Historical and archeological evidence suggests that the runes have been in existence and used from approximately 200BC to the late Middle Ages when Latin then became the prevalent script. Geographically, the use of the runes ranged from as far North as Iceland, all across Central Europe and down as far as Romania, spreading with the traders and migrations of rune using peoples. Traditionally, they woud have been cut or engraved onto wood, stone, bone, metals and leather. It is very unlikely that they would ever have been used as a pen and ink script, though perhaps later scribes may have practised them this way. Their origins are lost to us today but the generally held opinion is that they are an amalgamation of a Northern Italic alphabet and a form of pictorial representations in stylised form. Many of the runes do bear a strong resemblance to the prehistoric symbols found on rock carvings known as the Hällristingar script, where they were scratched onto a cave wallby the ancient Northern European peoples living thereabouts. Each rune had at least two functions. Firstly, they would have served as a mnemonic, an aid to memory, representing a range of ideas and concepts represented by each particular rune and secondly, each individual rune would have had its own phonetic value. The unique sound of each individual rune gives us the name 'Futhark' for the runic scripts. As our own alphabet derives its name from the first two letters of the Greek letter run, alpha and beta, so runic scripts are known as 'Futharks' from the phonetic values of the first six letters F, U, Th, A, R, K. It would be misleading to imply that the runes were used predominantly as an alphabet in everyday usage as literacy among those peoples most likely to have been in contact with the runes would have been low. Any individual who learnt to cut and read the runes would in all probability have had the time and the leisure (both precious commodities) to afford to learn, and in all likelihood would have been a priest, aristocrat or an apprentice to a rune master. There is no doubt though that once they had acquired this skill they would have been highly valued by the society they lived and worked in, being employed in a number of activities ranging from the religious and decorative (runes being found on pots, bowls and weapons amongst other artifacts), as well as being involved in the composition of poetry and charms. As the runes were never a totally utilitarian script, there was always a hint of magic and mystery surrounding the use of runes and one who could read, cut and invoke the aid of the Gods with the runes would have been considered very powerful indeed. Whether the desired result was protection in battle or a charm against bad luck, the aid of the runes would have been a very useful ally to have had on your side. The Nordic people believed runes were a gift from Odin, the principal divinity of their pantheon whose name derives from the Norse words for wind and spirit. They believed that wounded by his own blade he hung from the tree of the world, 'Yggdrasil', for nine days and nights. Tormented by pain, thirst and hunger, the saw the runes, and with one last tremendous effort of will, seized them up before passing out. A supreme act of sacrifice to bring the runes into the world for the benefit of all mankind. In conclusion, in order to gain insights into the runes, some effort and sacrifice of time and energy must be made while learning their meanings, lore and uses so tat their worth finally becomes knowledge.
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