Elder Futhark, the runic script
Futhark antiguo, la escritura rúnica
- Date
- c. 150-200 · confidence low
- Place
- Vimose, Funen, Denmark
- Credited to
- Germanic peoples of northern Europe
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A 24-character alphabet of angular signs, designed for carving in wood, bone and stone, whose oldest inscriptions (Vimose comb, Øvre Stabu spearhead) date from the 2nd century. It gave rise to the later Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon futhark.
Its origin is debated: it has been derived from a North Italic (Etruscan) alphabet, from Latin or from Greek; the date of first use (c. 150) rests on the dating of the objects carrying them, not the inscriptions.
What it led to
- Younger Futhark and Viking Age runestones
- the Anglo-Saxon futhorc
- a record of names, charms and memory in ancient Germanic