Runes, Vikings Wiki

By A Mystery Man Writer

Description

Runes are the principal writing system in Scandinavia. Runic inscriptions appeared first in Denmark in the first centuries AD. They were probably inspired by the Latin alphabet, but took on their own significance among Germanic peoples. Like the Latin alphabet is called "alphabet" due to the first letters being alpha (A) and beta (B), a runic alphabet is called a futhark because it derives from their first six letters of the alphabet, "f," "u," "th," "a," "r," and "k." There are several futharks