Basic Rune History

(Taken from the ancient runes assignment 1)

There are many ideas of where runes are said to originate, yet for this essay I will focus on one in particular, the origin from the central God of Norse, who gave the runes to mankind.
It is said that the God of Norse hung himself upside-down on the ‘World Tree’ in a self sacrificing ritual. After nine nights of suffering upon the tree, he died and passed on to the realm of the afterlife where he gained wisdom and was then reborn. It is then told that he passed on his newly acquired wisdom to his people in the form of Runes.

The runes are a form of alphabet which is said to have then developed from two distinct sources, a magical source and a literate source. It is not actually known the exact date of when runes began to appear to humans, yet deep caves have been discovered with runic style writing within the walls and remained in common use until the 17th century. Unfortunately, with the magical arts, they were officially banned in 1639 as part of the Church's efforts to "drive the devil out of with Europe". The rune masters were either executed or went underground, and the knowledge of the runes may well have died with them.

Perhaps the darkest period in the history of runic studies was their revival by German intellectuals connected with the Nazi movement in the 20's and 30's. After the Second World War, the runes fell into disrespect as a result of their association with Nazism, and very little was written about them until the fifties and sixties. It was not until the mid-eighties, with the extensive appeal of the "New Age" movement and revitalization of Pagan religions that the runes regained their popularity.

Runes are not widely used outside specific archeologically studies or Wicca beliefs, but what will the future hold for them. This is only a small account of their history, yet even from this we have seen them come into our world, be banished and then return. Will runes ever disappear? We will just have to see!

sources:


http://www.angelicinspirations.com/page307.htm
http://www.earthchildpendants.co.uk/rune-index.html

Your essays are well researched and interesting to read, Snape - 50 points.