42). Danmarks
Medieval runes were in use until the 15th century. Of the
Runeindskrifter. Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaards
total number of Norwegian runic inscriptions preserved
Forlag.
today, most are medieval runes. Notably, more than 600
inscriptions using these runes have been discovered in • Werner, Carl-Gustav (2004). The allrunes Font and
Bergen since the 1950s, mostly on wooden sticks (the Package .
so-called Bryggen inscriptions). This indicates that runes
were in common use side by side with the Latin alphabet
for several centuries. Indeed, some of the medieval runic 3.8 External links
inscriptions are actually in the Latin language.
After the 15th century interest in rune history and their • Runes found in the Eastern Viking
use in magical processes grew in Iceland, with vari-
ous studies beginning with Third Grammatical Icelandic • An English Dictionary of Runic Inscriptions in the
Treatise - Málfræðinnar grundvǫllr. Publications writ- Younger Futhark (Nottingham University)
ten in Latin and Danish in the 1600s included works by
Arngrímur Jónsson, Runólfur Jónsson and Dr. Olaus
Worms. Content from these along with Icelandic and
Norwegian Rune Poems appeared frequently in subse-
quent manuscripts written in Iceland.[2]
3.6 References
[1] Barnes, Michael P. (1998). “The Transitional In-
scriptions”. In Beck, Heinrich; Düwel, Klaus.
Runeninschriften als Quellen Interdisziplinärer Forschung.
Chapter 4
Anglo-Saxon runes
22
4.3. INSCRIPTION CORPUS 23
4.2 Letters In the manuscript, the runes are arranged in three rows,
glossed with Latin equivalents below (in the third row
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem (Cotton Otho B.x.165) has above) and with their names above (in the third row be-
the followingrunes, listed withtheir Unicodeglyphs, their low). The manuscript has traces of corrections by a 16th-
names, their transliterations, and their approximate pho- century hand, inverting the position of m and d . Eolh is
netic values in IPA notation: mistakenly labelled as sigel, and in place of sigel, there
is a kaun-like letter , corrected to proper sigel above
The first 24 of these directly continue the Elder Futhark it. Eoh is mislabelled as eþel. Apart from ing and ear ,
letters, extended by five additional runes, representing ad- all rune names are due to the later scribe, identified as
ditional vowels (á, æ, ý, ia, ea ), comparable to the five Robert Talbot (died 1558).
forfeda of the ogham alphabet.
Thorn and wynn were introduced into the English version
of the Latin alphabet to represent /θ/ and /w/, but they
were replaced with th and w in the Middle English period. Another futhorc row is found in Cotton Galba A.ii.
The letter sequence, and indeed the letter inventory is not
fixed. Compared to the letters of the rune poem given
above,
f u þ o r c ȝ w h n i j eo p x s t b e m l ŋ œ d a
æ y io ea
dishes, and graffiti). The database includes, in addition, • Westeremden A, a yew weaving-slay; adujis-
16 inscriptions containing a single rune, several runic lume[þ]jisuhidu
coins, and 8 cases of dubious runic characters (rune-
like signs, possible Latin characters, weathered charac- • Westeremden B, a yew-stick, 8th century;
ters). Comprising fewer than 200 inscriptions, the corpus oph?nmuji?adaamluþ / :wimœ?ahþu?? /
is slightly larger than that of Continental Elder Futhark iwio?u?du?ale
(about 80 inscriptions, c. 400–700), but slightly smaller • Britsum yew-stick; þkniaberetdud / ]n:bsrsdnu; the k
than that of the Scandinavian Elder Futhark (about 260 has Younger Futhark shape and probably represents
inscriptions, c. 200–800). a vowel.
Runic finds in England cluster along the east coast with • Hantum whalebone plate; [.]:aha:k[; the reverse
a few finds scattered further inland in Southern England. side is inscribed with Roman ABA.
Frisian finds cluster in West Frisia. Looijenga (1997) lists
23 English (including two 7th-century Christian inscrip- • Bernsterburen whalebone staff, c. 800; tuda æwudu
tions) and 21 Frisian inscriptions predating the 9th cen- kius þu tuda
tury.
