Elder FUTHARK Runes.

While carving the Viking head a few weeks ago I did some research on Runes to add to the carving. I have since then read quite allot more about runes and in particular Elder Futhark. In general the link between Woodwose and runes is very strong, in particular around the myths, magic and pagan beliefs.

The Elder Futhark seems to come from Germany or rather German settled Europe including Scandinavia, though some reading I have done states it might have come from Southern Europe.

In Old Norse the word 'rune' means 'letter', 'text' or 'inscription'. The word also means 'mystery' or 'secret' in Old Germanic languages thus linking the word 'rune' to magic and ritual. It seems today that people still use runes in magical rites and as a way of divining, reading someones future in a similar manner to tarot. (more about this later).

"The Runic alphabet is known as Futhark, a name composed from the first six letters of the alphabet, namely f, u, th, a, r, and k. In this way, "Futhark" is analogous to the word "alphabet", which is from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet".

Here are some examples of other runic alphabets. The magical casting of runes seems to be done with the Elder or Futhorc runes and runic alphabets should not be amalgamated in this process.

• Elder Futhark
• Gothic Runes
• Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

  "In England, the Anglo-Saxons brought Futhark from continental Europe and modified it into the 33-letter "Futhorc" to accommodate sound changes that were occurring in Old English".
• Younger Futhork
• Hungarian Runes (Székely Rovásírás)
• Turkic (Orkhon) Runes
• Cirth (Tolkein's Runic-like alphabet)

Click on any of the above bullet points to see an example of the runes described, or use this link to go to the site where you can look at all of the above runic alphabets: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm

Or Read this site to get a good insight into runes:

http://www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html

Modern Futhark.
Rune stones are available to buy (click here) and as said previously are used in pagan magic rituals or in 'reading rune stones', I'm not sure, but I assume in a similar way that one would read Tarot Cards?

I was intrigued by these 'rune stones', which are in fact made from a range of materials including wood, bone, stones etc. certain woods have specific meanings as does bone and different stones.

"The nut-bearing Hazel or cob tree is associated in Celtic mythology with wisdom. Known in Ireland as "the food of the gods", the hazel is used in folk magic, particularly in connection with water and dowsing. Within the Celtic ogham alphabet it is connected with wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment".

I decided to carve a set of 'rune stones' using hazel wood. Apparently the more 'hand made' they are the better for magical purposes; these stones are completely hand made from the cutting of the branch to sanding, carving, painting and oiling. I may post on eBay to see if they sell; most I have seen for sale are burnt into the wood and not carved. these are also double sided rather than single sided.

The next photo shows a finished rune stone next to the raw material of a fresh cut hazel blank.

Additional to rune stones there are Celtic Ogham Staves - more about them in a later post.........

Here is a link to a wonderful blog 'Blucamels in Brittany'. Blu had a great post linked to Runes last year. The first link takes you straight to it.

I intend to use Elder Futhark Runes more in my carvings in the future watch out and see where and how :-) I have already started on a walking stick which will be my next posting.

I hope you enjoy the post.........

Dave