Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark | |
---|---|
Script type | |
Time period | 1st to 8th centuries |
Direction | Left-to-right, Old Italic alphabet
|
Child systems | Younger Futhark, Anglo-Saxon futhorc |
The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the
In Scandinavia, beginning in the late 8th century, the script was simplified to the Younger Futhark, while the Anglo-Saxons and Frisians instead extended it, giving rise to the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. Both the Anglo-Saxon futhorc and the Younger Futhark remained in use during the Early and the High Middle Ages respectively, but knowledge of how to read the Elder Futhark was forgotten until 1865, when it was deciphered by Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge.[1]
Description
The Elder Futhark (named after the initial phoneme of the first six rune names: F, U, Þ, A, R and K) has 24 runes, often arranged in three groups of eight runes; each group is called an ætt[2] (pl. ættir; meaning 'clan, group'). In the following table, each rune is given with its common transliteration:
f | u | þ | a | r | k | g | w |
h | n | i | j | ï | p | z | s |
t | b | e | m | l | ŋ | d | o |
ï is also transliterated as æ and may have been either a diphthong or a vowel close to [
The earliest known sequential listing of the alphabet dates to 400 AD and is found on the Kylver Stone in Gotland, [ᚠ] and [ᚹ] only partially inscribed but widely authenticated:
[ᚠ] | ᚢ | ᚦ | ᚨ | ᚱ | ᚲ | ᚷ | [ᚹ] | ᚺ | ᚾ | ᛁ | ᛃ | ᛈ | ᛇ | ᛉ | ᛊ | ᛏ | ᛒ | ᛖ | ᛗ | ᛚ | ᛜ | ᛞ | ᛟ |
[f] | u | þ | a | r | k | g | [w] | h | n | i | j | p | ï | z | s | t | b | e | m | l | ŋ | d | o |
Two instances of another early inscription were found on the two Vadstena and Mariedamm bracteates (6th century), showing the division in three ætts, with the positions of ï, p and o, d inverted compared to the Kylver stone:
- f u þ a r k g w; h n i j ï p z s; t b e m l ŋ o d
The Grumpan bracteate presents a listing from 500 which is identical to the one found on the previous bracteates but incomplete:
- f u þ a r k g w ... h n i j ï p (z) ... t b e m l (ŋ) (o) d
Origins
Derivation from Italic alphabets
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2021) |
The Elder Futhark runes are commonly believed to originate in the
The angular shapes of the runes, presumably an adaptation to the incision in wood or metal, are not a Germanic innovation, but a property that is shared with other early alphabets, including the Old Italic ones (compare, for example, the
The g, a, f, i, t, m and l runes show no variation, and are generally accepted as identical to the Old Italic or Latin letters X, A, F, I, T, M and L, respectively. There is also wide agreement that the u, r, k, h, s, b and o runes respectively correspond directly to V, R, C, H, S, B and O.
The runes of uncertain derivation may either be original innovations, or adaptions of otherwise unneeded Latin letters.
Of the 24 runes in the classical futhark row attested from 400 (
The "mature" runes of the 6th to 8th centuries tend to have only three directions of strokes, the vertical and two diagonal directions. Early inscriptions also show horizontal strokes: these appear in the case of e (mentioned above), but also in t, l, ŋ and h.
Date and purpose of invention
The general agreement dates the creation of the first runic alphabet to roughly the 1st century. Early estimates include the 1st century,[.
Other scholars are content to assume a findless period of a few decades, pushing the date into the early 2nd century.[7] Pedersen (and with him Odenstedt) suggests a period of development of about a century to account for their assumed derivation of the shapes of þ and j from Latin D and G.
The invention of the script has been ascribed to a single person[
Rune names
Each rune most probably had a name, chosen to represent the sound of the rune itself according to the principle of acrophony.
The Old English names of all 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, along with five names of runes unique to the Anglo-Saxon runes, are preserved in the Old English rune poem, compiled in the 7th century. These names are in good agreement with medieval Scandinavian records of the names of the 16 Younger Futhark runes, and to some extent also with those of the letters of the Gothic alphabet (recorded by Alcuin in the 9th century). Therefore, it is assumed[by whom?] that the names go back to the Elder Futhark period, at least to the 5th century. There is no positive evidence that the full row of 24 runes had been completed before the end of the 4th century, but it is likely that at least some runes had their name before that time.[original research?]
