Book Creator

The Vikings alphabet

by Karl Sarraf

Cover

Comic Panel 1
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THE
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Vikings alphabet
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By Karl
TABLE OF CONTENT

pg 4-5 Rune stones

pg 6-7 What are runes?

pg 8-11 Runes in Ireland

pg 12-13 Decode my sentence

pg 14 Interesting facts

pg 15 References
TABLE OF CONTENT

pg 4-5 Rune stones

pg 6-7 What are runes?

pg 8-11 Runes in Ireland

pg 12-13 Decode my sentence

pg 14 Interesting facts

pg 15 References
RUNE STONES

The Viking alphabet was made up of letters formed of straight lines, called runes. Viking pictures and records were carved in stone, wood or bone. Their straight lines made them easy to carve. Runes were believed to have magical properties, and warriors used runes on their weapons to enhance their power in battle. Runes carved into small pieces of bone or wood were thought to tell the future, heal the sick, and bless people, places, and objects. In everyday life, runes were used for practical purposes, such as labeling objects. Viking also used runes on memorial stones, which were put up in memory of their loved ones.

Spears from Denmark made around the year 200 AD are inscribed with letters just like this
RUNE STONES

The Viking alphabet was made up of letters formed of straight lines, called runes. Viking pictures and records were carved in stone, wood or bone. Their straight lines made them easy to carve. Runes were believed to have magical properties, and warriors used runes on their weapons to enhance their power in battle. Runes carved into small pieces of bone or wood were thought to tell the future, heal the sick, and bless people, places, and objects. In everyday life, runes were used for practical purposes, such as labeling objects. Viking also used runes on memorial stones, which were put up in memory of their loved ones.

Spears from Denmark made around the year 200 AD are inscribed with letters just like this
What are Runes?

Runes are very old letters which Germanic people used before they started using Latin letters in the Middle Ages. The word runes can mean any cryptic letters, but it usually means the alphabets used by Scandinavian people from about the year 150 CE to the Middle Ages. The oldest of these is called the Elder Fuþark, used from about 150 to 800 CE. Around the year 800 the runes changed into the Younger Fuþark, and these were used until about 1100, when the Latin alphabet replaced them. The Anglo-Saxon runes were used about the same time (400-1100) in Britain. The Scandinavian runes are called "Fuþark" because the first six letters in the runic alphabet are ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚲ (F U Þ A R K). The Anglo-Saxon runes are called "Fuþorc" because they are a little different.

In the table on the right you can see the evolution of the runic alphabet before it was replaced with the Latin alphabet that we use today.
tools used to write on rune stones
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