• Hamwic horse knucklebone, dated to between 650
and 1025; katæ (categorised as Frisian on linguistic
grounds, from *kautōn “knucklebone”)
4.4 Inscriptions
• Wijnaldum B gold pendant, c. 600; hiwi
• Kantens combcase, early 5th century; li
• Hoogebeintum comb, c. 700; […]nlu / ded
• Wijnaldum A antler piece; zwfuwizw[…]
The Thames zoomorphic silver-gilt (knife?) mount (late 8th cen- 4.4.2 English
tury)
• Ash Gilton (Kent) gilt silver swordpommel, 6thcen-
Currently known inscriptions in Anglo-Frisian runes in- tury; […]emsigimer[…][4]
clude:
• Chessel Down I (Isle of Wight), 6th century;
[…]bwseeekkkaaa
4.4.1 Frisian
• Chessel Down II (Isle of Wight) silver plate (at-
• Ferwerd combcase, 6th century; me uræ tached to the scabbard mouthpiece of a ring-sword),
early 6th century; æko:?ori
• Amay comb, c. 600; eda
• Boarley (Kent) copper disc-brooch, c. 600; ærsil
• Oostyn comb, 8th century; aib ka[m]bu / deda
habuku (with a triple-barred h ) • Harford (Norfolk) brooch, c. 650; luda:
gibœtæsigilæ “Luda repaired the brooch”
• Toornwerd comb, 8th century; kabu
• West Heslerton (North Yorkshire) copper cruciform
• Skanomody solidus, 575–610; skanomodu
brooch, early 6th century; neim
• Harlingen solidus, 575–625, hada (two ac runes,
• Loveden Hill (Lincolnshire) urn; 5th to 6th century;
double-barred h)
reading uncertain, maybe sïþæbæd þiuw hlaw “the
• Schweindorf solidus, 575–625, wela[n]du “Wey- grave of Siþæbæd the maid”
land” (or þeladu; running right to left)
• Spong Hill (Norfolk), three cremation urns, 5th cen-
• Folkestone tremissis, c. 650; æniwulufu tury; decorated with identical runic stamps, reading
alu (in Spiegelrunen).
• Midlum sceat, c. 750; æpa
• Kent II coins (some 30 items), 7th century; reading
• Rasquert swordhandle (whalebone handle of a sym- pada
bolic sword), late 8th century; ek [u]mædit oka, “I,
Oka, not made mad”[3] (compare ek unwodz from • Kent III, IV silver sceattas, c. 600; reading æpa and
the Danish corpus) epa
• Arum sword, a yew-wood miniature sword, late 8th • Suffolk gold shillings (three items), c. 660; stamped
century; edæboda with desaiona
4.5. SEE ALSO 25
• Whitby I (Yorkshire) jet spindle whorl; ueu [5] “Silver knife mount with runic inscription”, British Mu-
seum.
• Selsey (West Sussex) gold plates, 6th to 8th cen-
turies; brnrn / anmu [6] Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English
runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, p. 182.
• St. Cuthbert’s coffin (Durham), dated to 698
[7] Bammesberger, Alfred (2002), “The Brandon Antler
• Whitby II (Yorkshire) bone comb, 7th century; Runic Inscription”, Neophilologus, Ingenta connect, 86:
[dæ]us mæus godaluwalu dohelipæ cy[ i.e. deus 129–31.
meus, god aluwaldo, helpæ Cy… “my god, almighty
god, help Cy…" (Cynewulf or a similar personal
name; compare also names of God in Old English 4.7 References
poetry.)
• the Franks casket; 7th century • Bammesberger, A, ed. (1991), “Old English Runes
and their Continental Background”, Anglistische
• zoomorphic silver-gilt knife mount, discovered in Forschungen, Heidelberg, 217.
the River Thames near Westminster Bridge (late 8th
century) [5][6] • ——— (2006), “Das Futhark und seine Weiteren-
twicklung in der anglo-friesischen Überlieferung”,
• the Ruthwell Cross; 8th century, the inscription may in Bammesberger, A; Waxenberger, Das fuþark und
be partly a modern reconstruction seine einzelsprachlichen Weiterentwicklungen , Wal-
ter de Gruyter, pp. 171–87, ISBN 3-11-019008-7.