This concerns primarily the runes used
Rune | UCS
|
Trans. | IPA | Proto-Germanic name
|
Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ᚠ
|
f | /ɸ/, /f/ | *fehu | "cattle; wealth" | |
ᚢ
|
u | /u(ː)/ | ?*ūruz | "aurochs", Wild ox (or *ûram "water/slag"?) | |
ᚦ
|
þ | /θ/, /ð/ | ?*þurisaz
|
"Thurs" (see Jötunn) or *þunraz ("the god Thunraz") | |
ᚨ
|
a | /a(ː)/ | *ansuz
|
"god" | |
ᚱ
|
r | /r/ | *raidō | "ride, journey" | |
ᚲ
|
k (c) | /k/ | ?*kaunan | "ulcer"? (or *kenaz "torch"?) | |
ᚷ
|
g | /ɡ/ | *gebō | "gift" | |
ᚹ
|
w | /w/ | *wunjō
|
"joy" | |
ᚺ ᚻ
|
h | /h/ | *hagalaz | "hail" (the precipitation) | |
ᚾ
|
n | /n/ | *naudiz | "need" | |
ᛁ
|
i | /i(ː)/ | *īsaz | "ice" | |
ᛃ
|
j | /j/ | *jēra- | "year, good year, harvest" | |
ᛇ
|
ï (æ) | /æː/[9] | *ī(h)waz
|
"yew-tree" | |
ᛈ
|
p | /p/ | ?*perþ-
|
meaning unknown; possibly "pear-tree". | |
ᛉ
|
z | /z/ | ?*algiz | "elk" (or "protection, defence"[10]) | |
ᛊ ᛋ
|
s | /s/ | *sōwilō
|
"sun" | |
ᛏ
|
t | /t/ | *tīwaz
|
"the god Tiwaz "
| |
ᛒ
|
b | /b/ | *berkanan | " birch "
| |
ᛖ
|
e | /e(ː)/ | *ehwaz | "horse" | |
ᛗ
|
m | /m/ | *mannaz
|
"man" | |
ᛚ
|
l | /l/ | *laguz | "water, lake" (or possibly *laukaz "leek") | |
ᛜ
|
ŋ
|
/ŋ/ | *ingwaz
|
"the god Ingwaz" | |
ᛞ
|
d | /d/ | *dagaz | "day" | |
ᛟ
|
o | /o(ː)/ | *ōþila-/*ōþala-
|
"heritage, estate, possession" |
Each rune derived its sound from the first phoneme of the rune's respective name, with the exception of Ingwaz and Algiz: the Proto-Germanic z sound of the Algiz rune never occurred in a word-initial position. The phoneme acquired an r-like quality in Proto-Norse, usually transliterated with ʀ, and finally merged with r in Icelandic, rendering the rune superfluous as a letter. Similarly, the ng-sound of the Ingwaz rune does not occur word-initially. The names come from the vocabulary of daily life and mythology, some trivial, some beneficent and some inauspicious:
- Mythology: Tiwaz, Thurisaz, Ingwaz, God, Man, Sun.
- Nature and environment: Sun, day, year, hail, ice, lake, water, birch, yew, pear, elk, aurochs.
- Daily life and human condition: Man, need/constraint, wealth/cattle, horse, estate/inheritance, slag/protection from evil, ride/journey, year/harvest, gift, joy, need, ulcer/illness.[citation needed]
IPA vowels and consonants
Vowels | Front | Central | Back |
Close | ᛁ /i/
|
ᚢ /u/
| |
Close Mid | ᛖ /e/
|
ᛟ /o/
| |
Near Open | ᛇ /æ/
|
||
Open | ᚨ /a/
|
Consonants | Labial | Dental | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
Nasal | ᛗ /m/
|
ᚾ /n/
|
ᛜ /ŋ/ | |||
Plosive | ᛒ /b/
|
ᛞ /d/
|
ᚷ /g/
|
|||
Fricative | ᚠ /f/ /v/
|
ᚦ /θ/ /ð/
|
ᛉ /z/
|
ᚺ ᚻ /h/
| ||
Trill | ᚱ /r/
|
|||||
Approximant | ᛚ /l/
|
ᛃ /j/
|
ᚹ /w/
|
Inscription corpus
Old Futhark inscriptions were found on artifacts scattered between the
Words frequently appearing in inscriptions on
The oldest known runic inscription dates to 160 and is found on the
The typically Scandinavian runestones begin to show the transition to Younger Futhark from the 6th century, with transitional examples like the Björketorp or Stentoften stones. In the early 9th century, both the older and the younger futhark were known and used, which is shown on the Rök runestone where the runemaster used both.
