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Below you will find the very basics to the history of
the runes, an explanation of futharks and various uses. |
History
The earliest recorded runes were used by the
early Germanic tribes of central Europe and are believed
to date back 1,700 years ago, though many think they
date back much earlier.
There are many arguments surrounding the origin of the
runes some saying that they originated from Turkish
alphabets whereas others Latin and Greek. The latter
theories are the most popular since there are many common
characters to be found in these that also appear in
the runic system.
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Futharks
Just
as the 'alphabet' is named after its first two characters
the runic systems are often called FUTHARKs as this is
the first 7 letters of its system.
There are quite a few different futharks, the oldest known
as the elder futhark (sometimes referred to as the common
Germanic futhark) this is the system that I am covering
but there are others such as the Anglo-saxon
futhark, the younger futhark, the Viking
futhark, and so on…. |
Rune Uses
The
runes are thought of as an ancient writing system but
they surpass these limitations by also incorporating the
tribe social idealogies (e.g. Sowulo = sun = health =
s). The use of runes is limitless they have been found
inscribed onto many surfaces of differing materials and
have been used for spells, divination, poems and ornamentation.
When used for divination they are most commonly cut onto
small parts of a branch of a fruit bearing tree but they
can be painted onto almost any surface. For this practice
it is generally considered best to use natural materials
such as crystals, stones and wood.
(The photo to the side is an example of one of my sets
- varnished coal stones picked from a nearby beach). |
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