• the Brandon antler piece, wohs wildum deoræ an
"[this] grew on a wild animal"; 9th century.[7] • Hines, J (1990), “The Runic Inscriptions of
Early Anglo-Saxon England”, in Bammesberger, A,
• Kingmoor Ring Britain 400–600: Language and History, Heidel-
• the Seax of Beagnoth; 9th century (also known as berg, pp. 437–56.
the Thames scramasax); the only complete alphabet • J. H. Looijenga, Runes around the North Sea and on
the Continent AD 150–700, dissertation, Groningen
4.4.3 Related manuscript texts University (1997).
• Odenstedt, Bengt, On the Origin and Early His-
• Codex Vindobonensis 795 (9th century) tory of the Runic Script , Uppsala (1990), ISBN 91-
• the Anglo-Saxon rune poem (Cotton Otho B.x.165) 85352-20-9; chapter 20: 'The position of continen-
tal and Anglo-Frisian runic forms in the history of
• Solomon and Saturn (Nowell Codex) the older futhark '
26 CHAPTER 4. ANGLO-SAXON RUNES
Runic magic
27
28 CHAPTER 5. RUNIC MAGIC
5.2 Modern systems the Use of an Ancient Oracle , which was marketed with
a small bag of round tiles with runes stamped on them.
This book has remained in print since its first publica-
tion. The sources for Blum’s divinatory interpretations,
as he explained in The Book of Runes itself, drew heav-
ily on then-current books describing the ancient I Ching
divination system of China.
Each of Blum’s seven books on runicdivination deals with
a specialized area of life or a varied technique for reading
runes:
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic (1984) • Adam Byrn Tritt, in Runic Divination in the Welsh
Tradition (2011)[22] presents a system based on a
• Runelore: A Handbook of Esoteric Runology (1987) 10-stone set, including nine symbols which are un-
related to the historical runes, plus a blank stone,
• At The Well of Wyrd (1988) which was later which represents the querent (inquirer).
reprinted under the title Runecaster’s Handbook:
The Well of Wyrd. • Diana L. Paxson deals with the subject of runic div-
ination and the use of the runes in magical spell-
• Northern Magic: Rune Mysteries and Shamanism casting in her book Taking Up The Runes: A Com-
(2002). plete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Div-
ination, And Magic (2005).[23]
Runic divination is a component of Flowers’ “esoteric
runology” course offered to members of his Rune Gild, • Wendy Christine Duke in Spiral of Life (2008)[24]
as detailed in The Nine Doors of Midgard: A Curriculum presents a divination system based on organizing a
of Rune-Work. Besides runic divination, Flowers also ad- set of 41 “revealed images” based on the runic let-
vocated the “runic gymnastics” ( Runengymnastik) devel- ters.
oped in the 1920s by Friedrich Marby, under the name
of “Rune-Yoga” (also “Runic Yoga”, “Stadhagaldr”).[17] • A. D. Mercer, Runen - The Wisdom of the Runes
(2016) reintroduces the Armanen Runes.
[9] “Here the list of runes breaks off, though the manuscript • —, as Thorsson, Edred (1983). A Handbook of
indicates no gap, and three short passages of a differ- Rune Magic, Weiser Books. ISBN 0-87728-548-9
ent type, though all dealing with runes, follow.” Bellows
(1936) p. 393. • —, as Thorsson, Edred (1987). A Handbook of Eso-
teric Runology. Weiser Books, ISBN 0-87728-667-
[10] 1
[11]
• Fries, Jan, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick ,
[12] Foote and Wilson (1970), 401. Second Edition, Mandrake of Oxford (2002), ISBN
978-1-869928-38-4
[13] MacLeod and Mees (2006), 235.
• Foote, Peter G., and Wilson, D. M. (1970). The
[14] Åkerman Susanna Rose Cross over the Baltic: the Spread
Viking Achievement, Sidgwick & Jackson: London,
of Rosicrucianism in Northern Europe p.47
UK. ISBN 0-283-97926-7
[15] Blum, Ralph (2000). The Book of Runes: 20th Anniver-
sary Edition. Eddison Sadd. pp. 133–134. ISBN 1- • Gundarsson, Kveldulf (1990). Teutonic Magic. St.
