Futhark is a collective term in runology used to describe all runic alphabets that follow the Germanic alphabetical order of F, U, Þ, A, R, K, etc. In English, it is also common to call each futhark after its regional composition, since the original
A-rune and
K-rune shifted regionally through time:
"Futhark" (ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲ) can specify the Elder runic row,
"Futhorc" (ᚠᚢᚦᚩᚱᚳ) can specify the Anglo-Frisian runic row, and
"Futhork" (ᚠᚢᚦᚯᚱᚴ) can specify the Younger runic row. The younger can further be divided into
"Futhąrk" and
"Futhork" based on the early and late transliteration of the younger Óss-rune ().
Elder Futhark (2nd to 8th centuries) found on
Jutland, now Denmark The Elder Futhark, used for writing
Proto-Norse, consists of 24 runes that often are arranged in three groups of eight; each group is referred to as an
ætt (Old Norse, meaning '
clan, group'). The earliest known sequential listing of the full set of 24 runes dates to approximately AD 400 and is found on the
Kylver Stone in
Gotland, Sweden. Each rune most likely had a name which was chosen to represent the sound of the rune itself. The names are, however, not directly attested for the Elder Futhark themselves.
Germanic philologists reconstruct names in
Proto-Germanic based on the names given for the runes in the later alphabets attested in the
rune poems and the linked names of the letters of the
Gothic alphabet. For example, the letter /a/ was named from the runic
letter called
Ansuz. An asterisk before the rune names means that they are
unattested reconstructions. The 24 Elder Futhark runes are the following:
Anglo-Saxon runes (5th to 11th centuries) The Anglo-Saxon runes, also known as the
futhorc (sometimes written
fuþorc), are an extended alphabet, consisting of 29, and later 33, characters. It was probably used from the 5th century onwards. There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon (also called Anglo-Frisian) Futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in
Frisia and later spread to
England, while another holds that Scandinavians introduced runes to England, where the futhorc was modified and exported to Frisia. Some examples of futhorc inscriptions are found on the
Thames scramasax, in the
Vienna Codex, in
Cotton Otho B.x (
Anglo-Saxon rune poem) and on the
Ruthwell Cross. The Anglo-Saxon rune poem gives the following characters and names: feoh, ur, þorn, os, rad, cen, gyfu, ƿynn, hægl, nyd, is, ger, eoh, peorð, eolh, sigel, tir, beorc, eh, mann, lagu, ing, œthel, dæg, ac, æsc, yr, ior, ear. Extra runes attested to outside of the rune poem include cƿeorð, calc, gar, and stan. Some of these additional letters have only been found in
manuscripts. Feoh, þorn, and sigel stood for [f], [θ], and [s] in most environments, but voiced to [v], [ð], and [z] between vowels or voiced consonants. Gyfu and ƿynn stood for the letters
yogh and
wynn, which became [g] and [w] in
Middle English.
"Marcomannic runes" (8th to 9th centuries) c runes A runic alphabet consisting of a mixture of Elder Futhark with Anglo-Saxon futhorc is recorded in a treatise called
De Inventione Litterarum, ascribed to
Hrabanus Maurus and preserved in 8th- and 9th-century manuscripts mainly from the southern part of the
Carolingian Empire (
Alemannia,
Bavaria). The manuscript text attributes the runes to the
Marcomanni, quos nos Nordmannos vocamus, and hence traditionally, the alphabet is called "Marcomannic runes", but it has no connection with the
Marcomanni, and rather is an attempt by Carolingian scholars to represent all letters of the Latin alphabets with runic equivalents.
Wilhelm Grimm discussed these runes in 1821.
Younger Futhark (8th to 11th centuries) : long-branch runes and short-twig runes The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian Futhark, is a reduced form of the
Elder Futhark, consisting of only 16 characters. The reduction correlates with phonetic changes when
Proto-Norse evolved into
Old Norse. They are found in Scandinavia and
Viking Age settlements abroad, probably in use from the 8th century onward. They are divided into long-branch (Danish) and short-twig (Swedish and Norwegian) runes. The difference between the two versions is a matter of controversy. A general opinion is that the difference between them was functional (viz., the long-branch runes were used for documentation on stone, whereas the short-twig runes were in everyday use for private or official messages on wood). is a
Sigurd stone that depicts the legend of
Sigurd.
Medieval runes (12th to 15th centuries) , Sweden, including a runic inscription from 1228 AD In the Middle Ages, the Younger Futhark in Scandinavia was expanded, so that it once more contained one sign for each phoneme of the
Old Norse language. Dotted variants of
voiceless signs were introduced to denote the corresponding
voiced consonants, or vice versa, voiceless variants of voiced consonants, and several new runes also appeared for vowel sounds. Inscriptions in medieval Scandinavian runes show a large number of variant rune forms, and some letters, such as
s,
c, and
z often were used interchangeably. Medieval runes were in use until the 15th century. Of the total number of Norwegian runic inscriptions preserved today, most are medieval runes. Notably, more than 600 inscriptions using these runes have been discovered in
Bergen since the 1950s, mostly on wooden sticks (the so-called
Bryggen inscriptions). This indicates that runes were in common use side by side with the Latin alphabet for several centuries. Indeed, some of the medieval runic inscriptions are written in Latin.
Dalecarlian runes (16th to 19th centuries) According to Carl-Gustav Werner, "In the isolated province of
Dalarna in Sweden a mix of runes and Latin letters developed." The Dalecarlian runes came into use in the early 16th century and remained in some use up to the 20th century. Some discussion remains on whether their use was an unbroken tradition throughout this period or whether people in the 19th and 20th centuries learned runes from books written on the subject. The character inventory was used mainly for transcribing
Swedish in areas where
Elfdalian was predominant. The Dalecarlian runes attracted interest of
Johannes Bureus and his exploration of them was one of the first ground stones of the science which later became known as
runology, despite the fact that Bureus saw runes equal to Hebrew as a sacred alphabet having magical force.
Other Swedish post-Reformation runes Runes in Sweden in the 19th century were also used in areas on its northern coast, such as in
Medelpad,
Hassela and
Haverö, but they were very different from those used in Dalarna. Similarly to Norway, runes were sometimes used in magic books in Sweden.
Norwegian post-Reformation runes Approximately two hundred runic inscriptions made by Norwegian farmers in 17th-20th centuries across the whole of Norway are attested, but origins of this runic tradition are uncertain. During the 15th and 16th centuries runes were known to many farmers in Gotland and Iceland, and to educated people in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, like
Bent Bille,
Jacob de la Gardie,
Ole Worm,
Arild Huitfeldt and
Mogens Gyldenstierne. But the runes, which were used by Norwegian farmers, are attested only from the 17th century, mainly in
Hardanger,
Telemark and south-western
Trøndelag. These runes were used for personal names and
Roman numerals on different objects, sometimes in combination with
rosemåling, and also used in magic books, on musical instruments, and on gravestones. This runic tradition seems to be of newer origin, and brought to the farmers by priests (like
Gert Miltzow, and ) and other educated people, since there is no good evidence of the use of runes in Norway by farmers in the 15th and 16th centuries, with very few inscriptions perhaps dating from the 16th century. == Differences from Roman script ==