The History of the Runes
Both the origin and age of the runes are hotly debated topics
among scholars, and have been for years. The similarity of
runes to the Latin and Greek alphabets, both in number and
shapes, suggests that the runes came from these alphabets,
but as more information comes to light, the age of the runes
keeps being moved further back. At this point they are being
connected to some of the earliest writing systems.
Traditional symbols of the Northern peoples, runes are
said to have been passed on by the mythical Hyperboreans,
the fabled peoples of the Northernmost Isles. Some scholars
say runes originated in the second century B.C.E., when the
Cimbri and the Teutons invaded the Italian peninsula and came
into contact with the North Etruscan and Latin alphabets. Other
scholars believe that runes were formulated by the Goths in the
first and second centuries C.E., on the Baltic coast. As early
as the first century C.E., the Roman scholar Tacitus describes
runes' being used in divination practices. He writes that during
the full moon, a priest, priestess, or the head of the household
would inscribe runes on strips of wood cut from a fruit-bearing
tree, then close his/her eyes, turn to the north, invoke the
goddesses and gods, and cast the runes on a white cloth.
Some of the more recent theories about the origins of the runes
are:
1) The Elder Futhark is of the same origin as the ancient
Turkish inscriptions of the Gokturk alphabet.
2) The runes were introduced to Scandinavia during the same
period that spiral ornaments were introduced to Crete-somewhere between
1800 and 400 B.C.E. Evidence shows that the Goths were already familiar
with the art of runes before they left Scandinavia, between 200 B.C.E.
and 200 C.E.
3) The Norwegian runes are identical with runes used in Semitic-
language areas, such as Trojan Asia Minor and Canaan (Palestine) as far
back in history as 2000 B.C.E. To this conclusion, some scholars postulate
that the runes were not inspired by the Greek and Latin alphabets, but that
they all developed from the same original, Oriental writing systems. Some of
the first Norwegian runic inscriptions were written in a Semitic language.
New archeological finds show that many people from the Mediterranean Sea area,
especially Semitic people from the island of Crete, often traveled north on
trading tours.
No matter where they originated, runes were a primary means of passing
down information through the generations. Historical evidence indicates
that initially they were a series of sounds and postures related to natural
and divine forces, which later evolved into the letters of the alphabet used
by the earliest Germanic tribes of Northern Europe. Prior to 200
B.C.E., tribes all the way from Romania to the british isles, France,
and northernmost Scandinavia had all developed the use of runes.
One of the key reasons that runic lore has been kept intact for these
thousands of years is that some of the Northern European peoples were
extremely isolated, particularly in the fjords of Scandinavia. It was
especially in these places that runes thrived. The invading Romans and
Christians did a thorough job of disrupting the traditional spirituality
of the Northern Europeans peoples, but because of basic geography, much
of it remained intact.
As a writing system, the runes have characteristics that suggest both
their origin and age. Because runic characters were carved in wood and
stone rather than written, the original symbols contain only straight
lines. Not until later did curved lines come into play. For example,
the letter "R," which normally has a curved half-circle on top, was
written in runic characters as two straight lines that form a side-
ways "V."
Another interesting aspect of runic letters is that they do not have
horizontal lines. This was because they were often cut into wood, and
the grain of the wood was horizontal. Using carved lines that were either
vertical or diagonal, there was less chance that the lines would be mistaken
for the grain of the wood. A perfect example of this is the Ingwaz rune, which
appears as a diamond and, as such, has only diagonal lines. Theoretically, it is
the same as a square, the difference being that a square has two horizontal lines.
Basically, a diamond is a square that has been tilted, so that its angles line up
on a vertical and horizontal axis.
The basic differences between carving and writing are particularly
pertinent in the case of the runes. Writing involves having both a
writing implement and a writing medium, some form of paint or ink.
Carving, in contrast, merely involves having an implement to carve
with, which, in its most primitive form, could be as simple as using
the finger to carve shapes in wet sand. Early hunters were already
using knives and other stone tools, so it makes sense that they would
also begin using these tools for writing and documenting events.