85906-042-0. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-
87542-291-8.
[16] Thorsson, Edred. Runelore; A handbook of Esoteric
Runology • MacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006). Runic
Amulets and Magic Objects . Boydell Press. ISBN
[17] Edred Thorsson, Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic,
Weiser Books, 1984, p. 15. Edred Thorsson, Rune might:
1-84383-205-4.
secret practices of the German rune magicians, Llewellyn’s • Meadows, Kenneth (1996). Rune Power: The Se-
Teutonicmagick series, 1989. Edred Thorsson, The Truth cret Knowledge of the Wise Ones. Milton, Brisbane:
About Teutonic Magick, Llewellyn’s vanguardseries, 1994.
Later also: L. E. Camp, A Handbook of Armanen Runic-
Element Books Limited. ISBN 1-85230-706-4
Wisdom: History, World-View, Rune-Yoga, Divination, • Plowright, Sweyn (2006). The Rune Primer . Lulu
the Sidereal Pendulum and the Runic-Zodiac, 2005. Crit-
Press. ISBN 1-84728-246-6
icized by Sweyn Plowright, The Rune Primer, 2006 (esp.
pp. 137-139). • Tritt, Adam Byrn (2011), Tellstones: Runic Divina-
[18] Gundarsson (1990), 27; 211; 211-212. tion in the Welsh Tradition . Smithcraft Press. ISBN
978-0-9793935-1-8
[19] Gundarsson (1990), 33; 34; 27.
[20] Gundarsson (1990), 37-156.
5.6 External links
[21] Gundarsson (1990), 31-32.
[22] ISBN 978-0-9793935-1-8. • Mystic Uses of the Runes bibliography
[23] ISBN 978-1-57863-325-8 • Meaning of the Runes by Ingrid Halvorsen
[24] Spiral of Life - A Guidebook For Your Journey (2008) • Magic Runes
Cloud Haven Studio Incorporated, ISBN 978-0-9818693-
0-8. • On line readings
• Runic Magic
5.5 Sources
• Birley, A. R. (Trans.) (1999). Agricola and Ger-
many. Oxford World’s Classics. ISBN 978-0-19-
283300-6
• Blum, Ralph (1993). The Book of Runes : A Hand-
book for the Use of an Ancient Oracle: The Viking
Runes with Stones , St. Martin’s Press; 10th anniver-
sary ed. ISBN 0-312-09758-1.
• Flowers, Stephen (1986), Runes and magic: magical
formulaic elements in the older runic tradition, vol.
53 of American university studies: Germanic lan-
guages and literatures, P. Lang, ISBN 978-0-8204-
0333-5.
Chapter 6
Runic inscriptions
32
6.4. SCANDINAVIAN 33
• rings: six known Anglo-Saxon runic rings, southern Scandinavia, northern Germany and Frisia (the
a few examples from Alemannia (Vörstetten- “North Sea Germanicrunic Koine"), with stray finds asso-
Schupfholz, Pforzen, Aalen neck-ring) ciated with the Goths from Romania and Ukraine. Lin-
• amber: Weingarten amber-pearl guistically, the 3rd and 4th centuries correspond to the
formation of Proto-Norse, just predating the separation
• Weapon parts of West Germanic into Anglo-Frisian, Low German and
High German.
