A Brief History of Elder Futhark Runes
Runes are one medium of what we like to call divination. Others may include oracle cards, scrying, and tarot cards. In this brief essay, I will cover specifically the Elder Futhark runes, which is what I plan to work with further.
The word “rune” comes from the German verb “raunen,” which means to murmur or whisper. The earliest known runic writings are dated to around 200 CE, and the alphabet consists of 24 letters (aincientscripts.com).
Runes were often used, along with combinations of other magickally appropriate signs and tools, for spells—harmful or pleasant (dictionary.reference.com).
According to spelwrex.com, “Futhark is a writing system of uncertain origin that was used by Germanic peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland from about the 3rd century CE to the 16th or 17th century CE.” Inscriptions have been found on jewelry, amulets, tools, and weapons, as well as rune stones. Elder futhark was “…mostly used before the 9th century CE” (spelwrex.com).
Runes are still used today as a magickal tool. Amulets, rune stones, weapons, and ceremonial tools continue to have runes carved into or written on them. Even though writing has evolved past the angular writing of the ancients, the value of these runes is still appreciated by various witches, Wiccans, and occultists of today.
Sources:
http://www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/runehttp://www.spelwerx.com/futhark.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Short and sweet...could be better, but good enough for me.
smile Sorry I didn't use any books. I kinda wanted to, but didn't bring any good books to use home with me for Spring Break.
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