Irish serenity symbol12/13/2022 The most common Runes were smooth flat stones or pebbles with symbols or glyths painted on one side. Runic symbols have been carved into pieces of hardwood, incised on metal or cut into leather that was then stained with pigment. There is evidence that a fair number of runic practitioners were women. Honored, welcomed and feared these shamans were familiar figures in tribal circles. The Rune castors of the Teutons and Vikings wore startling garb that made them easily recognizable. Runes were carved on amulets, drinking cups, battle spears, over the lintels of dwellings and onto the prows of Viking ships. There were Runes and spells to influence the weather, the tides, crops, love, healing, fertility, cursing and removing curses, birth and death. The craft of “runemal” touched every aspect of life, from the most sacred to the most practical. Numerous runic standing stones can be seen in the British Isles, in Germany and throughout Scandinavia.įrom the beginning Runes took on a ritualistic meaning, serving for the casting of lots, for divination, and to evoke higher powers that could influence the lives and fortunes of the people. The practice of divination (sortilege) was cultivated among Northern Italic as well as Germanic peoples, one using letters the other symbols. Before Germanic peoples possessed any form of script, they used pictorial symbols that they scratched onto rocks.Įspecially common in Sweden, these prehistoric rock carvings, are dated back to 1300BC and were probably linked to Indo- European fertility and sun cults. There is no firm agreeement among scholars as to where and when runic writing first made its appearance in Western Europe. Mark’s “the mystery of the kingdom of God” using “runa” for “mystery.Įight centuries earlier, when Greek historian Herodotus traveled around the Black Sea, he encountered descendants of Scythian tribesmen who crawled under blankets, smoked themselves into a stupor, and cast marked sticks in the air and “read” them when they fell. When Bisop Wulfila made his translation of the Bible into fourth century Gothic, he rendered St. When the high chieftains and wise counselors of Anglo-Saxon England met in conclave, they called their secret deliberations “Ruenes”. The influence of the Runes on their time is incontestable. Little remains but the standing Rune stones, the sagas, the far-flung fragments of runic lore, and the 24 Runes themselves. The wisdom of the Rune Masters died with them. The Runes were last in current use in Iceland during the Middle Ages. Older than the New Testament, the Runes have lain fallow for more than 400 years. Runes fell into disuse as the Roman alphabets became the preferred script of most of Europe, but their forms and meanings were preserved in inscriptions and manuscripts. In addition to their use as a written alphabet, the runes also served as a system of symbols used for magic and divination. Runes (Celtic runes) are an alphabetic script used by the peoples of Northern Europe from the first century c.e.
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