The Futhark

[Angantyr]

This thread is devoted to exploring the similarities and differences between the three major futharks (runic alphabets) that were in use in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. I will give a little background on each of the three in this first post, and will continue to expand on the information here as I have time. Note that what I present here will be more of a historical nature. There are many myths and legends surrounding the runes, and no comprehensive study of runes would be complete without discussing them. However, I believe that other moderators have done an excellent job regarding the legendary origins of the runes, so I will focus mostly on historical material.

A note about the Viking Age: Typically, the period of Scandinavian history known as the "Viking Age" is considered to begin with the raid on the Lindisfarne monastery in 793. It would last until 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, when Scandinavian designs on ruling England were thwarted.

The Futhark
Like any system of writing, runes changed over time, as unused runes were dropped or modified and new ones were added. Since runes are not a language, but symbols used to describe sounds, there is no "runic language" to learn. Just as our modern alphabet can (for the most part) be used to write both English and Spanish, runes could be used by any culture to represent the sounds of their language.

To begin, we will first look at the basis for the Danish and Swedish/Norwegian futharks...the Elder Futhark.

The Elder Futhark was known as early as 200 A.D. One theory is that they originated among the Germanic tribes living north of the Black Sea. Runes spread and were eventually used all over northern and middle Europe, though eventually they would fall out of general use in most places.

The word "futhark" is, in fact, a conglomeration of the first 6 letters of the runic alphabet: F-U-TH-A-R-K. The Elder Futhark consists of 24 runes. The runes are divided into 3 aettir (sing. aett) of 8 runes each. Like our own alphabet, the runes could take on different sounds depending on their position in a word. As the runes spread, different cultures adapted the sound of a rune to their particular language. Eventually, the differences caused the Elder Futhark to branch into at least two major versions...the Anglo-Saxon and the Younger futharks.

While the Anglo-Saxon runes will not be discussed here (at least initially), we will look closer at the Younger Futhark, which (by 800 A.D.) would be the version that would replace the Elder Futhark in Scandinavia. The Younger Futhark is, itself, branched as well into the Danish and Swedish/Norwegian futharks. The two versions of the Younger Futhark both consist of 16 runes, which are, like the Elder, divided into 3 aettir. In the first aett, there are 6 runes, followed by 5 runes each in the second and third aettir. The two versions of the Younger Futhark represent the same (or very similar) sounds, it is just that the Danish Futhark was used primarily in Denmark and in areas under Danish rule or control, and Swedish/Norwegian runes were used in areas controlled by Sweden and/or Norway.

In following posts, I will go into greater detail on both the Elder and Younger futharks, and show how you can include runes in your posts, if needed. I will also explain (to the best of my knowledge and intuition) how to write runic inscriptions.

[Angantyr]

We will start with the Elder Futhark. The chart below shows the runes arranged in three aettir of eight runes each.



The code beneath each rune used to serve a purpose, but now with the method described in the Got Rune? thread, they no longer really are all that useful. The name consists of a letter denoting the futhark that the rune belongs to ('e' for Elder Futhark, in this case), followed by a digit for the aett the rune is found in, then a digit for the position of the rune in the aett, then finally, the letter(s) that the rune most often represents. In the past, you would use this info to reference the rune image for your posts, but now it is much easier to just use the new method.

Be aware that at the time of this post, there is a limit of 10 images per post, so you won't be able to make long inscriptions.

As an example, here is "ANGANTYR" spelled out with the Elder Futhark (Quote this post to see):



Ok...now that you know the logistics, lets start going through the runes...

P.S. - Be sure to check out Elvis' thread Nordic Rune of the Day for additional info on the Elder Futhark.

[Angantyr]

1st Aett
- F
- U
- TH
- A
- R
- K
- G
- W

2nd Aett
- H
- N
- I
- J, also Y
- Æ, Ï. The sound of this rune had disappeared in Germanic languages by the 300 A.D. Therefore, the rune is largely extraneous.
- P
- Z, R if it is the last rune in a word.
- S

3rd Aett
- T
- B
- E
- M
- L
- NG
- D
- O

[Angantyr]

Ok, now that we have a futhark to use, let me give you the #1 rule (in my opinion) regarding runic transliterations.

Think phonetically. Since runes are an alphabet, not a language, you don't spell things the same using the Elder Futhark the same as you would with the alphabet, even though the word is English. Instead, use the sounds of the runes as your guide. For example, the "ph" in "gopher" would not be transliterated as , but rather as the single rune .

