This is a rune, and these are also runes, but what exactly are runes?
Runes are written characters used by Germanic tribes and peoples such as the Vikings and the
study of runes today is called Runeology.
The word rune is said have come from the Proto-Germanic word "runo" which could mean anything from letter,
secret,
mystery, to whisper.
This is reflected in the fact the Runes are said to have been magical symbols
representing the gods and holding great wisdom.
So runes are letters arranged into alphabets called Futharks or Futhorks.
The meaning of this is similar to how we would describe our keyboards today as being a Qwerty keyboard, as
Futhark represents the first six letters of the runic alphabets: fur, or,
thorn, az, rad, and kemp.
There are many Runic alphabets or Futhtarks, but the three most famous and widely used alphabets were
Elder Futhark,
Younger Futhark, and
Anglo-Saxon Futhark.
But when most people are talking about runes, they usually mean Elder Futhark.
And we will talk more about this and the history of the runes in another video.
Runes in each alphabet are split into families called Aetts,
which means family, and
the plural of which is Attir.
Each Aett is roughly made up of eight symbols, and
the number yet seems to have been significant in Norse Mythology, but the significance of this has long since been lost.
Most of the information we have on the many runes come from three rune poems.
So there's a lot of information that runeologists today don't know.
But what we do know is that like the origin story of most alphabets in
Germanic and Norse Mythology, runes are said to have come from the gods.
In this case, Odin, through a very strange ritual.
In Norse Mythology, The Nine Realms or Worlds are held together by a grid tree known as The Tree of Worlds, and
this tree grows out of a great pool
known as The Well of Urd.
The Well of Urd was said to have held the entirety of the past, and thus it is a pool of great wisdom, and
it is out of this pool that Odin gained the knowledge of the Runes.
The account of it says this:
I know that I hung on a wind rocked tree,
nine whole nights,
with a spear wounded and to Odin offered myself to myself;
on that tree, of which no one knows from what rooted springs.
Bread no one gave me,
nor a horn of drink, downward I peered, to runes applied myself,
wailing learnt them,
then fell down thence.
Historians are unsure of exactly what the sacrifice was meant to have been, but whatever it was,
Odin supposedly gained the knowledge of the runes, which he used them to perform magical acts and
eventually taught to humanity.
Reflecting the mystic nature of runes, the name of each rune is actually a common word.
Each rune is also linked to a god and an element.
Not only that, but it's said that the material runes were carved onto also held significance.
The ancients believed that everything had a spirit, so the wood, leather, bone, or stone
added an extra status to the objects.
To show you the significance of each rune, we'll take for example the letter thorn, which we've seen earlier.
Thorn,
actually, in spoken language, meant a giant,
both the words attack and defense, and
was also
associated with
Thor and fire.
So let's recap.
Runes are Germanic and Norse letters, which were believed to have magical powers.
Runes are arranged into alphabets called Futhark, and
Futharks are split into attir, made up of eight characters.
Runes are said to have come from a well of knowledge, and the name of each Rune was also a word and linked to the gods.
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this video,
Please take time to like and subscribe and stay tuned for part two, where we will look into the history of runes.
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