runic alphabet
Viking writing system
A runic alphabet is a writing system used by ancient Germanic peoples, consisting of angular letters called runes that were designed for carving into wood, stone, or metal.
The best-known version, the Elder Futhark, contained 24 characters.
Runes appear on artifacts, memorial stones, and in inscriptions throughout Scandinavia and northern Europe.
The term sometimes extends to any mysterious or magical script.
- Elder FutharkFirst Germanic runic alphabet
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
- stone carvingSculptural work in rock
- neo-paganismRevived pre-Christian spirituality
- transliterationCross-script phonetic spelling
Proto-Germanic · Old Norse · Germanic tribes · metal engraving · orthography · divination · inscriptions · talisman · esoteric knowledge · fantasy literature · occult symbolism · staves · Viking Age · Norse mythology · proto-language · archaeological artifacts · Viking ships · standing stones
- alphabetsLatin, vowels, Hebrew script, uppercase, Arabic script
- NordicNorway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland
- ScandinaviaNorway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland
- Nordic heritageVikings, Norse mythology, Norse gods, longships, Odin
- writing systemsvowel, consonant, syllable, capital letters, script
- arcane textsgrimoire, spellbook, tome, glyph, sigil
runic alphabetLatin alphabet
Standard Western letter system
Roman alphabet · Latin script · Roman script · Roman letters · Greek alphabet
rune, runes, runic, alphabet, alphabets, alphabetic, alphabetical, alphabetically