The Origins of the Runes
While scholars debate the finer details of the historical origins of runic writing, there is general agreement on its broader origins. The runes are believed to have been derived from one of the many Old Italic alphabets used among Mediterranean cultures in the first century CE, south of the Germanic tribes. Additionally, earlier Germanic sacred symbols, such as those found in northern European rock carvings, likely influenced the development of the script.
The earliest possible runic inscription appears on the Meldorf brooch, manufactured in northern Germany around 50 CE. However, the inscription is ambiguous, and scholars remain divided over whether its letters are runic or Roman. The earliest confirmed runic inscriptions are found on the Vimose comb from Denmark and the Øvre Stabu spearhead from Norway, both dating to approximately 160 CE. The first known complete futhark (alphabet) inscription, in proper order, appears on the Kylver stone from Gotland, Sweden, around 400 CE.
The transmission of writing from southern to northern Europe likely occurred through Germanic warbands, who encountered Italic writing firsthand during their campaigns. This theory is reinforced by the strong association between runes and the god Odin. In the Proto-Germanic period, under his original name *Woðanaz, Odin was revered as the divine model of the human warband leader and the unseen patron of warband activities. By the first century, Odin was already established as a central figure in the Germanic pantheon.
However, from the perspective of the ancient Germanic peoples, the runes were not simply borrowed from another writing system. Instead, they were seen as eternal, pre-existent forces, discovered by Odin himself through a great ordeal. This story is recounted in the Old Norse poem Hávamál (The Sayings of the High One):
I know that I hung
On the wind-blasted tree
All of nights nine,
Pierced by my spear
And given to Odin,
Myself sacrificed to myself
On that pole
Of which none know
Where its roots run.No aid I received,
Not even a sip from the horn.
Peering down,
I took up the runes –
Screaming I grasped them –
Then I fell back from there.
The tree from which Odin hangs is none other than Yggdrasil, the world-tree at the center of the cosmos, whose roots extend into the Well of Urd—a source of immense wisdom. The runes themselves seem to originate in the waters of this well, as suggested in another Old Norse poem, Völuspá (The Insight of the Seeress):
There stands an ash called Yggdrasil,
A mighty tree showered in white hail.
From there come the dews that fall in the valleys.
It stands evergreen above Urd’s Well.From there come maidens, very wise,
Three from the lake that stands beneath the pole.
One is called Urd, another Verdandi,
Skuld the third; they carve into the tree
The lives and fates of children.
These maidens, the Norns, carve fate into the tree with runes, demonstrating their magical and cosmic significance. After discovering the runes through his self-sacrifice, Odin is believed to have imparted them to the first human rune-masters. His sacrifice was likely mirrored in initiation ceremonies where individuals learned the secrets of the runes, though no direct evidence of such practices has survived.
The runes, therefore, were not merely letters but powerful symbols tied to magic, fate, and divine wisdom. Whether carved into wood, stone, or bone, they carried a deep spiritual significance for the ancient Germanic peoples, shaping their beliefs and practices for centuries to come.