Rune – a holy secret, a mystery that is whispered.
The runic alphabet, used by early Norse people including the Vikings, has no clear origin. The word rune derives from the Gothic word runa – meaning mystery. One of the names for a runic alphabet is Futhark, gaining its name like the word alphabet from the first few symbols in the series. Runes had no lowercase, and could be written in any direction, from left to right or right to left.
By 400 A.D. use of a common set of 24 runes had spread across northern Europe, based possibly on Greek and Latin origins. As time passed new runes were added on as the need arose, and various versions of the Futhark emerged. The fact that runes consisted of straight lines made them easier to carve into wood or stone. (more…)