Carving letters into wood, rocks, and bones seems a logical step for
a hunter. It was a way of linking beginnings of language together with
the knowledge, magical or otherwise, that needed to be passed down to
each subsequent generation.
The runes also depict archtypal shapees that exist as patterns throughout
nature. You can see rune symbols is almost everything. For example, the Kenaz
rune, which looks like a sideways "V," looks like the "V" formation of geeses,
ducks, and other birds as they fly through the sky. Another way to connect even
more deeply with the runes is to become aware of their shapes in everything-
animate ot inanimate.
Runic Artifacts
The use of runes reached its pinnacle between 800 C.E. and 1300 C.E.
The oldest manuscript with runic symbols is the "Abecedarium
Nordmannicum," from the ninth century C.E. A fourteenth-century
Danish manuscript written entirely in runes is the "Codex Runicus,"
containing the laws of the province of Sconia. In the Thirty Years'
War in the seventeenth century, the Swedish forces used runes as a
code to confuse the Austrian intelligence. From the fifteenth to
eighteenth centuries, people used runes primarily in house markers
and monograms, and by the nineteenth century, only scattered pockets
of "rune singers" remained in the remote areas of Scandinavia.
early runic artifacts have been found in a wide area stretching across
Europe. Archeologists found at Kylver, on the Baltic island of Gotland,
a rune row carved on an earky fifth-century stone; it is the earliest
known runic artifact containing a complete runic row. At Vadstena in
Ostergotland, Sweden, a stamped gold talisman with runes carved in it
was found dating from the middle of the sixth century. A runic artifact
found at Briza, near Sarajevo in Bosnia, dates back to the first half
of the sixth century and contains nineteen of the twenty-four runes from
the Elder Futhark. At Arum in the Netherlands, a wooden magical sword
that dates around 600 C.E. carries the inscription "return, messenger,"
carved in runes. Found in the Thames River in London was a stunning ninth
century English single-edged iron sword; it contained the entire Anglo-Saxon
rune row inlaid in brass and silver wire.
In Blekinge, Sweden, there exist veins of quartz that appear to have
long lines of runes running through them, standing out from a granite
rockface. Called Runamo, the place was considered sacred in the twelfth
century, and people referred to the quartz band of runes as an earth
dragon. In 1833, Finnur Magnusson of the Royal Sociaty of Denmark spent
ten months studying Runamo before having a vision as to its meaning and
writing down a poem entitled "Fornyrdislag" in the Old Norse metrical form.
Geologists have since proven that Runamo is indeed a natural phenomenon,
revealing that the shapes of the runes are natural archtypes even within
the very stones of the Earth.
The Scandinavian settlement in Greenland lasted about 500 years, the last
contact with it being around 1408 C.E. The Norse also came to North America
at some time around 1000 C.E. They called it Vineland, "the land of vines."
The most interesting North American runic artifacts include the Kensington
Runestone, which was discovered in 1898 in the state of Minnesota. Found
under a tree stump, the giant slab of stone weighs about 200 pounds. It has
an inscription carved in Late Scandinavian runes in a numeric system similar
to Roman numerals. The inscription tells of an expedition by Goths and Norsemen
to Vineland. A second runic artifact, found in 1952 by Ronald Mason near Winnetka,
Illinois, was a horn. On one side of the horn is a carving of a man pointing to
the sun, and on the other side is Odin's son, Vidar, fighting the Fenris Wolf at
ragnarok. Beneath the carving is a panel with runes describing the scene. Scholars
have argued over the authenticity of both of these American artifacts, particularly
because the dates and locales suggested by the artifacts do not support current
theories regarding the migration patterns of the Norse peoples. At the same time,
evidence does exist that points to their authenticity.
The Runes
Rune Mythology
Elder Futhark's Three Aettir
The First Aett
The Second Aett
The Third Aett
Rune Interpretations
Spiritual Runes
Rune Magic
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