When Wulfilas, about the beginning of the last quarter of the fourth century, translated the Bible into the Gothic language he found it necessary to create an alphabet which could be used for this purpose. This he did by making use of the Greek alphabet and using some of the runic characters. What Wulfilas created was a literary alphabet, and this alphabet should not be confused with the runic.

The runic alphabet was only used for epigraphical purposes, that is for inscriptions, whether on stone, wood or metal. These inscriptions were used to denote ownership, or to give the name of the rune engraver, for magical purposes and for grave inscriptions. The earliest runic alphabet consisted of twenty-four characters, each of which represented a distinct sound of Germanic. But at the same time each rune had a definite name of a much more meaningful nature than the names which we now give to the letters of our alphabeth, names which, however, formerly did have a definite meaning in the Semitic language from which our alphabet was derived by way of the Greek and Latin. This is the reason why single runes, in some cases the whole alphabet, are found on some of the artifacts and on some of the monumental inscriptions - to give extra potency to the magic charm.

Symbolic signs occurring thoughout Germanic times in both the Bronze and Iron Ages and which undoubtedly had a cult significance should not be interpreted as runes; there is no reason to believe that they had any phonetic significance and without phonetic significance they cannot be regarded as alphabetic characters. This does not mean that some of the runic characters did not owe their origin to the cult symbols which were in common use. In such cases phonetic values were given to symbols which had been previously non-phonetic.

The Germanic runes are not Indo-European in origin. There is no evidence of their existence at such an early period as that before the Indo-European dispersal. They are of much later origin. Any attempt to derive the Germanic runic alphabet and the signs of the Old Irish Ogham script froma common Central European basis, apart from Latin, Etruscan of Greek influence, has proved unacceptable. That the runes must have had their origin after the sound shift had been completed is obvious. All the available evidence points to the fact that the runes came into use about A. D. 200, but their origin could have been somewhat earlier. If an alphabet of this nature had existed during the Bronze Age or during the early Iron Age there would almost certainly be some indication of it along with the wealth of other characters which were used as cult-symbols.

The value of some of the symbols of the runic alphabet changed with the changing language or languages. This is why the earlier 24-letter alphabet does not hold good for the whole period of time in which the runes were in use, from about the beginning of the third century until well past he viking period. A good example of the early runic alphabet of twenty-four characters can be found in the series on the Kylver stone, Gotland, of about the beginning of the fouth century. Another series was found on a sword from the Thames river of about 700 and gives the characters of the alphabet used at that time in England. This alphabet had twenty-eight symbols, the extra four being required by changes which had taken place in certain Anglo-Sxon vowels. Here is the alphabet from the Kylver Stone

There was a later Scandinavian alphabet where the original twenty-four characters were redused to sixteen, some of them having to do double duty, such as T, for example, which had to be read as either T or D, as circumstances required.

There were still other varietes of the runic alphabet which were developed in the North, such as the so-called pointed runes, - or dotted runes, or gullskoen - where an alphabet of twenty-six characters was used, strongly under the influence of the Latin alphabet. In this alphabet B was distinguished from P by the use of the dot. The twenty-four symbol runic alphabet was divided into three blocks of eight characters:

f u th a r k g w
h n i j p e R s
t b e m l ng d o

This division was no longer possible with the twenty-eight character Anglo-Saxon alphabet. the triple division, however, was preserved in the 16-character Scandinavian series, the division being:

f u th a r k
h n i a s
t b m l R

The Icelandig word used to denote this division was aett, which can mean either "family" or "eight" from an older form ahti. The three divisions of the later Scandinavian runic alphabet were named after Frey, Hagal and Tyr, which are the names of the first symbols of the three groups, Hagal and Tyr are the names of the ninth and seventeenth runes, and with a little imagination the first one also can be made to fit. The actual name of the first rune is fehu meaning "cattle" originally, later wealth, prosessions. But the original meaning "cattle" can be associated with the fertility cult, the cow being a sacred animal, and Frey was also of the fertility cult.

The runic alphabet is referred to as the futhark after the first six letters, th being one sound not two. This is the modern designation, not the original Germanic. The symbols were referred to as 'runes' by the Germanic people, and since the original meaning of this word was 'mystery', and was so used by Wulfilas we have fairly certain evidence of the magic use of the alphabet in its early stages of development.

The runes were not "written" in the modern sense, but in the earlier meaning of this word, which meant actually to 'carve', to 'engrave', to 'cut in'. This word writan (Modern German reiszen) is the word most commonly used, since as a rule the characters were actually cut into the stone, wood, horn or metal by a sharp instrument. However, another word faihjan which originally meant 'to paint' was also used, which would indicate that the runes were also sometimes painted, or that color was introduced into the inscribed lines after the runes had been cut. The color most commonly used was probably red, that is, either blood or the color of blood to make the runes more effective than a few characters.

