Runic alphabet

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Runic alphabet

The Runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes, formerly used to write Germanic languages, mainly in Scandinavia and the British Isles. In all their varieties they may be considered an ancient writing system of Northern Europe. The Scandinavian version is known as Futhark (derived from its first six letters: 'F', 'U' 'Th', 'A', 'R', and 'K'), and the Anglo-Saxon version as Futhorc (also so named after its first letters). The earliest runic inscriptions date from ca. 150, and the al ...

Including:

Runic alphabet - Background

Runic alphabet - Elder Fuþark

Runic alphabet - Names

Runic alphabet - Modern use

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia II - Runic alphabet - Unicode Runic alphabets are assigned Unicode range 16A0–16FF. This block is intended to encode all shapes of runic letters. Each letter is encoded only once, regardless of the number of alphabets in which it occurs. The block contains 81 symbols: 75 runic letters (16A0–16EA), three punctuation marks (Runic Single Punctuation 16EB ᛫, Runic Multiple Punctuation 16EC ᛬ and Runic Cross Punctuation 16ED ᛭), and three runic symbols that are used in mediaeval calendar staves ("Golden number Runes", Runic Arlaug Symbol 16EE ᛮ, Runic Tvimadur Symbol 16EF ᛯ and Runic Belgthor Symbol 16F0 ᛰ). Characters 16F1–16FF are present ...

Runic alphabet, Runic alphabet - Overview, Runic alphabet - Background, Runic alphabet - Origins, Runic alphabet - Magic and Divination, Runic alphabet - Common use, Runic alphabet - Gothic runes, Runic alphabet - Elder Fuþark, Runic alphabet - Names, Runic alphabet - Frisian and Anglo-Saxon Fuþorc, Runic alphabet - Younger Fuþark, Runic alphabet - Names, Runic alphabet - Evolution, Runic alphabet - Long-branch runes, Runic alphabet - Short-twig runes, Runic alphabet - Hälsinge Runes staveless runes, Runic alphabet - Dalecarlian Runic script, Runic alphabet - Modern use, Runic alphabet - Third Reich, Runic alphabet - Neopaganism, Runic alphabet - Literature, Runic alphabet - Unicode, Runic alphabet - Distribution, Runic alphabet - Runiform scripts, Runic alphabet - Special characters

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc are a runic alphabet, extended from the Elder Futhark, consisting of 29, and later even 33 characters. It was used probably from the 5th century onward. There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in Frisia and from there spread later to England. Another holds that runes were first introduced to England from Scandinavia where the futhorc was modified and then exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses and a definitive ...

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Elder Futhark

The Elder Futhark (or Older Futhark, Old Futhark) are the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Proto-Norse and other Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artefacts (jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons) and rune stones. In Scandinavia, the script was replaced by the Younger Futhark from the late 8th century, while the Anglo-Saxons replaced it with the Futhorc from the time of the invasion of England. Elder Futhark - Origins. Including:

Elder Futhark - Names

Elder Futhark - Inscription corpus

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Vaksala Runestone

The Vaksala Runestone (U 961) is located in Vaksala parish near Uppsala, Sweden. It is one of the ca. 40 runestones made by the successful rune carver Öpir, in Uppland, in the 11th century. The message reads that Ingulfast has made the rune stone on the behest of the widow and the daughter of the deceased. This runestone was moved from the wall of the church yard to its present location. The text reads: h(u)(l)-a + lit + raisa stain + þina at kitilbiarn faþur si ...

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Rune poem

The rune poems list the letters of a runic alphabet with a short verse characterizing each one. Three different rune poems have been preserved, an Icelandic, a Norwegian and an Anglo-Saxon one. The Icelandic and Norwegian poems both give the order of the sixteen runes of the Younger Futhark, ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚬ ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛅ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ ᛦ, with slightly differing letter names, while the Anglo-Saxon poem has ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ ᚱ ᚳ ᚷ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ...

Including:

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Sol goddess

Sol was, in Norse mythology, the goddess of the sun, a daughter of Mundilfari and Glaur and the wife of Glen. The corresponding Old English name is Sigel. Every day, she rode through the sky on her chariot, pulled by two horses named Alsvid and Arvak. She was chased during the day by Skoll, a wolf that wanted to devour her. Solar eclipses signified that Skoll had almost caught up to her. It is fated that Skoll will eventually catch Sol and eat her, though she would then be replaced by her daughter. The earth was protecte ...

Including:

Sol goddess - The Sol rune

Sol goddess - Armanen Runes

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Ogham

Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages. Ogham is sometimes referred to as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet." Ogham - Origins. Ogham - Evolution. Use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to have flowered in the 5th–6th centuries around the Irish Sea. The language of the Inscriptions from this period is termed Primitive Irish. The transition to Old Irish, the language of the earliest sources in the Latin alphabet, takes place in about ...

Including:

Ogham - Origins

Ogham - Letter names

Read more here: » Ogham: Encyclopedia - Ogham

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Viking Age

The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). During this period, the Vikings, Scandinavian warriors, leidangs and traders, raided and explored most parts of Europe, south-western Asia, northern Africa and north-eastern North America. Apart from exploring Europe by way of its oceans and rivers with the aid of their advanced navigational skills and extending their trading routes across vast parts of the continent, they also en ...

Including:

Viking Age - Place names

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - UR

UR, Ur, or ur can refer to several things: The City of Ur Úr (letter) ᚒ of the Ogham alphabet Ur (rune) ᚢ of the runic alphabets Royal Game of Ur Ur, the first known continent Ur- is a German prefix. Ur language Urdu language (ISO 639 alpha-2, ur) Ur is the name of a minor Gnostic deity. Ur, the Basque spirit of water Canton of Uri, Switzerland Ur, a commune of th

Read more here: » UR: Encyclopedia - UR

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Cipher runes

Cipher runes are the cryptographical replacement of the letters of the runic alphabet. Several schemes have been in use. The tent runes are based on strokes added to the four arms of an X shape: Each X represents two runes and is read clockwise, the strokes on the first arm representing the aett (row of eight runes), the strokes on the second arm the number within that aett. The branch runes are similar, the strokes being attached to a vertical stem and branching upwards. Strokes on the left indicate the aett, a ...

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Younger Futhark

The Younger Fuþark, also called Scandinavian Fuþark, are a runic alphabet, a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, consisting of only 16 characters, in use from ca. AD 800. The reduction correlates with phonetic changes when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse. They are found in Scandinavia and Viking Age settlements abroad, probably in use from the 9th century onward. They are divided into long-branch (Danish) and short-twig (Swedish and Norwegian) runes. The difference between the two versions has been a matter of contro ...

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - Vadstena bracteate

The Vadstena bracteate (or rather bracteates since there are two of them) is a gold C-bracteate found in the earth at Vadstena in 1774. A goldsmith was about to recycle the gold by melting the bracteate but was stopped by a local clergyman. The bracteate is believed to have been minted at the end of the 6th century. In the middle of the bracteate is a four-legged animal with a man's head above it, and in front of this a bird separated from the other image by a line. (The image is commonly associated with Odin in bracteate icono ...

Runic alphabet: Encyclopedia - W

W is the twenty-third letter of the modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is double-u. The earliest form of the letter W was a doubled V used in the 7th century by the earliest writers of Old English; it is from this <uu> digraph that the modern name "double U" comes. This digraph was not extensively used, the sound usually being represented instead by the runic wynn (Ƿ), but W gained popularity after the Norman Conquest, and by 1300 ...