The oldest known runestone, the Svingerud Runestone, dates to the Roman Iron Age, c. 1–250 CE, and was found in Ringerike, Norway, in autumn 2021. The inscription has several sections, notably a name idiberug (possibly idiberun), which could be interpreted as one of several names, including Idibera, Idibergu, or the family name Idiberung. The first three letters of the Elder Futhark, ᚠ (f), ᚢ (u) and ᚦ (th), are also found on the stone.[14]
The longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark, and one of the youngest, consists of some 200 characters, is found on the
The Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus reading raïhan "deer" is notable as the oldest inscription of the British Isles, dating to 400, the very end of Roman Britain.
Continental inscriptions
The oldest inscriptions (before 500) found on the Continent are divided into two groups, the area of the North Sea coast and Northern Germany (including parts of the Netherlands) associated with the
In this early period, there is no specifically West Germanic runic tradition. This changes from the early 6th century, and for about one century (520 to 620), an
Distribution
There are some 350 known Elder Futhark inscriptions with 81 known inscriptions from the South (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and 267 from Scandinavia.[17][18] The precise numbers are debatable because of some suspected forgeries, and some disputed inscriptions (identification as "runes" vs. accidental scratches, simple ornaments or Latin letters). 133 Scandinavian inscriptions are on bracteates (compared to 2 from the South), and 65 are on runestones (no Southern example is extant). Southern inscriptions are predominantly on fibulae (43, compared to 15 in Scandinavia). The Scandinavian runestones belong to the later period of the Elder Futhark, and initiate the boom of medieval Younger Futhark stones (with some 6,000 surviving examples). As of 2021, one inscription was found in a settlement associated with Slavs.[19]
Elder Futhark inscriptions were rare, with very few active literati, in relation to the total population, at any time, so that knowledge of the runes was probably an actual "secret" throughout the Migration period. Of 366 lances excavated at Illerup, only 2 bore inscriptions. A similar ratio is estimated for Alemannia, with an estimated 170 excavated graves to every inscription found.[20]
Estimates of the total number of inscriptions produced are based on the "minimal runological estimate" of 40,000 (ten individuals making ten inscriptions per year for four centuries). The actual number was probably considerably higher. The 80 known Southern inscriptions are from some 100,000 known graves. With an estimated total of 50,000,000 graves (based on population density estimates), some 80,000 inscriptions would have been produced in total in the
List of inscriptions
After Looijenga 1997, Lüthi 2004.
- Scandinavia
- Period I (150–550)
- Svingerud Runestone (1–250)[14]
- Vimose inscriptions (6 objects, 160–300)
- Øvre Stabu spearhead (c. 180), raunijaz
- Illerup inscriptions(9 objects)
- Mos spearhead (c. 300), gaois(?)[21]
- Golden horns of Gallehus(c. 400)
- Einang stone (400)
- Kylver Stone (400)
- Rö Runestone(400–450)
- Kalleby Runestone (5th century)
- Möjbro Runestone (400–550)
- Järsberg Runestone (500–550)
- Hogganvik runestone (5th century)
- Bracteates: total 133 (see also Alu)
- Seeland-II-C (500)
- Vadstena bracteate
- Tjurkö bracteate
- Period II (550–700)
- Period I (150–550)
- South-Eastern Europe (200–550): 4 AD.
- Gothic runic inscriptions (200–350)
- Continental inscriptions (mainly Germany; 200–700): 50 legible, 15 illegible (39 brooches, 11 weapon parts, 4 fittings and belt buckles, 3 strap ends, 8 other)
- Thorsberg chape (200)
- Bülach fibula
- Charnay fibula
- Nordendorf fibula
- Pforzen buckle
- English and Frisian (300–700): 44; see futhorc
Unicode
The Elder Futhark is encoded in
- ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲᚷᚹᚺᚾᛁᛃᛇᛈᛉᛊᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛞᛟ
Encoded separately is the "continental" double-barred h-rune, ᚻ. A graphical variant of the ng-rune, ᛝ, is also encoded separately. These two have separate codepoints because they become independent letters in the
See also
- Rune poem
- Runic script
- Younger Futhark
Notes
- ^ Speculated by Looijenga 1997 to be a variant of b.
- 34 Vimose and 23 Letcani, rejected by Odenstedt 1990, p. 118.
References
- ^ Vänehem, Mats, Forskning om runor och runstenar (article), Stockholms Lans Museum, archived from the original on 2010-08-22, retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ Elliott 1981, p. 14.
- ^ Page 2005, p. 15.