If the runes were to be used effectively for magic purposes, it was important that they be given names.

a b c d - g (w) h - i j - p r - s -t - u. This is an order which can be shown to have occurred in the North Italic alphabets.

It seems clear that a North Italian alphabet formed the basis of the runic, but this does not account for all of the characters of the futhark. As the alphabet spread northwards, and as it was used at the beginning mainly for magic purposes, a certain amount of confusion arose on account of the addition of other characters and consepts, which were foreign to the North Italian dialects, and symbols for these sounds had to be changed to fit the new sound system, as happened in the Greek adoption of the alphabet from a Semitic language.

Some of the characters of the runic alphabet are of such a nature that they might occur anywhere as alphabetic or as cult signs, as, for example:

Some of these do actually occur as cult or magic signs, such as the sign representing the head of an arrow or spear. This can be seen on many of the rock-carvings and paintings of Upper Palaeolithic times. This sign could very well have been used later for the T character. And similarly for other symbols of the runic alphabet which have corresponding forms in North Italic letters, the characters for O, T, H, G, U, but which also occurred as pre-futhark cult-symbols. The T symbol points quite naturally to a warlike concept, and it is this symbol which has the name of the war-god Tiu. Of course, the character already existed in the North Italian alphabets, but it was in this way that it acquired its special signifigance. The Z (R) rune in two forms

appears to represent the spread fingers of one or in the double form two hands; this is a sign of negation, and this meaning is explicit in the runic character. Similarly the H rune with one or more cross strokes had the meaning of destruction (hail); if written on a stone in a grave it meant that destruction was called down upon the desecrator of the grave. From these examples it can be seen that there was by the very nature of things a very close connection between the characters of the futhark and the cult, magical or symbolical meaning of some of these signs.

The question as to which Germanic tribe first used the rune and was responsible for their spread to the other Germanic peoples has not yet found a satisfactory answer. To some extent the difficulty lies in the fact that the earliest runes were in all probability inscribed on wood, and have consequently not been preserved. It has therefore not proved possible to set up a distribution map which would indicate the place of origin. If the futhark arose in the North as a result of the amber trade with Italy or if some Germanic soldier who had served in the Roman army returned to his northern home with this new creation, it would be necessary to derive the runes directly from the Latin alphabet, and, as we have seen, this is not considered feasible. That the Goths were responsible for the creation of the runes does violence to the chronology. If the earliest runic inscriptions date from about 200, it does not give the Goths sufficient time to get properly settled in the southeast, acquire some knowledge of the culture of the Eastern Roman Empire, create an alphabet and cause it to spread over practically all the areas occupied by the Germanic people by the fourth century. Then too if the runic characters were a Gothic invention, one might wonder why Wulfilas found it undesirable to make use of them for his translation of the bible instead of creating an entirely new alphabet. After all, even though the characters of the futhark were designed for inscribing it would not have been any more difficult for Wulfilas to have designed a cursive script for them than to have created a new alphabet on a Greek basis. If the Goths had invented the runes, one would suppose that the continued use of them would have been a popular act, and as such would offer a decided psychological advantage in the introduction of the teachings of the new religion. All the more so, since the Goths throughout all their history show every sign of being conservative and clinging to the traditional.

It is also possible that the runes were in use in the time of Julius Caesar, which would take us back to the middle of the first century of the former era. Caesar relates that one of his officers, a Valerius Procillus, had been arrested by order of Ariovistus when he came with a message from Caesar. After the battle and during the flight of Ariovistus and his troops the question arose what disposition should bemade of the prisoner. Three times the lots were cast, and three times the result was favorable to Procillus. The prisoner eventually rejoined Caesar. Did the one who had cast the lots pick up staves upon which were inscribed runic characters whose symbolic meaning saved the life of Procillus? This is a perfectly reasonable interpretation if it is admitted that the futhark was known before the beginning of the present era.

The Poetic Edda also bears witness to the same kind of procedure in the casting of lots, when it relates that under the world ash sit the three Norns: Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, the Past, the Present and the Future who cut staves, cast lots and determined the fate of men. To be sure this was written centuries later, but practises of this kind remain unchanged generation after generation, even outlasting changes in religious belief. It would never occur to anyone to doubt that the staves cut by the Norns had runic characters inscribed upon them, if there had never been any argument about the meaning of the passage in Tacitus.