• seaxes: Thames scramasax, Steindorf, Hailfin-
gen
• Vimose inscriptions (6 objects, AD 160-300)
• spearheads: Vimose, Kovel, Dahmsdorf-
Müncheberg, Wurmlingen
• Ovre Stabu spearhead (c. 180), raunijaz
• swords and sword-sheaths: Vimose chape, Vi-
mose sheathplate, Thorsberg chape, Schret-
• Thorsberg chape (AD 200)
zheim ring-sword, Ash Gilton (Kent) gilt sil-
ver sword pommel, Chessel Down II (Isle of
Wight) silver plate (attached to the scabbard • Mos spearhead (c. 300), gaois(?)[6]
mouthpiece of a ring-sword), Sæbø sword
• Nydam axe-handle (4th century): wagagastiz /
• coins: Skanomody solidus, Harlingen solidus, alu:??hgusikijaz:aiþalataz
Schweindorf solidus, Folkestone tremissis, Midlum
sceat, Kent II coins (some 30 items), Kent III, IV • Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus (AD 400)
silver sceattas, Suffolk gold shillings (three items),
Upper Thames Valley gold coins (four items)
• Illerup inscriptions (9 objects)
• boxes or containers: Franks Casket, Schretzheim
capsule, Gammertingen case, Ferwerd combcase,
Kantens combcase
6.4 Scandinavian
• runestones: from about AD 400, very popular for
Viking Age Younger Futhark inscriptions Further information: Sveriges runinskrifter, bracteate,
• bone: Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus, Rasquert and Runestone
swordhandle (whalebone handle of a symbolic
sword), Hantum whalebone plate, Bernsterburen About 260 items in Elder Futhark, and close to 6,000
whalebone staff, Hamwick horse knucklebone, Wi- items (mostly runestones) in Younger Futhark. The high-
jnaldum A antler piece est concentration of Elder Futhark inscriptions is in Den-
mark.
• pieces of wood: Vimose woodplane, Neudin-
gen/Baar, Arum sword (a yew-wood miniature An important Proto-Norse inscription was on one of the
sword), Westeremden yew-stick Golden horns of Gallehus (early 5th century). A total of
133 known inscriptions on bracteates. There are several
• cremation urns: Loveden Hill (Lincolnshire), Spong legible and partly interpretable inscription that date from
Hill (Norfolk) the 1st half of the 5th century such as a Silver neck ring
found near Aalen with “noru” inscribed in runic alpha-
• the Kleines Schulerloch inscription is a singular ex- bets on its inner edge. others discoveries were unearthed
ample of an inscription on a cave wall around Germany, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Belgium,
• spindle whorls England and Bosnia.[7][8]
The oldest known runestones date to the early 5th cen-
tury (Einang stone, Kylver Stone). The longest known
6.3 Early period (2nd to 4th cen- inscription in the Elder Futhark, and one of the youngest,
consists of some 200 characters and is found on the early
turies) 8th-century Eggjum stone, and may even contain a stanza
of Old Norse poetry.
Further information: Alu (runic) and Erilaz The transition to Younger Futhark begins from the 6th
century, with transitional examples like the Björketorp or
The earliest period of Elder Futhark (2nd to 4th cen- Stentoften stones. In the early 9th century, both the older
turies) predates the division in regional script variants, and the younger futhark were known and used, which is
and linguistically essentially still reflect the Common shown on the Rök Runestone. By the 10th century, only
Germanic stage. Their distribution is mostly limited to Younger Futhark remained in use.
34 CHAPTER 6. RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS
Further information: Elder Futhark § Continental Main article: Gothic runic inscriptions
inscriptions
Out of about a dozen candidate inscriptions, only three
Apart from the earliest inscriptions found on the conti- are widely accepted to be of Gothic origin: the gold ring
nent along the North Sea coast (the “North Germanic of Pietroassa, bearing a votive inscription, part of a larger
Koine", Martin 2004:173), continentalinscriptions can be treasure found in the Romanian Carpathians, and two
divided in those of the “Alemannic runic province” (Mar- spearheads inscribed with what is probably the weapon’s
tin 2004), with a few dozen examples dating to the 6th name, one found in the Ukrainian Carpathians, and the
and 7th centuries, and those associated with the Goths, other in eastern Germany, near the Oder.
loosely scattered along the Oder to south-eastern Poland,
The inscription on the spearhead of Kovel, found in
as far as the Carpathian Mountains (e.g. the ring of Ukraine (now lost) is a special case. Its date is very early
Pietroassa in Romania), dating to the 4th and 5th cen-
(3rd century) and it shows a mixture of runic and Latin
turies. The cessation of both the Gothic and Alemannic
letters, reading <TD> or <TIRIDS> (the i, r
runic tradition coincides with the Christianization of the
and s letters beingidenticalin the Elder Futhark andLatin
respective peoples. scripts), and may thus reflect a stage of development be-
Lüthi (2004:321) identifies a total of about 81 con- fore the runes became fixed as a separate script in its own
tinental inscriptions found south of the “North Ger- right.
