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Historical Rune Developments

As we saw in Lecture 7, the Elder Futhark was a pictoral alphabet based on sound. One of the characteristics of languages is that they do not remain static but instead change over time. In the case of the Elder Futhark this means the alphabet itself had to change to incorporate new sound variations

Frisian Runes

Sometime in the late 5th or early 6th century changes occurred in the Frisian region (area around Northern Netherlands and North-west Germany) meaning that new sounds created a need for new letters. Accordingly four new runes were added to the Elder Futhark

The Ansuz rune was split into two new runes. The Os rune took the communication aspects of Ansuz and replaced it near the start of the alphabet. Ansuz itself was renamed Aesc and moved to the end. There is a disagreement between scholars over which was the last rune of the Frisian row. Pennick suggests it is Ior whilst Tyson believes it was Ear. We have gone with Pennick's model. According to Pennick, Ear was not added until the end of the 7th century.

It was the 28 Frisian runes which were taken to Britain by the Saxon invaders. Due to the displacement of the "A" rune, the alphabet can no longer be referred to as a "Futhark" (F-U-TH-A-R-K) and so the Saxon/Frisian runes are a "Futhork", or are sometimes called a "Futhorc" reflecting the emergence of the c-sound.

The Elder Futhark was almost certainly intended primarily for being carved onto wood which explains why there are no curves or horizontal lines used in their glyphs. With carving on stone though there are no equivalent problems with grain and hence different shapes are possible. This is reflected in the later rune designs, for example the Uruz (Ur) rune was modified incorporating a curve

Plus as we have already seen, the Yr rune included a horizontal line. This would indicate the later runes were intended mainly for carving on stone rather than wood

Northumbrian Runes

The second Saxon extension of the runes took placed in Northumbria, England, probably during the 9th century. Extra runes were added to compensate for further new sounds bringing the total to 33. It is this set of 33 runes which many authors call the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc though in reality this was a localized extension which did not spread beyond Northumbria.

All Saxon runes reflect the fact that their's was now a Christian society but Pennick suggests that this last addition was influenced by Celtic tradition also.

One other aspect appears to distinguish the Saxon runes, namely there seems to be more flexibility in the order of the runes than was traditionally the case. Archaeological and literary evidence offers no less than three different orders for the Saxon runes and there may be more still to be discovered.

Meanings of the Saxon Runes

On this course when it comes to divination we are focussing on the Elder Futhark, but some rune readers do use other variations including the Northumbrian runes. The Saxon runes are more problematic though, since less is known about them and some of the characters were only in use for a short time. There is still considerable scholarly debate regarding their meanings therefore.

Ac
Normally taken as referring to the Oak tree. It symbolizes power and potential

Aesc
Meaning Ash this rune probably represents Yggdrasil and its role of holding the worlds together, symbolizing stability and order

Yr
This rune is normally taken to mean "bow" but Tyson makes a good case for "saddle" as an alternative

Ior
Represents some kind of amphibian though there is considerable disagreement over which. It would appear to link also to the Midgard Serpent. Hence it represents situations that must be tolerated because the consequences of failing to do so would be much worse

Ear
The meaning of this rune is "earth" or possibly "grave". It represents the inevitable ending of things. This is the last of the Saxon runes described in the Old English rune poem and hence for which we have any definite source for the meaning.

Calc
It means "cup" or possibly "chalice" and links to the Holy Grail and possibly Cerriwidens cauldron. Thus it represents the mystical and unobtainable.

Gar
Probably means "spear" linking with Odin's spear which he used to attain the runes. Thus it represents a fresh beginning.

Cweorth
Another rune over which there is considerable debate. Pennick suggests it means "fire" and hence represents transformation and liberation. Tyson suggests it should just be taken as unknown.

Stan
It means "stone" and suggests an obstruction.

The Younger Futhark

As you can see in addition to removing some runes, such as Gebo, they also simplified the glyphs of some of the remaining runes. Other runes also completely changed meaning so Ansuz became Oss meaning "river-mouth" and most drastic of all, Uruz came to mean "drizzle"

The Younger Futhark is awkward to use for divinatory purposes. With so few runes it is difficult to achieve variety in readings. Moreover, perhaps reflecting a more troubled society, many key concepts such as joy, partnership were now missing from the runes making it much harder to use them in relation to emotional issues, and also ensuring readings had a bleaker outlook.

Developments - Further reflections

Though historically the belief was that there was a Saxon Futhorc and a Younger Futhark this is an overly simplistic picture. Archaeological evidence is increasingly revealing ever greater numbers of local variations on these. The Ruthwell Cross for example uses 31 runes of which two are not found anywhere else.

The Rune Poems

Back in Lesson 6 it was mentioned that as well as the Eddas there is another significant literary source with respect to the runes. These are three ancient texts which list the runes and their meanings, and are known collectively as the Rune Poems. There is one poem in Icelandic, one in Norwegian and one in Old English. All the rune poems have a similar structure suggesting a common ancestry. It has been suggested that the poems were intended to help someone memorize and learn the runes.

There is debate about the dating of the different poems though most scholarly opinion seems to favor the Old English poem as being the oldest. The Old English poem is the only one of the three that covers all the runes in the Elder Futhark, the other two describe only the Younger Futhark. However, while the Old English Rune Poem may list these runes it is important to realize that it is describing the Frisian Futhorc and that the names and meanings of some of the runes were different, largely as a result of Christian influence divorcing the runes from their pagan past. For example the Tir rune now meant a star, though there is something of the old meaning retained in the sense that it is part of the cosmic order and a source of guidance.

"Tir is a guiding star;
well does it keep faith with princes;
it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails. "

It is possible that there was an earlier rune poem giving the meanings of the Elder Futhark but if this was the case sadly it is lost and we must manage as best we can with the three poems that remain

You have completed the lesson. Read it as many times as you need to in order to feel you understand it. Then return here for:
Lesson 9 - Comprehension Tests, Reading and Further Exercises

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