What The Futhark?!

   In reality, very little exists of the written form of many ancient languages. Of those that do exist, and can be understood by the modern scholar, one such is the Futhark, the ancient Runic alphabet and language system of many of our Nordic ancestors.
 
    Runes have been found to have been used all across Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, Iceland, and even parts of North America. Today, Runes are considered as mysterious and cryptic symbols by many, with connotations towards mysticism, magic and the occult. This mostly occurs because of the fact that it is no longer used, and therefore not as commonplace as it once was. In this post we are going to have a short look into the history of Runes, and its descendant scripts.
 
   The earliest example of Runes appeared around AD150. This form is also known as the 'Elder Futhark'. The name 'Futhark' comes from the first six characters in the set – fuxark, hence the name. The Futhark originated in parts of Europe that were home to Germanic tribes, who developed the Runes as a writing system. It is thought that the Elder Futhark originated from the 'Old Italic' script, which itself was derived from the Phoenician alphabet. The link between them does seem to suggest a relationship between the three, and they share some similar features. This form consists of 24 Runes, as shown below. 

 
   Sometime during the 5^th Century AD, changes occurred to the Runic alphabet, which was partly related to the invasions in parts of Britain and Germany (At the time, known as 'Frisia') by the Anglo-Saxons. It was these invasions that possibly brought the Rune as a form of writing to Britain. This form is known as the 'Anglo-Saxon Futhorc'. This Futhorc brought along with it changes and additions to the existing series of Runes, with the total rising to 29 Runes, and with some of the existing Runes having their sounds and forms changed. The name changed from 'Futhark' to 'Futhorc' as a result to the changes that occurred within the system. 

 
   Around the 9^th Century, a newer, younger form of Runes emerged – 'Younger Futhark', also known as 'Scandinavian Futhark', which was a simplified version of the Elder Futhark, now stripped down consisting of only 16 characters. This change occurred when the Norse language developed into what is known as 'Old Norse'. The forms of the Runes in the Younger Futhark were simplified, and some Runes came to represent several sounds. This version of Rune was spread around by the movement of the Vikings, into areas such as Greenland, and it is also believed that they brought Runes to North America.

   In the 12^th Century, The Younger Futhark was once again bolstered to contain one sign for each character of the language. Dotted variant Runes were added to expand the range of sounds that the Runes covered. This style of Rune is known as the 'Medieval Runes' and was used from the 12^th to the 15^th century, in the Middle Ages.

   Whilst the Futhark was still in popular use up until even the 19^th century, the rise and spread of the Latin alphabet caused a decrease in the use of Futhark, due to many cultures adopting the newer alphabet. The Latin alphabet started to move into Britain in the 9^th century, with the later Norman Conquest later cementing the change. Futhark carried on to be used much longer in Scandinavia, however eventually it fell out of popular use, again in favour of the Latin alphabet.
 
   Today, Runes are now mainly a thing of study for scholars and archaeologists, and are still used for their aesthetic value in decorative ventures. There have been a few recurrences of the Runes being readopted, with the 'Gothicismus' movement occurring in Scandinavia in the 19^th century, and Germanic Neopagaism of the 20^th century, where the Rune was reused alongside other traditional German aspects.
 
   The Runes were a beautiful method of communication, which served a practical purpose whilst also looking very distinct and striking. The angular nature of the runes and their simplicity is something I find very captivating, and the slight mysterious aspect that they hold is an alluring feature of them for many. Just imagine, what if we had not adopted the Latin alphabet? What if Runes were still used as our means of writing? Its a funny thought, and one worth thinking about for a minute.


Lastly, here are some fun links to more content on Runes, should you wish to explore them a bit more.
Introduction to Runes 
Runes
Old Italic Script
Gothicismus
Germanic Neopaganism
Viking Runes
Frisia