- ^ Gippert, Jost, The Development of Old Germanic Alphabets, Uni Frankfurt, archived from the original on 2021-02-25, retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ^ Stifter 2010, p. 374.
- ^ Odenstedt 1990, pp. 160ff.
- ^ Odenstedt 1990, p. 168.
- ^ Page 2005, pp. 8, 15–16. The asterisk before the rune names means that they are unattested reconstructions.
- ^ also rendered /ɛː/, see Proto-Germanic phonology.
- ^ Ralph Warren, Victor Elliott, Runes: an introduction, Manchester University Press ND, 1980, 51-53.
- ^ Painter, Robert (May 2014). "An Acoustic Investigation of R-Umlaut in Old Norse". An Acoustic Investigation of R-Umlaut in Old Norse. 26 – via Google Scholar.
- ^ "Runic", Nordic life, archived from the original on 2020-04-23, retrieved 2005-03-05.
- ^ Ilkjær 1996, p. 74 in Looijenga 2004, p. 78.
- ^ a b Gulliksen, Øivind. "Found the world's oldest rune stone". Museum of Cultural History. University of Oslo. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ Martin 2004, p. 173.
- ^ Martin 2004.
- ^ Fischer 2004, p. 281.
- ^ Lüthi 2004, p. 321.
- .
- ^ Lüthi 2004, p. 323.
- ^ Jansson, Sven Birger Fredrik (1962), The runes of Sweden, Bedminster Press, pp. iii–iv,
The oldest known runic inscription from Sweden is found on a spearhead, recovered from a grave at Mos in the parish of Stenkyrka in Gotland. The inscription, consisting of only five runes, might be dated to the end of the third century of our era
.
Bibliography
- Bæksted, A (1952), Målruner og troldruner, Copenhagen
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - ISBN 0-7190-0787-9
- Fischer, Svante (2004), "Alemannia and the North — Early Runic Contexts Apart (400–800)", in Naumann, Hans-Peter; Lanter, Franziska; et al. (eds.), Alemannien und der Norden, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 266–317, ISBN 3-11-017891-5
- Ilkjær, Jørgen (1996), "Runeindskrifter fra mosefund i Danmark – kontekst og oprindelse", Frisian Runes and Neighbouring Traditions, Rodopi.
- Looijenga, Jantina Helena (1997), Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150–700 (dissertation), Groningen University.
- Looijenga, Tineke (2004), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 90-04-12396-2
- Lüthi, Katrin (2004), "Von Þruþhild und Hariso: Alemannische und ältere skandinavische Runenkultur im Vergleich", in Naumann, Hans-Peter; Lanter, Franziska; et al. (eds.), Alemannien und der Norden, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 318–39, ISBN 3-11-017891-5
- Martin, Max (2004), "Kontinentalgermanische Runeninschriften und 'Alamannische Runenprovinz'", in Naumann, Hans-Peter; Lanter, Franziska; et al. (eds.), Alemannien und der Norden, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 165–212, ISBN 3-11-017891-5
- Nowak, Sean (2003), Schrift auf den Goldbrakteaten der Völkerwanderungszeit (PDF) (diss), Göttingen
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Odenstedt, Bengt (1990), On the Origin and Early History of the Runic Script, Typology and Graphic Variation in the Older Futhark, Uppsala, ISBN 91-85352-20-9).
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 0-7141-8065-3.
- Rix, Helmut (1997), "Germanische Runen und venetische Phonetik", in Birkmann; et al. (eds.), Vergleichende germanische Philologie und Skandinavistik, Festschrift für Otmar Werner, Tübingen, pp. 231–48, ISBN 3-484-73031-5).
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 0-415-08169-6
- Stifter, David (2010), "Lepontische Studien: Lexicon Leponticum und die Funktion von san im Lepontischen", in Stüber, Karin; et al. (eds.), Akten des 5. Deutschsprachigen Keltologensymposiums. Zürich, 7.–10. September 2009, Wien, pp. 361–76
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Westergaard, Kai-Erik (1981), Skrifttegn og symboler : noen studier over tegnformer i det eldre runealfabet, Osloer Beiträge zur Germanistik (in Norwegian), vol. 6, Oslo: Germanistisches Institut der Universität Oslo, ISBN 978-82-90389-02-9.
External links
- Runenprojekt Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine inscription database at the University of Kiel
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Older Runic". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Ancient Scripts: Futhark
- Omniglot.com – Elder Futhark
- Rune Converter hosted by Viking Rune
- Futhark Hávamál Select stanzas of the Hávamál rendered in Elder Futhark and English