A True Viking Saga

[Montegriffo]

But were runes an actual alphabet? I thought they just represented specific meanings. Like a life rune, or a death rune, etc.

[Otern]

But were runes an actual alphabet?

Yes. And it made sense for the geographical area. Not a lot of stuff to make ink or paper from, and long, dark winters made the rune alphabet really clever. As it was designed around knife cuts on wood, it could also be read in the dark, or by blind people, and you always carried your pen with you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Futhark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Futhark

I thought they just represented specific meanings. Like a life rune, or a death rune, etc.

This is the work of the nazi occultism. They brought this mumbo jumbo understanding of Norse culture, and it sadly stuck around with a lot of other people too. But it's all bullshit. What the nazis called a "life rune", is basically an "r". Then they turned it upside down to make it a "death rune".

[Otern]

But were runes an actual alphabet? I thought they just represented specific meanings. Like a life rune, or a death rune, etc.

Anglo saxon runes?

[Montegriffo]

But were runes an actual alphabet? I thought they just represented specific meanings. Like a life rune, or a death rune, etc.

Anglo saxon runes?

a mixture of Elder Futhark with Anglo-Saxon futhorc
preserved in 8th- and 9th-century manuscripts mainly from the southern part of the Carolingian Empire (Alemannia, Bavaria).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes

[Alexander PhiAlipson]

You'll see the runic letter thorn (Þ, þ) constantly in Old English and even somewhat in Middle English (within otherwise Latin letters) to represent one of two th sounds--eth and theta. Many languages just do not accommodate th--so you may hear a French person who speaks English saying "Get in zee car; similarly, an English speaker will often pronounce Neanderthal with the (theta) th, whereas a German would say, properly Neadertall.
Many extant Runic writings are abecedarian runes, teaching devices.

[BjornP]

Yes, runes were an alphabet. They weren't invented in Scandinavia, though:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Italic_script

(New letters were added over the centuries, though).

And here's the early 14th cent copy of The Scanian Law (the set of laws governing the Danish region of Scania (present day southern Sweden).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Runicus

But were runes an actual alphabet? I thought they just represented specific meanings. Like a life rune, or a death rune, etc.

"Life runes" and "death runes" were not a real historical belief of with the old Norse. What you're describing was part of late 19th/early 20th century German mysticism and neo-paganism, which ended up being adopted by the Nazis. The Norse may have used runes to write curses and other invocations of old magical beliefs, but the Romans believed in curses (look up "curse tablets") as well and would have used Latin script for that. As with runes, it wasn't the writing itself that was magical.

[Hastur]

Where I grew up there was a lot of runestones. At least five within biking range and also the Sigurd Carving, that is not on a stone but on a rock face.



This is the carving in detail.



The pictures show the story about how Sigurd kills the dragon Fafnir.

1) Sigurd is sitting naked in front of the fire preparing the dragon heart, from Fafnir, for his foster-father Regin, who is Fafnir's brother. The heart is not finished yet, and when Sigurd touches it, he burns himself and sticks his finger into his mouth. As he has tasted dragon blood, he starts to understand the birds' song.
2) The birds say that Regin will not keep his promise of reconciliation and will try to kill Sigurd, which causes Sigurd to cut off Regin's head.
3) Regin is dead beside his own head, his smithing tools with which he reforged Sigurd's sword Gram are scattered around him, and
4) Sigurd's horse Grani is laden with the dragon's treasure.
5) is the previous event when Sigurd killed Fafnir, and
6) shows Ótr from the saga's beginning.

The rune text is more mundane.

Old Norse transcription:
Sigriðr gærði bro þasi, moðiʀ Alriks, dottiʀ Orms, for salu Holmgæiʀs, faður Sigrøðaʀ, boanda sins.
English translation:
"Sigríðr, Alríkr's mother, Ormr's daughter, made this bridge for the soul of Holmgeirr, father of Sigrøðr, her husbandman."

It's pretty typical of what the rune stones usually tells us. They are put up to preserve the memory of someone.
Reputation is everything.

[Hastur]

Some of the other stones:

: rulifR : raisti : stein : þnsi : at : faþur : sin : skarf :
han uar : fari
n : miþ : ikuari :

"Rollev raised this stone after his father Skarv.
he went with Ingvar."

Ingvar is thought to have been Ingvar the Far Travelled. He is mentioned on a lot of stones in the region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingvar_the_Far-Travelled

kunulfR : raisti : stein : þansi : at : ulf : faþur : sin
: han : uaRi : faru :
miþ : ikuari :

"Gunnulv raised this stone after Ulv, his father.
He was journey with Ingvar."

ormar auk x uifri : auk : hulmrir : auk : kal : auk :
þolfr auk : skrimi : þu : hui : iiskeni : litu rsa x stin x
aftir þolf x

”Ormar and Vifrid and Holmfrid and Kal and Tolv and Skrime,
These spouses and siblings, had this stone rissen after Tolv.”

[de officiis]

Primary School Students in Scotland Gave Dead Goldfish a Viking Burial

This past Christmas, class P3/4S at the Papdale Primary School in Kirkwall, Scotland, received two class pets: a pair of goldfish named Bubbles and Freddy. Alas, Bubbles and Freddy were not long for this world, and they recently passed away. When confronted by the merciless hand of Mother Nature, the students . . . gave Bubbles and Freddy a more dignified send-off, in the form of a Viking funeral.

The class had been learning about the Vikings and their belief system when Bubbles and Freddy departed from this Earth, and (if you subscribe to Viking lore) were carried off by Valkyries into Odin’s Hall of the Slain. “We decided to send our fish to Valhalla with a Viking-style burial in a Long Ship we made that day,” Papdale’s blog explains.

Here's some contemplative music to go with the story. You can thank me later...