Do you feel curiosity to know something more about Futhark runes? In this article, we will learn more about these mysterious ancient runes and their origins.

What are Futhark runes?

Futhark runes are part of the old Nordic alphabet. The alphabet is an invention of the Phoenicians. Later, this writing system was imitated by Greeks, Etruscans and other Mediterranean peoples. So how did he get to the Germanic tribes?

The general opinion of Scandinavian researchers is that the old futhark has its origin in the Latin or Roman alphabet. The contact with the Germanic tribes caused the proto-nordics to develop their own alphabet.

One of the evidence of this theory is the obvious similarity between the Runic and Latin Alphabet. In fact, among its 24 runes we can find almost identical characters to Latin letters: R, I, B, OT, among others.

The structure

Runic alphabets include different variants of the writing system used by Germanic peoples between the second and fourteenth centuries DC in turn, the word «Runic» comes from the symbols that make up this alphabet and that are known as runes. In other words, runes are equivalent to the letters of the Latin alphabet.

The rune concept encompasses different writing symbols that were used by Germanic peoples, giving rise to different alphabets over time. The word rune comes from the Germanic root- and means secret or whisper.

The origin of the Runic alphabet is the object of debate among experts. According to some theories, he received influences from the Latin or Etruscan alphabet. According to other theories, he could appear independently.

Each rune represents a sound and can also represent the concept that gives name to the rune. There is also a numerical system based on runes.

Types of Runic Alphabets

The Runic alphabet is also known as Futhark. This word is formed from the first six letters of this alphabet.

The knowledge of the runes has come to this day thanks to the engravings and inscriptions that are generally found in stone monuments. These findings have allowed to deduce that the runes were mainly used between the second and fourteenth centuries DC

From the inscriptions found, a classification has been established between three main variants of the Runic alphabet: Ancient Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhork and Young Futhark.

Ancient Futhark

As the name implies, it is the oldest version of the Runic alphabet. The oldest inscription found in this alphabet are the inscriptions of Vesos, dated in 160 AD the calculation that this alphabet was used until the seventh century. It ended up evolving giving rise to the Young Futhark, used by the Vikings, and Anglo-Saxon Futhork, used by the people who inhabited Britain.

The old futhark consists of 24 runes. Some of them keep some similarity with the Latin and Greek alphabets. This has given rise to different theories about the possible origin of this alphabet.

Anglo -Saxon future

The Anglo -Saxon future is a variant of the Runic alphabet that appeared as an evolution of ancient futhark. It is believed that this alphabet began to be used in the Frisia region from the fourth century and, after a short time, between the peoples of Great Britain.

This alphabet was used to write ancient English. However, from the seventh century it began to be replaced by the Latin alphabet due to the expansion of Christianity. It is estimated that between the XI and XII centuries it ceased to be used completely.

The Anglo -Saxon future introduced new runes about the ancient futhark, resulting in a total of 29 runes. Registration has been found with even more variations of the old runes for a total of 33 runes in this alphabet variant.

Young Futhark

The Young Futhark is properly the most used alphabet among the Viking people. For this reason, in some contexts it is known as the Vikings alphabet.

This alphabet emerged from the old futhark in the seventh century. While the old future consisted of 24 runes, the young futhark went on to use only 16. This reduction in the runes meant that there were runes that represented a sound. This reduction in runes meant that there were runes that represented more than one sound.

To compensate for the use of less runes, a scoring system was developed that allowed to represent different sounds from the same Rune.

Over time, small variations of this alphabet were developed. In the current Denmark, long branch runes were used. Instead, the villages of the areas of the current Sweden and Norway used the short branch runes. The Young Futhark was much more used among the Vikings than the ancient futhark among the previous peoples. As a result, more than 6,000 runic inscriptions of Young Futhark have been found.

The Young Futhark was replaced by the Latin alphabet when the Christianization of Scandinavia occurred from the thirteenth century.

From the eleventh century new variants of the former Futhark appeared. Some of them were used for decorative purposes during the following centuries. These include medieval and dalecarlian runes.

The medieval runes formed a 27 runes alphabet. Unlike ancient future, in medieval runes each rune represented a single sound. These runes coexisted for centuries with the use of Latin alphabet.

The mythological origin

Viking culture attributed a divine nature to its writing. Two myths related to this issue have survived to this day. The first goes back to the origin of humanity. Tell how the riga god had three children of three women: jarl (noble), churl (free man) and Thrall (slave). When Jarl grew and began to show signs of nobility, Rigo taught him the runes.

The other story, collected by the Swedish archbishop Olaus Magnus in the sixteenth century, speaks of a man named Ketil Rnske who stole three sticks to Odin. These objects were carved with runes and, thanks to them, could learn to read and write.

The end of the runes

The Young Futhark was used for three centuries, until 1100. Its limited number of letters did not cover all the phonemes of the old Nordic, so new runes were developed.

The medieval runes (1100-1500) stand out, with new characters that coexisted with the Latin alphabet. In the Swedish province of Dalecarlia, on the other hand, a mixture of Latin runes and letters known as Dalecarlian runes (1500-1800) was developed.

The advance of Christianity led to an expansion of the Roman alphabet. Over time, the runes stopped being used in favor of Latin letters, so that the current, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic languages ​​are written with this alphabet.

The use of Futhark runes in magic

In magic, we use Futhark runes of divination and that each symbol represents some type of energy that can mold your life. They are great tools for your divination practice, and are available in different shapes, sizes and materials. You can choose the runes that you like the most, those that you feel are more in tune with your trade and more represent you.

Where to get the Futhark runes?

You can create your own Futhark runes, but if this is not yours, I strongly recommend that you buy your runes in Etsy! That is the best place to buy magical tools and handmade articles for your crafts! Let your intuition guide your purchase and you will know what will be the best option for you!