Futhark is the name given to the runic alphabet. The name is derived from the first six runes and the letters and sounds they represent. I know, I know! There’s seven letters but not when you spell it out in runes. The ‘th’ is a single phonetic sound with a single symbol representing it that has fallen from use in most places except Iceland. Thanks Iceland for preserving Þ þ (upper & lower case, unvoiced ‘th’) along with Ð ð (the voiced ‘th’. Þ þ).
So in the early italic script some runic letters were still present. Futhark was ‘f u þ a r k’ and in pure Elder Futhark runic spelling it is written as ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲ
Good to get that issue sorted first because with runes and Futharks there are endless contradictions and gaps in knowledge. There is also the spread of the runic staves and their many and varied languages. Each attempting to use these symbols to transform aural traditions into written sounds and words.
Spanning the 1st - 8th centuries this was the writing system for the Germanic tribes of the northwest dialects during the Migration Period. Usually read from left to right but sometimes totally backward reading right to left like a mirror. Quite a feat to be able to read new symbols in multiple directions. There are examples of sentences with meandering paths possible based on the directions used by humans ploughing a field with oxen.
Elder Futhark inscriptions are found on artefacts like weapons, tools, plate-ware, jewellery, amulets as well as on large stones across Scandinavia. Variations such as the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc Anglo-Frisian, Medieval and Younger Futhark followed and were still used until high Middle Ages.
Runes were also used to count time. Especially the passage of the moon over a 19 year cycle known as the Metonic Calendar. This was part of the 16 rune Younger Futhark developed in medieval Scandinavia. Needing to count to 19 with only 16 runes meant the need for three additional Golden Time Runes. Golden number 17 (arlaug) becomes rune 72 Læće. Golden number 18 (tvímaður) is rune 66 Twelf. Golden number 19 (belgthor) became 67 Flewsa.
The Metonic calendar using the 16 rune Younger Futhark continued being used in Northern Europe up until the 19th century when the solar calendar was introduced counting each single solar year and adding leap days every four years to correct the gathering time slip. The Lunar 19 year calendar is far more tight around holding time.
Runes remain very fluid as more and more information is literally dug up. We look forward to seeing new runic symbols waiting to be unearthed.
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