There is a common conception of the Vikings as rude, uncouth barbarians, illiterate and disdainful of books and writing. In fact, the Norse were a lettered and literate society. At the beginning of the Viking Age, Northern Europe used a number of writing systems: Latin, Greek, Ogham, and a number of versions of runes. One runic alphabet was used by the Anglo-Saxons, along with Latin letters, but the ones we will concern ourselves with today were used by the Scandinavians in the various areas where they held sway, both at home and abroad.

Before we proceed any farther, some important points need to be made. Unlike our modern alphabet, the runic alphabet was a constantly evolving and unregulated writing system. Runes will vary depending upon the dialect being spoken, the age of the inscription, and the personal inclinations of the rune carver. There is even arguably some indication of dyslexia.

Runes seem to have appeared sometime around the beginning of the current era. Where they originated and by who are unknown-they appear to have derived from Latin letters, but even that isn't certain. The original rune row is markedly different from those of the Norse era, and consists of 24 runes.

By the beginning of the ninth century, the futhark (so called for the first six characters of the row) had been shortened to 16 characters. Two different rune rows were in use with slightly different characters; one, called long twig or Danish runes, and the other called the short twig or Swedish-Norwegian runes. These names are misleading, as either type might be found in the area of the other, and especially on the Isle of Man, runes from both might be used in the same inscription.

Long Twig Runes

Of course, the actual forms of each individual rune varied a good bit. The branches of "F" and "K" could be straight or curved. The branch of "A" could be on either side of the staff or go through the staff. The bows on "TH" and "B" could be of straight lines or curved as well. The bow and leg on "R" usually don't touch the staff in the middle, and usually the cross strokes on short twig "H" and "M" are dots.

Reading runes can be rather problematic, because there are not enough runes to cover the sounds of Old Norse, and, because spelling is phonetic and by dialect. When a sound is not represented by a rune, frequently a rune for a similar sounding letter is substituted. For example, in the word "konungR" (king), there is no rune for "g". A typical substitute would be "k", becoming "konunkR". Otherwise, the letter might be omitted altogether. As well, they might be omitted by way of convention, or simply to save space.

Frequently, but not invariably, each word is separated from the next by some form of punctuation. This could be in the form of a dot or series of dots arrayed vertically, a cross either upright or on side, or a single or parallel set of upright lines. Occasionally the end of a sentence will be indicated in a similar manner. There does not appear to be any system to this at all.

Runes are sometimes ligatured, meaning that several runes would be combined on one staff, such as the "a" and inflectional "R" at the end of Ragnar. As well, if a rune or series of runes were doubled, whether inside of a word or between two words, then they might only be written once and the two words run together.

How were runes used? Runes were used for a variety of things. One of the predominant uses of runes was to denote ownership. It is not uncommon to find artifacts with a name or short sentence like "Ranvaig owns this". Frequently in market and crafting areas will be found small, rune carved wooden tags used to mark merchandise bundles. They are also found on coins, naming the king that issued them and often the monier as well.

Runes were also used to mark memorials. These stones and wooden posts were raised to commemorate friends or relatives, to showcase public works and accomplishments, or establish inheritance rights. They could be placed on a grave or boundary; at a public work, such as bridge or causeway; or in some prominent sight where they were likely to be read, like beside a road or church. Often passages of Norse poetry are found on these memorials.

Runes were also used to send messages, either mundane or magical. Sometimes they were carved on wooden sticks; in Russia they are frequently found written on pieces of birch bark. They have been found spelling out names including "ODIN" on a piece of human skull.

Frequently when runes are found, they are accompanied by a futhark. I believe that the reason for this is to let the reader know which set of runes were being used. Because the runes almost always occur in the same order, one has only to look at where a rune occurs in the row to figure out which letter it represents.

Futharks are frequently found carved on sticks along with a short phrase or piece of poetry. They are also found on everyday objects, simply naming the object. I believe that in these cases they are learning aids. A good example is a piece of antler with the legend "Hart's horn" written on it. I can see a father asking his son, "Ketil, what is this called? O.K. write the runes."

Runes have even been found embroidered onto shoes. There is an example from Russia; the runes spell out part of a quotation from Virgil in Latin, "amor vicith omnia"-love conquers all!

So what does all of this tell us? I believe that the conclusion to be drawn is that the level of literacy in the Norse world was pretty high. Would you write a message on a memorial stone in a prominent place if no one could read it? Would uncouth barbarians read classical literature in the original language and then recreate it in their own writing system? Would you mark your property with your name if most people wouldn't understand what it meant? I believe that the answer to these questions is no. The Scandinavians were lettered, if not in the same manner as other Western Europeans, and used their writing system widely and imaginatively.

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