BEHOLD THE RUNES



The runes are an ancient Germanic writing system.

No, that doesn't mean that they were used by Germans, but rather by tribes of Germanic peoples, who were blonde and spoke languages in the same family as English or Norse. The runes were only really used in Scandinavia or England, and can be found on grave markers or battle horns in these lands.

These primitive Germanic peoples ascribed magical power to words and writing, and their ancestral, Heathen religion taught that Woden (Odin) learned of the runes through a revelation. However, runes are in fact based on Italic writing scripts, which have the same shapes for B, C, H, R, I, S, and T and are obviously related to a good many of the other letter forms; see if you can recognize the ones for M, O, L, U, or F.

When written down, the 24 runes were typically divided into "Aetts," or pieces of eight. Now here is what they mean:



F: "Fehu." Money, cattle. (English "fee").
U: "Uruz." Aurochs, a great horned beast.
Th: "Thurisaz." Ogre/Giant, thorn.
A: "Ansuz." God. (Norse "Aes," god).
R: "Raido." Ride, Journey.
K: "Kennaz." Torch, oil. Others say "Kaunan," meaning sickness.
G: "Gebo." Gift. (German "geben," to give).
W: "Wunjo." Joy.



H: "Haglaz." Hail. Also destruction?
N: "Nauthiz." Need. Also tribulation or poverty?
I: "Issa." Ice.
J: "Yera." Harvest, Year. Also drawn as 5 or 6
Ai: "Aiwaz." Yew tree, bow (and magic, since the yew is "magical").
P: "Perth." (The meaning is unknown. Possibly Fruit? Dice? Cup? Vagina?)
Z: "Algiz." Elk, Protection. Some say this rune is pronounced "Zh."
S: "Sowilo." Sun. (English "Sol")



T: "Tiwaz." Honor. The rune of Tyr (Or Tiw, the wargod of Tuesday).
B: "Berkano." Birch tree. (English "birch")
E: "Ehwaz." Horse. Associated with swiftness and energy.
M: "Mannaz." Man, Humankind.
L: "Laguz." Water, sea, liquid. (English "lagoon")
Ng: "Ingwaz." A hero's name; related to the god Freyr and fertility.
D: "Dagaz." Day. (English "day")
O: "Othila." Inheritance. Also property?


To find more, click on any one of these links:

  • Runic Journey (This is a very good all around rune page.)

  • Rune Symbols (This page tries to reconstruct the heiroglyphic roots of the runes with images and etymology. I think it really reaches in some cases, but the page is still interesting)

  • Runes for Roleplaying Games (Although there are some errors on this page about the precise usage of the runes, they are slight. This page has information on all kinds of writing systems, including Cyrillic and Hebrew, and true type fonts for download. I suggest that you visit this page after looking through one of the other two listed above.)


    Back to Mark's Homepage