runes

Characters in the ancient alphabet used by Germanic peoples. Runic inscriptions have been found all over western Europe, on stone monuments and on such objects as metal spearpoints and amulets; the greatest concentrations are in England and Scandinavia. The runic alphabet, called futhark after the sounds of the initial letters, originally had 24 characters. In English versions the number was eventually increased to 33, whereas in Scandinavia it was reduced to 16 and later expanded to 26.It is believed that runes are derived from a northern Etruscan alphabet used among Italic tribes in the Eastern Alps, and that they were developed in the 2nd or 3rd century AD by a Germanic people living in the region of modern Bohemia. The earliest surviving inscription is from the mid-3rd century. Runes were in wide use from the 4th to the 12th century. A form of runes was used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages as an alternative to the Latin alphabet used by the clergy, and runes survived in occasional use in rural Sweden at least until the 17th century. Runes were also used to augment the Latin alphabet for certain sounds, notably the thorn (, th) used in AngloSaxon England and modern Iceland.
Microsoft Encarta

The Elder Futhark The name "futhark", like the word "alphabet", is derived from the first few letters in the runic sequence, which differs considerably from the order of the Latin alphabet and is unique amongst alphabetic scripts. The futhark originally consisted of 24 letters, beginning with F and ending with O, and was used by the northern Germanic tribes of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Northern Germany. This form of the runes is known as the Elder, or Germanic Futhark. 'Raido: The Runic Journey'

The primary characteristic which distinguishes a runic alphabet from other alphabets is that each letter, or rune, has a meaning. For example, whereas "ay", "bee", and "cee" are meaningless sounds denoting the first three letters in our alphabet, the names of the first three runes, "fehu", "uruz", and "urisaz" are actual words in the Germanic language, meaning "cattle", "aurochs", and "giant", respectively. Runes also have magical and religious significance as well, thus transforming the simple process of writing into a magical act. They are also used for divinatory readings and to create magical spells.

The Younger Fuark (Danish variation) In Scandinavia, the Elder Futhark remained in use until some time around the eighth century (the time of the Eddas), when drastic changes in the Old Norse language occurred, and corresponding changes in the runic alphabet were made to accommodate the new sounds. However, unlike the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, the Younger Futhark (as it is now called) reduced the number of runes from 24 to 16, and several runes came to represent multiple sounds. The forms of the runes were also changed and simplified. There are several variations of this futhark - Danish, long branch, Norwegian, dotted, etc. This form of the runic alphabet spread from Denmark north into Sweden and Norway, and was

carried into Iceland and Greenland by the Vikings. It is possible that they were also brought to North America with the Vinland expeditions, but so far no authenticated inscriptions have been found. 'Raido: The Runic Journey'

Today, runes have been rediscovered as a symbolic system and have gained immense popularity as a means of divination. They are, however, much more than a curious alternative to Tarot cards for telling fortunes. They provide a key to understanding the lives and beliefs of the ancient people who created them, and have much to teach us about a way of life that was perhaps more intimately connected to the natural world, and to the realm of spirit, than our own.
'Raido: The Runic Journey'

Kensington Rune Stone discovery of the stone

According to the story, the Kensington stone was found on the farm of Olof Ohman near Kensington Minnesota. In early November, 1898, farmer Ohman, a forty-four-year-old Swedish-American farmer, discovered a stone wrapped around the roots of an aspen or poplar tree. The stone was an irregular rectangular slab of graywacke shaped somewhat like a tombstone weighing 202 pounds, about 2 1/2 feet high, 3 to 6 inches thick, and 15 inches wide. Farmer Ohman and his son exhumed the stone and noticed strange inscriptions placed on the part which presumably had been intended to stand above ground.

the stone's inscription

Upon removal the stone was cleaned and washed. A Norwegian neighbor, Nils Flaten, was asked to examine the stone, also unable to decipher the inscriptions. After a few days, Ohman claims that he took it to Kensington where it was placed in a bank. The find was announced and given to newspapers early in the year 1899. It was soon ascertained that the symbols on the stone were of runic origin, and quickly translated into Swedish, Norwegian, and English. When translated, the inscription reads: Eight Swedes and Twenty-two Norwegians on an exploration journey from Vinland westward. We had our camp by 2 rocky islets one day's journey north of this stone. We were out fishing one day. When we came home we found ten men red with blood and dead. AVM save us from evil. We have ten men by the sea to look after our ships, fourteen days' journey from this island. Year 1362. Obviously this inscription was startling and created a great deal of controversy. Professor O.J. Breda of the University of Minnesota was sent a copy and quickly dismissed the inscription as being a hoax. Several other professors at Scandinavian and American universities also claimed that the stone was a forgery. Consequently, little attention was paid to the stone and it was soon returned to farmer Ohman where he used it as a door step before it was rediscovered. Who is Hjalmar Holand?

One of the first adherents to the stones authenticity was a writer of Norwegian decent named Hjalmar Rued Holand of Ephraim, Wisconsin. In 1907, Holand journeyed to the Ohlman farm and acquired the stone, having it sent to his home. It was Holand who began the drive to prove the stone's authenticity. With virtually no other support from the academic community, Holand started a campaign to prove that the Kensington stone demonstrated that Vikings made it to Minnesota in the 14th century. Holand claimed that there was an expedition led by a Paul Knutson to Christianize the Vikings of the West and that this story correlates with the dates given on the stone. According to Holand, the Vikings expedition led them through Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg, and up the Red River to a place near present day Kensington, Minnesota. It is his belief that the stone is a remnant of the Knutson expedition. This theory gained popularity among the Scandinavian communities of Minnesota and helped perpetuate the tale's validity even after it had been denounced by numerous academic figures. Today the stone remains a fascination among the Scandinavian descendants living in Minnesota and the stone is now on display at the Rune-Stone Museum of Alexandria, Minnesota.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/webcourse/lost/projects97/kenstone.htm

Grimhild
In Norse mythology, queen of the Nibelungs, or Burgundians, wife of King Giuki, and mother of Gunnar, Hogni, and Gudrun. Grimhild often applied her knowledge of runes and sorcery to treacherous ends. According to the 'Volsunga Saga', Grimhild gave the hero Sigurd a drink of forgetfulness while he was at King Giuki's court. Sigurd forgot his love for the Valkyrie Brynhild, and married the queen's daughter, Gudrun. Sigurd was instrumental in the plot to deceive Brynhild into marrying Gunnar. In the Icelandic 'Poetic Edda', Grimhild gave Gudrun a potion in a runecovered goblet after the murder of Sigurd. Under the potion's baleful influence, the griefstricken Gudrun forgot the slain Sigurd and married the villainous and greedy King Atli of the Huns. The deception led to the demise of the Nibelungs. In the Germanic epic 'Song of the Nibelungs' (Nibelungenlied), Grimhild is called Uote.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110419191220/http://www.themysticeye.com/info/runes.htm