Runes
Runes are an ancient writing system originating from northern Europe that were used by various Germanic cultures between approximately 150 C.E. and 1600 C.E. The most recognized runic alphabet is known as Futhark, named after its first six letters: f, u, th, a, r, and k. Runes were believed to hold mystical significance, associated with power, magic, and the ability to convey secret knowledge. The term "rune" itself is thought to derive from the Germanic word for "whisper," reflecting their enigmatic nature.
Historically, runes were not tied to any single oral language but could represent sounds from multiple languages, making them versatile for recording diverse dialects. The origins of runes are believed to be influenced by earlier writing systems in the Alpine or Mediterranean regions, with the earliest inscriptions dating to the mid-second century C.E. As Christianity spread through northern Europe, the use of runes declined, particularly after they were banned in Anglo-Saxon England by the eleventh century.
Despite their decline, runes remained in use in some regions, especially Scandinavia, where they were inscribed on monuments and gravestones until the seventeenth century. Various forms of the runic alphabet exist, including Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark, which evolved over time in response to linguistic changes. Runes continue to capture interest today, both for their historical significance and their association with ancient traditions.
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Runes
Runes form an ancient writing system from northern Europe that predates the use of the contemporary Latin alphabet. These scripts were used by a variety of Germanic cultures from about 150 C.E. to as late as 1600 C.E. in some places. The most common runic alphabet is often called Futhark after the first six individual letters of the alphabet: f, u, th (or þ), a, r, and k. In many northern European cultures, runes had associations with mystic knowledge and magic. The word rune is believed to be derived from the Germanic word raunen, meaning "to whisper," a reference to their secretive and enigmatic nature. In their original form, runes were used as symbols of power by a select few learned individuals. These rune masters often had positions of great authority in many Germanic cultures, especially among the Vikings. Rune masters could reputedly use them to foretell the future or to cast spells of protection or harm. Viking warriors would often have runes inscribed onto their weapons to bring them strength and power. As testament of their perceived special powers, in Old English, the word rune means both "secret" and "knowledge."
The runes were not representative of an oral language. Rather, they could be used to record any number of different languages. Each rune represented a sound, with runic inscriptions often used to phonetically spell out words—a method that allowed them to function as a written form for various tongues. However, individual runes also had special connotations. For instance, the first character of f in Elder Futhark (which was called "fehu") was intended to be pronounced like the Latin letter f, but its physical mark initially symbolized cattle. As a mystic tool used in spellcasting, the fehu rune also had associations with wealth and power.
Brief History
The origins of the Germanic runic writing systems are outside northern Europe. It is believed that they were derived from an existing alphabet in the Alpine or Mediterranean regions of southern Europe—possibly one of the Old Italic scripts like those used by the Etruscans in northern Italy. The Etruscans lived in a region near the southern Germanic tribes and likely had frequent cultural interactions with them. In 1812, a bronze helmet—one of the Negau helmets—was found in Slovenia bearing a second century B.C.E. inscription that mixed the Etruscan alphabet with Germanic language sounds, and has been cited by some linguists as evidence of the linguistic exchange between these cultures. Other sources attribute the origins of the runic alphabet to the Roman Empire and the Latin alphabet in the first century C.E. Regardless, by the second century C.E., several Germanic tribes were using a runic system that combined a version of an Old Italic writing system with Germanic sacred symbols and petroglyphs (a type of picture carved into rocks).
The oldest known runic inscriptions are found on the Vimose comb in Denmark and the Øvre Stabu spearhead from Norway, both of which date to the mid-second century C.E. The earliest known written listing of the Futhark alphabet was discovered on the Kylver Stone, which was found covering a grave from approximately 400 C.E. in Gotland, Sweden. Archaeologists believe the Elder (or Older) Futhark runic alphabet may have progressed to northern Europe by virtue of traders or nomadic bands of warriors.
