The runes have namesĪll runes have their own name, which dates back to the earliest runes. So if you are called Marianna or Emma, just write 'mariana' or 'ema'. You should not use the same rune twice in succession and there is no difference between big and small runes. Christoffer is written 'kristofer', and if you are called Chanel, you have to write it, as you pronounce it: 'sjanel'. Write your name with runesĮven though there are fewer letters in the runic alphabeth of the Viking Age (Younger Futhark) it is the easiest of the two Futharks to use today, because the runes here can be easily rewritten to the letters we have today. They could use the u-run for the o-sound, the t-run for the d-sound, the i-run for the e-sound and the k-run for the g-sound. The Vikings instead used the runes closest to the sound they were supposed to use. There are no longer runes for o, d, e and g. The runic alphabet of the Viking Age lacks some runes to express all sounds in the language. There are runic inscriptions written by Vikings in England and as far away as Greece, Turkey, Russia and Greenland. The Vikings who traveled the world brought the runes with them. In the Viking Age, runes were used only by the people living in the Nordic area. the m-rune is called maðr, meaning 'man' or 'human being', and the s-rune is called sól, meaning 'sun'. The names of individual runes begin with the sound the rune describes, e.g. Runes are phonetic symbols, just like the letters we use today. Some of the text was lost, but the rest can be read as 'Saxe carved these runes. The hard materials made it difficult to make round edges, so the runes are more angular than our letters.Īt the excavation of the Roskilde 6 long ship, which was found beneath the Museum Island at the Viking Ship Museum, the archaeologists found a runic-stick. The Vikings did not write on paper, but carved them into stone, wood or iron. Runes were used alongside our present-day alphabet up until the 14th century.

Short runic inscriptions are also found on everyday artefacts from Viking towns and marketplaces. The runic stones of the Viking Age were erected in commemoration of powerful leaders and their heroic achievements. The strange þ-rune is pronounced 'th', a sound we find today especially in English words like 'the', 'think' and 'throne'.Įlder Futhark had 24 letters while Younger Futhark, developed at the beginning of the Viking Age, had only 16 letters.Įlder Futhark inscriptions etched by craftsmen and owners have been found on coins, garment brooches, weapons and implements dating primarily from the era of the Iron Age princes. The runic alphabet is named after its first six letters: The oldest runes are often found on items such as coins, suit buckles, weapons and implements, and are often the names of the owner of the item or the name of the person who made it.

The earliest runic inscriptions, dating from ca 150 AD, are particularly common in what is now Denmark, Northern Germany and Southern Sweden.

Runes developed in areas populated by Germanic tribes, probably inspired by the Latin alphabet of the Romans. What are runes?ĭuring the first centuries AD, the Romans influenced most of Europe. The Latin letters are the ones we use today. They are imitations of the Latin letters used in most of Europe during the Viking era.

Elder futhark rune tattoos