Quite simply, they are pictograms - symbols representing the ideas or concepts of a tribal people. To such a people a written language using what we refer to as an 'Alphabet' was unecessary; their simple culture did not require an alphabet of letters for communication. Instead they used the Runes, where each letter represented a word or concept. These were arranged as a Futhark (named after its first six runes). With these, complex concepts could be strung together quickly - IF you knew how to use them correctly. Of course the ability to be able to decipher or write them was considered magical, and the domain of the sorcerer or magician (Vitki). Wouldn't you find it miraculous if you had no knowledge of reading or writing and someone was able to tell you what was happening in the next village from reading cuts on a stick (sent, of course, from that village's sorcerer)!

Not surprisingly, the Runes also became used to divine the future. The sorcerer concluded that if you could send messages to other people with them, perhaps you could also receive messages from the gods and goddess's of the tribe. After all, the myth associated with them says that they were a gift of the gods. Also, surely it was also possible by the use of sympathetic magic to use combinations of the Runes to manipulate the concepts they represented.

Thus, a group of symbols carved on wood, became associated with magic and divination. Over the years the Runes have developed a magical charge because of this association. This has made the Runes powerful in their own right, rather than just as symbols of the concepts they represent.

So where did the Runes originate from? It is believed they first appeared at the turn of the millenia, and had developed fully by the sixth century. The name 'rune' comes from the Germanic 'runa'; which means secret, as well as 'to whisper' and 'to write'. The Runes developed in the Indo-European tribes of central Europe; what we now refer to as the Germans. As these tribes spread - particularly during the end of the Western Roman Empire - the Runes spread with them. Hence, there are more than just one know set of Runes. There are also Anglo-Saxon; including three known variations, Norse; at least two variations; and the well known Germanic, which we cover here (we will cover one of the Anglo-Saxon variations later on).

It is very likely that there was much more variation than we know of today - mainly because of the very nature of the Runes, that of being tribal concepts. The number and variations of the Runes may have varied not only from Germanic race to race, but also from tribe to tribe. As the cultures developed so did the Runes; but this could also be a retrograde step. For example, the Norse Runes of the Viking period consisted of 24 specific Runes, but when the same people turned to trading and agriculture by the tenth century, the number of Runes in the cultures Futhark dropped to 16 - the Younger Futhark. It was quite simply uneccessary to have Runes of concepts which were no longer of any importance to the culture; they were quite simply dropped. Conversely, the Anglo-saxons started with the 24 Runes of the Elder Germanic Futhark and by the tenth century their culture had developed so rapidly a further nine Runes had been added to their 'Futhork' (the Anglo-Saxons had an 'o' rather than an 'a' as a fourth Rune). It is very likely infact that the Runes, their meanings and their number, may have varied considerably within a locality - it is quite possible that it is Christian scholars that have made them appear as a uniform system by attempting to compare them to the latin alphabet.

Each Rune consists of three aspects. First of all there is the Stave; this is the pictorial representation of a Letter and Word/concept. These probably originated from more detailed pictures e.g. the Rune 'Thorn' may have originally been a picture of Thor's Hammer, which of course, would have been impossible to have carved on a small piece of wood, so it was simplified. This is important to remember when looking at the Staves; sometimes in can take a leap of imagination to work out what the original picture was!

The second aspect is the Letter; actually to say 'letter' is misleading. It is probably better to say 'phonetic value', as they are a phonetic alphabet based on sound. Hence the Rune 'Thorn' is the letters 'th' pronounced as in the word thorn; which conveniently leads us to the third aspect - the Word/concept.

The Word for the Rune and the Concept associated with it is really what the Runes are all about; in fact you may as well say that these are the Runes themselves. The Word is of course what we verbally use to identify the Rune with e.g. the first Rune 'Feoh', meaning Cattle. It is at this point that we need to understand the tribal culture of the people who used the Rune if we are to understand the Rune; what did Cattle represent to them? It was of course food, but it was also more that this; it was also symbolic of wealth in a culture that had no money and relied heavily on barter. Cattle were a form of investment with several options associated with it; you could slaughter it and eat it when hungry, or you could barter with it for goods, or you could fatten it up for a while and then decide what to do with it later. Even better, you could breed it and make more Cattle and therefore more wealth for yourself! So this Rune has come to represent wealth in the form of investment or work (the rearing and fattening up of the cattle), it therefore also represents good fortune; but it should also be remembered that it could also be squandered.

