Futhark: Mysterious Ancient Runic Alphabet of Northern Europe

Runes are the characters of the earliest written alphabet used by the Germanic peoples of Europe called Futhark. The runic alphabet was used within Germanic languages but primarily in Nordic countries. The word rune comes from the Norse rún which means mystery or secret. Little is known about the origins of the Runic alphabet and no one knows exactly when, where or who invented it. Inscriptions have been found throughout northern Europe from the Balkans to Germany, Scandinavia, the British Isles and Iceland, and were in use from about 100 to 1600 AD. Runic inscriptions have even been found in North America, supporting claims that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus. These days English and other Northern European languages are written using Latin letters, but they used to be written using “Runestaves.”

The oldest known runic inscription dates to 160 AD and is found on the Vimose Comb reading simply “HARJA”.

A comb made of antler from around 150 to 200 AD and was found in Vimose on the island of Funen, Denmark. The Elder Futhark inscription reads “Harja”, a male name. This is the oldest known runic inscription. The comb is housed at the National Museum of Denmark. Wikimedia Commons