6.7. REFERENCES 35
• Schretzheim ring-sword: the sword blade has four [8] “Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD
runes arranged so that the staves form a cross. Read 150-700” (PDF).
36 CHAPTER 6. RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS
[9] Karin Lüthi, 'South Germanic runic inscriptions as tes- • Spurkland, Terje (2005). Norwegian Runes and
timonies of early literacy, in: Marie Stoklund, Michael Runic Inscriptions, Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-
Lerche Nielsen, Gillian Fellows-Jensen, Bente Holmberg 186-4
(eds.), Runes and their secrets: studies in runology, Vol-
ume 2000, Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006, 172f.
[10] Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, s.v. 6.8 External links
“Schretzheim”.
[11] Wolfgang Jungandreas, 'God fura dih, deofile †' in: • Runenprojekt Kiel (in German)
Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, • Samnordisk runtextdatabas (in Swedish)
101, 1972, pp. 84-85.
• Gamla Runinskrifter (in Swedish)
[12] Looijenga, Tineke. , Two Runic finds from the Nether-
lands - both with a Frankish connection. In: Essays on
the early Franks, ed. Taayke, Ernst. Barkhuis 2003, 231-
240.
Wakuran, Srnec, Barend, WeniWidiWiki, Nasz, John, Espreon, Iridescent, Pryderi, Yendor1958, CmdrObot, FilipeS, Future Perfect
at Sunrise, Doug Weller, Walgamanus, Thijs!bot, JAnDbot, Berig, MarcusMaximus, LokiClock, EuTuga, Deanlaw, MystBot, Addbot,
Holt, Dazzsa, Tasnu Arakun, BabelStone, AnomieBOT, OpenFuture, GrouchoBot, Kibi78704, RjwilmsiBot, John of Reading, Finn
Bjørklid, ChuispastonBot, Pokbot, Alphasinus, BG19bot, Nikopolis1912, CitationCleanerBot, WP Editor 2011, McLennonSon, Sowlos,
Thewikione99, Simplton, PryderiUK, Galdrastafir.sigil, Runologe, Rariteh and Anonymous: 21
• Anglo-Saxon runes Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_runes?oldid=799453644 Contributors: Leandrod, Dope-
fishJustin, Skysmith, AnonMoos, Phil Boswell, Modulatum, J. 'mach' wust, Evertype, Neutrality, TheBlueWizard, Rich Farmbrough,
Dbachmann, Bender235, Kwamikagami, Ogress, Grutness, Ruud Koot, GraemeLeggett, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Cethegus, Cassowary, Jimp,
RussBot, Pacaro, Chroniclev, TimNelson, Gaius Cornelius, Bloodofox, Maerk, Hayden120, Curpsbot-unicodify, Mmcannis, Sar-
danaphalus, SmackBot, Grantb, RockRockOn, Srnec, Yamaguchi, Gilliam, Sadads, WeniWidiWiki, Localzuk, Remigiu, Espreon, Van-
ished user, FilipeS, DumbBOT, Walgamanus, S Marshall, JAnDbot, Amitchell125, KarBOT, Anaxial, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, Johnbod,
Nedrutland, Cnilep, Langskip, Frans Fowler, Til Eulenspiegel, Xenophon777, ClueBot, Deanlaw, SchreiberBike, Ost316, Sonty567, Myst-
Bot, Addbot, Xp54321, Holt, Dazzsa, Leszek Jańczuk, Tasnu Arakun, BabelStone, Erutuon, Hulk500, Lightbot, The Mummy, Yngvadottir,
LlywelynII, ImperatorExercitus, Citation bot, Aadri, Gilo1969, Omnipaedista, A.amitkumar, FrescoBot, Stvltvs, Lotje, DARTH SIDIOUS
2, Dstone66, Goldenbrook, 4meter4, Gottescalcus, Wikipelli, CaradocTheKing, Pharap, ChuispastonBot, ClueBot NG, This lousy T-shirt,
Alphasinus, Donidhabohebv, Vanished user 28lq93pq34ms, Helpful Pixie Bot, TBrandley, ChrisGualtieri, Tommy Pinball, Hillbillyhol-
iday, Lgfcd, W. P. Uzer, Lethsp, Bali88, JCLarsson, Crimojber, Altenmaeren, Prinsgezinde, My Chemistry romantic, H2O is H2O2 is
H2O4, InternetArchiveBot, Iohannes Grammaticus, GreenC bot, Magic links bot, KolbertBot and Anonymous: 54
• Runic magic Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_magic?oldid=798620932 Contributors: Rich Farmbrough, Dbachmann, Ben-
der235, Rjwilmsi, Mark Ironie, Bloodofox, Perry Middlemiss, SmackBot, Wakuran, Septegram, Hmains, John, Beetstra, Davemon,