A couple other guidelines:
- In most cases, you can drop the silent "e" at the end of words like "made". (This applies to most other silent letters as well.
- Runes are rarely doubled in runic inscriptions.

So, "little" might best be transliterated as . (I am no expert...words like this can be difficult...sometimes you just have to use your best judgement.)

I may add more tips here later, but for now I think we are ready to move on to the Younger Futhark...the one in use during most of the Viking Age. (Most of these tips will apply to the Younger Futhark as well...to an even greater degree because there are fewer runes.)

[Elvis]

One thing I was curious about is the letter V, whose sound is missing from the Elder Futhark. If you notice, I've used the rune Fe or Fehu in place of the V in my name (in my sig), but I was curious if Wunjo might be the correct rune to use.

[Elvis]

By the way... here's the runescript for my name. Lucky me, it's the correct 5 letters

Ehwaz - Horse, travel, vehicle
Logr - Water travel, emotion, voyage, discovery
Fe - Abundance, wealth, gold
(Wunjo - Joy, wishes)
Iss - Stasis, frigidity, deadlock, entrapment, new life, renewal
Sol - Spiritual power, enlightenment, guidance.

[Angantyr]

Originally posted by Elvis
One thing I was curious about is the letter V, whose sound is missing from the Elder Futhark. If you notice, I've used the rune Fe or Fehu in place of the V in my name (in my sig), but I was curious if Wunjo might be the correct rune to use.

I can see the case for using ...it does seem to fit the overall sound of the word. However, might be better...

This link shows the various names for - http://www.arild-hauge.com/efuthark.htm#7. Notice that the Norse and Icelandic name for the rune begin with V ("Vend" and "Vin"). It would not surprise me if a Viking Age Scandinavian runecarver used for the 'v' sound...if they were using the Elder Futhark, of course.

It is these kinds of usage questions that I anticipate will challenge us considerably more as we move into the Younger Futhark.

[Elvis]

OK, I've changed the 3rd rune to Wunjo It's interesting to note what my name runescript turns out to be.

Ehwaz sets the script in motion. It signifies a journey, momentum. Logr continues this journey, opening it up to a moment of discovery. What's discovered? Well, whatever it is, Wunjo indicates that it's something to be celebrated. The last two runes, Iss and Sol are an interesting pair. Iss is commonly used to "seal" a runescript and make it long-lasting. Sol, however, the power of the sun, would melt the ice that Iss represents, so IMO, the 4th rune stands more for anticipation of renewal. Sol brings enlightenment that allows for the runescript to hold significance.

[Taedrun]

Hmm, sounds nice Elvis. Could be a fortunate and favorable script.

Again, there are several interpretations of each rune and its meaning from its placing in a runescript, but that sounds like a viable and fairly accurate reading to me.

[Angantyr]

By around 800 A.D., the Elder Futhark had given way to the Younger Futhark in Scandinavia. Therefore, it is the Younger Futhark that is used most often in runic inscriptions. So...if you want your inscription to have that "Viking" feel to it, you will definitely want to use the Younger Futhark.

As mentioned in my inital post, the Younger Futhark is branched into the Danish and Swedo-Norwegian Futharks. Both use 16 runes representing the same 16 primary sounds, but some runes differ in appearance between the two. This is compounded by the fact that nearly every rister (rune-carver) had their own unique style and that the usage and appearance of the runes changed over time. See this page for a good overview of just how much the just the Danish runes changed over a few hundred years: http://www.arild-hauge.com/edruner.htm

I have chosen to use the Younger Futhark as it was during the core years of the Viking Age (circa 900 A.D.). At this stage the Younger Futhark is notably different from the Elder Futhark, but it has not yet been influenced by the Latin alphabet (as happens some time after the Viking Age ends).



As with the chart for the Elder Futhark, there are codes beneath each rune. They follow the same format ('d'anish, '3'rd aett, '1'st rune, 't' sound). As with the Elder Futhark post, this code doesn't mean so much now that we use the simplified method in the Got Rune? thread.

Here is "ANGANTYR" using the Danish Futhark (or one possible way of writing it, as we will discuss later):


Ok, let's look at the sounds for the runes. I'll use the Danish Futhark because that is the set I have completed. (I will add the Swedo-Norwegian runes as soon as they are uploaded to Mythica HQ.)

