A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories.[1] The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of Elder Futhark (some 350 items, dating to between the 2nd and 8th centuries AD), Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (some 100 items, 5th to 11th centuries) and Younger Futhark (close to 6,000 items, 8th to 12th centuries).[2][3]
The total 350 known inscriptions in the Elder Futhark script[4] fall into two main geographical categories, North Germanic (Scandinavian, c. 267 items) and Continental or South Germanic ("German" and Gothic, c. 81 items).[5] These inscriptions are on many types of loose objects, but the North Germanic tradition shows a preference for bracteates, while the South Germanic one has a preference for fibulae. The precise figures are debatable because some inscriptions are very short and/or illegible so that it is uncertain whether they qualify as inscriptions at all.
The division into Scandinavian, North Sea (Anglo-Frisian), and South Germanic inscriptions makes sense from the 5th century. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Elder Futhark script was still in its early phase of development, with inscriptions concentrated in what is now Denmark and Northern Germany.
The tradition of runic literacy continued in Scandinavia into the Viking Age, developing into the Younger Futhark script. Close to 6,000 Younger Futhark inscriptions are known, many of them on runestones.[6]
^John Lindow (17 October 2002). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-0-19-983969-8.
^not including the inscriptions in medieval runes in Sweden, and the early modern and modern inscriptions in Dalecarlian runes.
A runicinscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of...
fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩. Runology is the academic study of the runic alphabets, runicinscriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms a specialised...
possible runicinscriptions on the parapet and he handed them over to the Norwegian Runic archive in 1997. There may be additional runicinscriptions waiting...
article contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes. A gold ring (necklace)...
style KB. This is the classification for inscriptions with a cross that is bordered by the runic text. The runic text states that it was raised in memory...
bind rune called a same-stave rune, which is common in Scandinavian runicinscriptions but does not occur at all in Anglo-Saxon runicinscriptions, is...
transcriptions from runicinscriptions into standardized Old Norse are in the Swedish and Danish dialect to facilitate comparison with the inscriptions, while the...
The Vocabulary of RunicInscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-826-9. MacLeod, Mindy (2002). Bind-Runes: an Investigation...
of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found...
article contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes. The Younger Futhark...
The Sigurd stones form a group of eight or nine Swedish runicinscriptions (five or six runestones, two natural rocks, and a baptismal font) and one picture...
article contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes. The Jelling stones...
meaning "boar"). The inscription also shows the only runic appearance of the name of Iceland, while there are five other runicinscriptions in Sweden that mention...
forms of "runic magic", some of which were continued or developed further by contemporary adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. Modern systems of runic divination...
Tillinge Runestone in Uppland and a rune stone on Gotland, the Ingvar Runestones are the only remaining runicinscriptions that mention Serkland. Below follows...
progressively replace the runes. At the end of the 16th century, the Dalecarlian runic inventory was almost exclusively runic, but during the following...
runestone is typically a raised stone with a runicinscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition...
medieval runes, or the futhork, was a Scandinavian runic alphabet that evolved from the Younger Futhark after the introduction of stung (or dotted) runes at...
article contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes. Othala (ᛟ), also...
Runic transliteration and transcription are part of analysing a runicinscription which involves transliteration of the runes into Latin letters, transcription...
Runology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runicinscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. Runology...
However, possibly due to runic manuscript tradition, it was occasionally used to transliterate the Latin letter X into the runic script.[citation needed]...
about 3,000 runestones in Scandinavia (out of a total of about 6,000 runicinscriptions). The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: The majority...
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