In continental Europe, the use of the runic alphabet had largely died between the eighth and ninth centuries except for some pockets of Frisian Netherlands, although they remained as the dominant form of written language in Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England. However, even in these regions, they gradually became supplanted by the Latin alphabet beginning in the ninth century. By the eleventh century, they had been banned in Anglo-Saxon England by King Cnut.
The Vikings continued to use Younger Futhark from about the ninth century until about the eleventh century. This runic system evolved into a twenty-seven-letter alphabet called medieval or futhork runes by the thirteenth century. Runes were increasingly abandoned as a primary form of written language when the region became fully Christianized in the fourteenth century and adopted the Latin alphabet. However, they remained in use in Scandinavia alongside Christian symbols on graves and monuments until the seventeenth century, when they were banned outright by churches as a pagan remnant.
Overview
According to Germanic tradition, the runic alphabet was reputedly handed down to humankind by Odin as related in the mythic Norse poem Hávamál. The poem tells how Odin sacrificed himself on the sacred tree of Yggdrasil, which holds the nine worlds of the Norse cosmos together. After being hung and sacrificed on Yggdrasil, Odin was exposed to the Well of Urd, where the entirety of all knowledge was contained. Odin seized the knowledge of runes and passed it on to humanity. A second Old Norse poem, the Völuspá, also speaks of the mystical origins of the runes, which were said to be initially in the possession of the Norns, a group of mythological women who used them to carve the destinies of all living beings into the trunk of Yggdrasil.
There are several varieties of runes. They are differentiated by the number of characters in each alphabet and the region where they were primarily used. Some of the varieties of runes include Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark, Gothic runes, Anglo-Saxon futhorc, Frisian futhorc, medieval runes, and Northumbrian runes. In their later incarnations, runes were read from left to right, with composite words separated by dots.
The original Germanic Elder Futhark consisted of twenty-four runes. As the name suggests, it is the oldest runic alphabet and was likely the source for all other runic systems. It was used by a variety of Germanic tribes between the second and ninth centuries before Latin alphabets were introduced during the Christianization of the Germanic tribes. The Frisian runes consist of the Elder Futhark runes plus four additional runes; the closely related Anglo-Saxon set included one additional character not found in the Frisian set. These two runic systems saw their greatest use from the fifth to ninth centuries.
In Scandinavia, Elder Futhark was adapted into a shorter set of sixteen runes called Younger Futhark sometime between the seventh and ninth centuries. These adaptions were likely made in response to the differences in language between the Germanic and Nordic oral languages. Most known remaining runic inscriptions are Nordic in origin and date to the eleventh century. Contemporary understanding of runes has been greatly facilitated by ancient inscriptions on runestones, a type of monument used by Vikings to memorialize their fallen compatriots and facilitate their passage into the afterlife.
Bibliography
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Elliott, Ralph W.V. Runes: An Introduction. Praeger, 1981.
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MacLeod, Mindy, and Bernard Mees. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. Boydell Press, 2006.
McCoy, Daniel. "The Origins of the Runes." Norse Mythology for Smart People, norse-mythology.org/runes/the-origins-of-the-runes/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2016.
Murphy, G. Ronald. "Yggdrasil and the Sequence of the Runes in the Elder Fuþark." Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North. Oxford UP, 2013, pp. 154–189.
Robertson, John S. "How the Germanic Futhark Came from the Roman Alphabet." Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies, vol. 2, 2012, pp. 7–26.
Roric, Valda. "Discover the Hidden Roots of Runes." Ancient Origins, 23 Jan. 2016, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/discover-hidden-roots-runes-005229?nopaging=1. Accessed 17 Nov. 2016.
Sanderson, Nicole. "Viking Runes through Time." Nova, 9 May 2000, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/viking-runes-through-time.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2016.
Schulte, Michael. "Runology and Historical Sociolinguistics: On Runic Writing and Its Social History in the First Millennium." Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, pp. 87–110.