Runes are the alphabet of the ancient northern European tribes, the northern Celts, the Vikings, and ancient Germans. Runes came into usage at least two centuries before the common era, and may have evolved after contact with the "civilized" people of the Mediteranean. The word rune is believed to have it's origins in the Gothic word
runa, meaning secret, mystery or whisper, and the old German word
raunan, which means to cut or to carve. Carved Runic inscriptions have survived all over northern Europe- Ireland, Scandinavia, the Ukraine, Iceland. There are several different forms of the alphabet, and the one most often used today for fortune telling is the Elder Futhark, which was the Norse version of the alphabet.
From the earliest times, Runes were associated with magick. In his "Germania", the Roman historian Tacitus wrote how the priests of Odin could use the Runes as an
oracle; a branch was torn from a fruit bearing tree, and cut into strips. On each strip was painted the symbol of a single rune, and then the lot were cast into a white cloth. A priest of Odin would then pick three at a time, and from the particular combinations, he could divine the future. Runes were also used to carve "cursing stones", to defeat tomb robbers. The partial inscription on one ancient Swedish tomb stone reads, "I hid here magic runes undisturbed by evil witchcraft. He who destroys this monument shall die in misery by magic art". It's little wonder that so many of these ancient monuments have survived! Runes were even credited with bringing the dead back to life
Legend says that Odin, one of the old Norse gods, hung for nine nights on Yggdrasil, the Tree of the World, and grabbed the runes just before he fell from the tree.This sacrifice was what brought the runes to humankind.
Runes lost favor after World War II, when the Nazi party adopted several runes, most notably the swastika. It has taken many years for the Nazi taint to wear off.
Runic alphabets are called
futharks, so named because the first six letters of any version spell out the very word. There are three main futharks: Elder, Younger, and Anglo-Saxon. Chances are that the set of runes you have bought (or made) is an Elder Futhark. Regardless, the pages that follow assume that you are working with Elder Futhark.
Usually, runes are inscribed on stones or wood. Depending on which set you have bought, or made, you will have either 24 or 25 runes. Modern-day rune sets that you buy at the local bookstore will more than likely have the Blank Rune, or Wyrd, as it is sometimes called; rune masters who deplore the Blank Rune will not add it to the set. That debate is explained on the Blank Rune's page.
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