Catherineyronwode, Filelakeshoe, Smiloid, Lighthead, Thijs!bot, Seaphoto, .alyn.post., Leuko, Belovedfreak, Geekdiva, Lorriew, TXiKi-
BoT, Broadbot, Finngall, Langskip, SieBot, SpiderMum, Deanlaw, Mild Bill Hiccup, DragonBot, Carsrac, CowboySpartan, Editor2020,
XLinkBot, WikHead, Sweyn78, Addbot, Holt, BabelStone, Download, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Worldbruce, Ptbotgourou, Yngvadottir,
AnomieBOT, J04n, Dethwatch, Xena-angel, Adambyrn, Dustynyfeathers, JSWeber, Klbrain, Manytexts, ClueBot NG, Nobody60, Alphas-
inus, Helpful Pixie Bot, Fylbecatulous, BattyBot, Fiddlersmouth, ThormodMorrisson, AntoninBouda, Magic links bot and Anonymous:
37
• Runic inscriptions Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_inscriptions?oldid=787891825 Contributors: Anders Feder, Florian
Blaschke, Dbachmann, Kwamikagami, Laurascudder, Stefanomione, Bloodofox, Alex earlier account, Marek69, JustAGal, Magioladitis,
IndieRect, Deanlaw, SchreiberBike, Zevious, Yobot, Sudowite, VEO15, Lotje, John of Reading, GoingBatty, Helpful Pixie Bot, Aisteco,
Cerabot~enwiki, Krakkos, Monkbot, Music1201, Magic links bot, Lisabethwasp and Anonymous: 10
6.9.2 Images
• File:Abecedarium_anguliscum_scan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Abecedarium_anguliscum_
scan.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: St. Gall Abbey library, scan from unifr.ch. Original artist: Un-
known<a href='https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050' data-file-height='590'
/></a>
• File:Anglosaxonrunes.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Anglosaxonrunes.svg License: Public domain
Contributors:
• Anglosaxonrunes-editable.svg Original artist:
• derivative work: Rursus (talk)
• File:BM-ClogAlmanac.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/BM-ClogAlmanac.JPG License: CC BY-
SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Martin of Sheffield
• File:Beagnoth_Seax_Futhorc.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Beagnoth_Seax_Futhorc.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: Scanned from “Archæologia Cantiana” (Transactions of the Kent Archæological Society) Volume VIII (1872)
page 236 Original artist: Daniel H. Haigh
• File:Beowulf_cropped.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Beowulf_cropped.png License: Public do-
main Contributors:
• Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg Original artist:
• derivative work: Hayden120 (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Hayden120' title='User talk:Hayden120'>talk</a>)
• File:Björketorpsstenen_runor.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Bj%C3%B6rketorpsstenen_runor.
jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Sendelbach (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:
Sendelbach' title='User talk:Sendelbach'>talk</a>)
• File:Brakteat_von_Djupbrunns.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Brakteat_von_Djupbrunns.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: first published at de.wikipedia as de:Bild:Brakteat von Djupbrunns.jpg Original artist: User Sigune
on de.wikipedia
• File:British_Museum_Runic_Silver_Animal_Head.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/British_
Museum_Runic_Silver_Animal_Head.jpg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: BabelStone
• File:CodexRunicus.jpeg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/CodexRunicus.jpeg License: Public domain
Contributors: Den Arnamagnæanske Samling. Original at: http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/am28.html. Original artist: Template:Asztalos
Gyula
• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Origi-
nal artist: ?
6.9. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 39