Runes

A detailed Summary of Runes

Runes are an ancient writing system, much like our

modern alphabet, yet they also have always been far more

than that. They may have started as sounds and ideas rather

than the means for spelling words. There are four major

divisions in rune alphabets: the Elder Futhark, the Anglo -

Frisian Futhore, the Young Futhark, and the Armanen Futhork.

The most widespread of these, and the one that I will be

referring to herein is the Elder Futhark, also refereed to

as the futhark. The futhark alphabet was named by the sounds

of the first six staves (letters), "f - u - th - a - r- k".

There are many theories on the historical origins of

the futhark alphabet and it's use as a writing system in the

Germanic dialects. Of these theories there are centrally

four that should be looked into; the Latin theory, the Greek

theory, the North - Italic theory, and the domestic

L. F. A. Wimmer first stated the Latin theory on 1874.

This theory is that as the Germanic peoples came into

contact with the Roman culture the Roman alphabet was

adapted and put to use by the Germans. The means by which

The North - Italic theory presumes that the Germanic

bound together(bindrunes). The runes can be written in all

In 1899 Sophus Bugge first put forth the Greek theory

least one meaning, most have many meanings linked by one

which looks more to the east for the origins of the Futhark

Thorsson, Edred. Runelore, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1987

proceeding right to left and the second sentence proceeding

as a mirror image (venderuner), upside down (stuperuner), or

left to right3. Additionally runes were some times written

kinds of directions and upon almost any kind of common

environment. Aside from having a phonetic value each stave

Approximate Word count = 837
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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