Viking Runes: Facts And History
The ancient alphabets originated in Scandivanian and German countries. Archeologists are discovering new runes, unfortunately, no remains of Viking runes are left on paper but thousands of runic inscribed stones have been discovered. The world runes mean “ Wisdom and secret knowledge” and come from old Norse language. The origin of Vikings runes are still unclear and historians are working to discover them. The symbols have first appeared in caves in the late bronze age.
History:
The runic inscriptions were first discovered in Demark. The Viking runes are inspired by Latin or Old Italian language and have great significance for German people. They are also known as Futhark because the runes always begin with F.U.TH.A.R.K. The Scandinavians put all the alphabets under the list of Elder Futhark and the list is further divided into Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon Futhark, It is the language that was spoken by Vikings. The Elder Futhark symbols died in the 8th century and younger futhark also passed out by Christians in the 11th century. Now the runes are only found carved in stones, tattoos or jewelry.
Uses Of Runes:
Runes were a mean of communication, fortune-telling, protection, story-telling, and casting spells. It was also used for medical treatments. Runes were crafted on the whalebone and the bone was placed under the bed of ill person. If he doesn’t get fine by morning, the runic inscription was considered wrong and had to be re-written.
Legend Of Runes:
Dan McCoy of North Mythology for Smart People Says:
“While runologists argue over many of the details of the historical origins of runic writing, there is widespread agreement on a general outline. The runes are presumed to have been derived from one of the many Old Italic alphabets in use among the Mediterranean peoples of the first century CE, who lived to the south of the Germanic tribes. Earlier Germanic sacred symbols, such as those preserved in northern European petroglyphs, were also likely influential in the development of the script.”
Norse people believe Odin has suffered much to gain wisdom of runic alphabets. Some believe he has sacrificed his eye for runic alphabets while other people believe he has hung himself on Yggdrasil, the tree of life for nine days with no water and food to gain knowledge of runic alphabets and make them available to mankind. It was believed that runes are magical, and if the symbols were carved right, victory protection and love can be gained.
Elder Futhark:
Elder Futhark contains two dozen symbols and are written in an old Germanic language, and are further categorized into Younger Futhark, and Anglo-Saxon Futhark, which is further categorized into Medieval Runes, Dalecarlian Runes, Marcommanic Runes It is said that rune casting was used as a tool of guidance and working with subconscious minds.
Rune Casting:
The method of divination is called rune casting. It’s not as same as fortune-telling, but it works with deep subconscious minds. Mostly rune casters were women. Rune casting is an ancient form of psychology, where one’s unconscious mind is focused on the question that is asked. The runes were kept in leather pouches for safety reasons.
New Runes:
The rune casting method is still practiced in some parts of the world. You can always purchase runes but you can make your own. It is a tradition to make your runes. Some people believe that runes should be made of wood of nut-bearing trees, including hazel, pines, oak, and cedars and should be stained with red color, the color of red. However, you should know that casting runes is dangerous and probably be illegal in your country.
About The Author :
Aqib Raja is a Digital Marketer, Link builder and an IT Professional. He loves to write on different topics. In free time, he likes to travel and explore the different parts of the world. You can follow him on Facebook.
