wartune hall of heroes guide mystery runes

Indeed, they are more mysterious now than they ever have been, but in words ascribed to Odin, when one understands the meanings of the runes they may find,įrom a word to a word I was led to a word,įrom a work to a work I was led to a work. Many books and other resources are available for deeper inquiry, but there is much about runes that is not known. These charts should serve for those looking to transliterate their names or other epitaphs or to find known associations with particular meanings. The following tables offer a quick and basic introduction to the runes used by the Vikings and their ancestors. Of course, the Vikings also left runic graffiti from Orkney to Constantinople and beyond as they pushed the boundaries of their world ever-further.

While seers and völva priestesses still used the runes to perceive the paths of the cosmos, we have found many runic inscriptions that were related to law or trade, or simply a man or woman carving their name on a personal item. The explosion of trade and interaction brought about by the Viking Age created an increased need for writing and literacy, thus archaeologists have cataloged thousands of inscriptions in Younger Futhark while we only have hundreds in Elder Futhark. Younger Futhark can be further divided into styles, including the 'long branch' (Danish) and the 'short twig' (Swedish and Norwegian) runes: ᚬ Phonetically, the runes of the Younger Futhark were working double-duty to cover the changes that were differentiating the Norse tongues from that of other Germanic peoples. The Younger Futhark has only 16 runes, not because the language was becoming simpler but because it was becoming more complicated. By the Viking Age (roughly, 793-1066) the Elder Futhark gradually gave way to the Younger Futhark. However, most of them were found in Sweden. The Kingittorsuaq Runestone below was found in Greenland and is currently located at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.Įlder Futhark has 24 runes, and over the next few centuries became widely used amongst the many Germanic tribes that vied for survival throughout Europe. And in Denmark as early as the eighth and ninth century. Some of the raised runestones first appear in the fourth and fifth century in Norway and Sweden. Roughly 50 runestones have been found. Runestones were often raised next to grave sites within the Viking era of 950-1100AD. Elder Futhark earns its designation because it is the oldest-discovered complete runic system, appearing in order on the Kylver Stone from Gotland, Sweden, dated from the dawn of the Migration Era (around the year 400). Similarly, modern experts have termed runic alphabets futharks (or futhorks), based on the first six letters of Elder Futhark which roughly correspond to our F, U, Th, A, R, and K. Our word alphabet comes from the Greek letters alpha and beta. While evidence suggests that most Vikings could read the runes on at least a basic level, for them the true study and understanding of these symbols was a pursuit fit for the gods. Rather than being penned on vellum or parchment, runes were usually carved on wood, bone, or stone, hence their angular appearance. It is obvious to see how many of these runes were an influence on our English letters used today, such as the T, O, F and S seen in these pendants.Ĭarved on sticks or other objects, they could be cast and deciphered to discern the present or predict the future. Because they had inherent meaning, they could be used as a means of communication between the natural and supernatural, and could thus be used as spells for protection or success. They could be carved into rune stones to commemorate ancestors and mark the graves of heroes. Instead, runes were for inscriptions of great importance. However, they did not use this writing the way we do now, or even the way Mediterranean and other neighboring cultures did then. The Norse and other Germanic peoples wrote with runes since at least the first century. So we see from this story how the Vikings thought of runes not merely as letters but as having potent virtues within themselves of a metaphysical or even magical nature. Odin made his sacrifice at great anguish and risk to himself because he knew that the runes conveyed deep meaning, and if he could understand their meaning he would gain profound wisdom and power. The runes were symbols that sprang from the Well of Urd – the source of fate – and the Norns used these runes to carry that fate up the trunk and branches of Yggdrasil to the nine worlds amidst its boughs. In Norse lore, the god, Odin, impaled his heart with his own spear and hung on the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights all to perceive the meaning of the runes.

Wartune hall of heroes guide mystery runes