[Yigg Yous]

very nice info, thanks man

[Angantyr]

1st Aett
- F
- U, W, O
- TH
- O, A
- R
- K, G, NG

2nd Aett
- H
- N
- I, E
- A
- S

3rd Aett
- T, D
- B, P
- M
- L
- Y, Z, ER

[Angantyr]

Ok...now we have a Viking Age futhark to work with.

Right away, you can see that there are going to be some...difficulties. For one thing, there are two runes that are frequently used for 'A', the rune and the rune. Which one do we use? Well...that's a good question. As soon as you learn the answer, or if you know already, let me know! Personally, I try to use for 'A' only when the sound I want to represent sounds similar to 'O' in "on". For all other sounds of 'A' I use .

But wait...there's more! We also have the rune, which represents 'I' and 'E' sounds. That's not bad for writing runic inscriptions, but if you are trying to decipher them, it can get ambiguous. The same goes for any rune that has multiple sounds associated with it. (Really, this isn't so much different than our own alphabet--especially when used to write English--for example, 'C' in English can have an 'S' sound or a 'K' sound.)

Finally, since there are only 16 runes, you will have to get creative when trying to recreate all the sounds in the English language. If there just is not a good single rune to represent the sound you need, you may have to combine them in clever ways. For example, the word "each": I would transliterate the sounds of that word as . Go ahead...sound it out. Surprisingly, it comes out halfway sounding like the word I want it to!

No doubt, you will come across further obstacles in transliterating, but with a little instinct and educated guessing, you will probably be able to come up with something that works. The spelling of English words with the alphabet is not immune to these same problems...we just already know most of the odd rules because we learned them all in school.

[Angantyr]

Hmmm...I can tell that some easy way to differentiate the different futharks is needed. I think some color coding might be the way to go. I'll have one color for the Elder Futhark, one color for the Danish Futhark, and one color for the Swedo-Norwegian Futhark. That way, you will at least know which futhark it is if you aren't familiar with the runes unique to each.

[Yigg Yous]

such a good idea...color coding rules

[Angantyr]

Now, for a little pop quiz...



The runes in the image are Younger (Danish) Futhark runes. They spell out English words. See if you can decipher them.

You have a few things working against you...one is that you don't know where one word ends and another begins. This is not uncommon in runic inscriptions, so you will have to guess. Also, as mentioned, some runes can denote different sounds, so you have to make your best guess based on surrounding runes. Finally, this is one of my earlier transliterations, done when I was still practicing. I think most runes are correct, but there might be a few places where a different rune would have been better.

The fact that I told you the futhark and the language is somewhat of a help, but not much.

For those who attempt it, whether or not you succeed, you will begin to understand the difficulties of deciphering Viking Age runestones.

GO!

[Bograt]

i have no idea lol

[Finn MacCool]

didn't you already say what these runes mean some months ago?

and didn't you forget to mention one problem? cause it seems to me
like some runes are upside down

[Angantyr]

Originally posted by Finn MacCool
didn't you already say what these runes mean some months ago?

and didn't you forget to mention one problem? cause it seems to me
like some runes are upside down

Um...yes...I may have given the meaning in the past...but I just did a quick search through my posts and couldn't find it. It may have been deleted when the mythology section got toasted. If not, then there is an easy way to pass the quiz!

As for upside down runes, no...they are all right-side up relative to the baseline, which is the inner border of the ribbon. However...

In authentic runic inscriptions, runes are often written left-to-right, right-to-left, and sometimes even reversed! So...be thankful I write my runes consistently left-to-right and never reversed.

[Taedrun]

Always loved a challenge, and my father used to teach me the elder futhark runes when I was younger. I never really expanded my knowledge into the younger futharks, but just reading over this thread sparks an interest within to become more familiar with them.

I've never attempted to decipher a runescript as long as this one, but I had to give it a shot. The end of the script still eludes me, and I couldn't quite find a flow to some of the words, but I did seem to pick up the runes easier as I went along.

Here is what I was able to make of them, and I'd appreciate some clarification on the last few words:

"Each man should be watchful and wary in speech, and slow to put faith in a friend (heres where I lose the flow a bit) for the worth so each one to another speaks him...." The last few still boggle me, and I can make out what looks to be "reward" but fail to see what I believe is something else.

So how did I do?