The number 24 must have had some kind of magical signifigance, as well as the number 8, since the futhark was divided into three groups of eight. Many of the runic inscriptions contain a definite number of characters, the number being as a rule a multiple of 8, and an inscription consisting of the twenty-four characters of the alphabet plus an additional sixteen would have a very powerful magical effect.

Literally references to the nature and use of the runes are of frequent occurrence in early Germanic literature and in the Eddic poems. In the Eddic Havamal Wodan is describeb as hanging nine nights upon the tree. There his only nourishment was the strenghtening mead. He learned the secret meaning of the runes and their magic power. And thus he became omniscient.

Hrabanus Maurus in his History of the Langobards relates that the Danes are accustomed to inscribe their magic songs, incantations and prophecies, and that they are permeated with heathen practises. In the Edda the magic of the runes is used for a great variety of purposes: to ward off sickness, to assure the affection of the loved one, to enquire into the future, to guard oneself against evil incantation, to ensure victory, to calm the waves of a stormy sea, to acquire eloquence and power of thought. Brunhild after being wakened from her long sleep by the youthful Siegfried teaches him the secret power of the runes and how to use them, "Thou must learn the victory runes" she says to him, "thou must carve the victory runes on the sword-hilt on the blade, and twice thou must name the T (Tyr) rune." The N rune (need, distress) was used by the Skaldic poet Egil when Queen Grunhild put poison into his drink. He carved the N rune in the drinking horn, which caused it to break into many pieces. The th rune, the rune of the demon, could cause insanity and the servant of Frey threatened Gerd, the daughter of a giant, with this rune if she were not more favorable to his master. Gudrun of the Eddic poem cut runes into the drinking horn when she gave Sigurd the potion of forgetfulness. The magician of the Havamal cut runes when he wished to commune with the dead. The Skald Egil used runes to restore an ailing girl to health. Gudrun used runes to send a message of warning to her brothers. Names such as Sigrun, Gudrun, Albruna, give further evidence of the universality of the use of the runic characters.

Apart from the possibility of the use of the runes for the casting of lots, as describeb by Caesar and Tacitus, the oldest runic inscriptions have been found in Wolhynia, Upper Silesia, Mark Bradenburg, Gotland, Denmark and Norway. These are all inscriptions on spearheads, swords, shield buckles, clasps, brooches, combs, urns, all belonging to the third century. The Istanby stone from Sweden is an example of the use of the runes for monumental purposes.

Some of the inscriptions consist of single runes, such as the lance shafts of Nydam, and these undoubtedly had magic significance, the T rune being the sign of Tiu, the war-god, originally the Sky-God, the R rune, the sign of negation, here the expression of a wish that the spear will not injure its owner, and the runes A U L, actually alu, which was a magic formula of good luck, made all the stronger by a transposition of the characters. This particular case can be read as aul or backward lua, in either case with the same significance. Then too such words as `linen` and `leek` are common. Evidently both were regarded as having certain magic properties. In one case a whole series of the A rune followed by other characters and ending with the word alu has been found. The A quite clearly stands for alu, the whole group contains exactly 24 runes, only one of which is undecipherable:

aaaaaaaaRRRNNN?bmutttalu

This must have been a very powerful magic formula.

Sometimes some of the vowels were omitted, as in a clasp from Etelheim (Sweden) about 550 A. D.: mk mrlawrta, which means: mik maerila worta: (Maerila made me). Sometimes the runes indicate the owner, sometimes the maker of the inscription, sometimes both. In the case of the celebrated horn of Gallehus we have only the name of the inscriber of the runes, and the maker of the horn: ek HlewagastiR holtijar horna tawido: (I Louis of Holt made the horn.). This particular horn was later stolen and presumably melted down for the gold that it contained. Fortunately a copy had been made before this happened. Such an inscription as that on the Fonnas clasp from Norway in the sixth century seems to consist of a number of secret formulas, the meaning of which can no longer be deciphered. There is, however, no reason to believe that we have here a meaningless series of symbols:

jIskIR wkshu ijRspjsrbse ihsbidultl

It will be seen that in this magic formula we have twenty-four plus eight characters, which is one of the reasons why it cannot be regarded as a fortuitous association; there are other magic formulas of the same kind.

We can see then that the poet of the Havamal was not merely drawing upon his imagination when he wrote:

Runes shalt thou find, and fateful signs,
That the king of singers colored,
And the mighty gods have made;
Full strong the signs, full mighty the signs
That the ruler of gods doth write.

-- From the book THE GERMANIC PEOPLE written by Francis Owen --