runic
Of ancient symbols
Runic describes anything relating to runes—the angular letters used by Germanic peoples before the Latin alphabet spread through Europe.
Runes appear carved on stones, weapons, and amulets from Scandinavia to Britain.
The word carries connotations of ancient mystery and magic, since runes were associated with divination and secret knowledge: runic inscriptions, runic symbols.
Modern fantasy and gaming have kept the term alive.
Language's letter system
- stavesPoles or music lines
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
- scriptWritten words for performance
- writingRecorded language on surface
transliteration · graphemes · epigraphy · calligraphy · Anglo-Saxon · Germanic · phonetic · ligature
Shaping by cutting away
- staveBarrel's wooden rib
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- engravingCarving into hard surfaces
epitaph · gravestone · stela · tablet · etching · glyph · petroglyph · Bluetooth
alphabet
Language's letter system
writing · transliteration · graphemes · epigraphy · calligraphy · Anglo-Saxon · Germanic · phonetic · ligature · transcription
carving
Shaping by cutting away
- staveBarrel's wooden rib
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
engraving · epitaph · gravestone · stela · tablet · etching · glyph · petroglyph · Bluetooth · pictograph
divination
Foretelling through mystical means
cryptic · oracle · prophetic · enigmatic · hidden · secrets · alchemy · hermetic · casting · talisman
Vikings
Medieval Scandinavian seafarers
Loki · Valhalla · Asgard · Ragnarok · Midgard · Bifrost · Heimdall · Jotunheim · saga · skald
- ScandinaviaNorway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland
- writing historyalphabet, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, scripts
- writing systemsalphabet, vowel, alphabets, Cyrillic alphabet, consonant
- ancient scriptsglyphs, cuneiform, hieroglyphs, hieroglyphics, Phoenician
- fantasy aestheticsethereal, mystical, enchanted, whimsical, high fantasy
- scriptsalphabet, Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet, Greek alphabet, Hebrew alphabet
runicRoman
Of ancient Italy's capital
Cyrillic · alphabetic · Greek · logographic · Arabic
runicmundane
Commonplace, lacking excitement
ordinary · prosaic · plain · legible · transparent
runicmodern
Of recent times
contemporary · current · digital · present-day · typeset
- runic carvingsLetters from old alphabets, chiseled
- rune stoneInscribed Nordic monument
- Viking runesNordic carved alphabet symbols
- rune magicMystical use of ancient Norse symbols
- Nordic runesOld Germanic writing symbols
- rune tattoosInked Germanic script symbols