Some of the Runes can also be associated with specific Germanic deities - in fact some of the Runes represent these gods and goddesses e.g. the Rune 'Tyr' named after the Germanic deity Tyr/Tiuw or Tiw. He is the god of war and justice, and has similarities to the Roman god Mars, who he is associated with in some early writings (Because Roman deities have become associated with the Runes, we have included planetary correspondences when we list the Runes at each edition). This association with Germanic deities is quite subtle with some of the Runes e.g. the Rune 'Feoh', which is associated with the twin deities Frey and Freya; the god and goddess of fertility and wealth (not surprisingly associated when it came to Cattle).

There are also some Runes associated with trees. In the Elder Futhark these are the Runes 'Eoh' (Yew), and 'Beorc' (Birch). In the Anglo-Saxon Futhorks these were added to with 'Ac' (Oak) and 'Aesc' (Ash). We know, that like the Gallic Druids, trees were sacred to the Germanic Priesthood; Tacitus, the Roman writer refers to the use of 'Groves' in his work Germania written in AD 98 (he also points out the early use of Runes for divination and is also directly responsible for the association of Germanic deities with those of Rome).

So now you've decided you want to study the Runes, how are you going to go about it? First of all follow, follow this series of articles I'm writing over the next year. I won't be going heavily into detail - particularly when there are much more eloquent writers on the subject who have years more knowledge on the subject - but I will try to clear up any misconceptions and make learning them as simple as possible. Read, and when you've finished reading, read some more! There are some absolutley excellent books out their on Runes, but thats not all you need to read; try reading some works on the development of language. Also GO TO FIRST SOURCES e.g. Tacitus's Germania (see list below). There are also loads of books on Runes which just regurgitate from previously written books on Runes! Don't believe everything you've read - much of it is made up or was created during the last century (A good example is Guido von List's Armenan Runes).

The '25th' Rune 'Wyrd' or Fate is a recent creation. It is normally represented a blank Rune stone representing fate or the unknowable. There is in fact no need for it as the whole of the Futhark represents the concept. Wyrd is a much more complex concept than the blank Rune was actually created to represent; it is more about cause and effect than blind fortune.

So once you've read up you'll want some Rune Stones. Again, this is misleading; Rune Staves were traditionally carved on to wood, not Stone, this is confirmed by the fact that they are angular with no curves - because if you work with wood you know it is impossible to carve in a circular motion. Rune Staves made with minerals work in divination and magic just as well, in fact there is one tradition that if they are stone that this should come from under water; I have no idea where this comes from but it works, my set's Stones came from Merlin's Cave, Tintagel, and it does add to their potency. There are also sets available made of gems - amethyst is quite popular.

We would recommend that you make your own Rune Staves. This gives you more of a link with them and will assist you in learning the Staves. Traditionally Runes Staves were made from ash; Yggdrasil, the mythical World Tree of Germanic mythology. The wood was cut from the smaller branches at an angle, and the Stave carved on to the cut face. Traditionally, it is also said that it was necessary to 'Blot' or blood the Stave this was to add potency to it and create a link with its user. We would recommend against this, particularly in these days of virulent blood born diseases!

Here are some tips to help you learn the Runes. I found the easiest way to learn them was first to learn their phonetic value. I did this by learning them as an alphabet first and then writing with them. Once I had learned the letters associated with them it was easy to associate the word and the concept. To associate the Stave with the letter I tried to figure out what the original graphical image was before it was developed into the pictographic symbol that it is today. It didn't matter if I was historically correct or not as long as I could link a graphic image with the Stave which fitted e.g. for 'Feoh' I developed the image of someone with out stretched arms, which the Stave seems to suggest.

Even with the method I developed for learing the Runes, it has still taken me ten years to fully understand them. But then, I never said it was easy!