Runestones in Lund

Attractions • The Runestone hillock Runes were the Northerners’ first alphabet. The letters, or rather the runes, were carved in wood, bone or stone. Other materials were probably also used, such as birch bark or wax tablets. Here we tell more about the runic alphabet and its different runic characters. Then, you can try to read the text on some of the runestones in Lund, which we tell more about in the visitor guides.

The oldest runic carvings in the Nordic countries are from the beginning of our era (in Sweden from the 200s). They are carved with an older runic alphabet consisting of 24 runic characters. These older characters are sometimes called Old Nordic runes, which refers to the language spoken in the Nordic countries at this time (about 150–800 e. Kr), usually called Old Nordic.

The runic alphabet is called "futhark". Each rune has a name, and the rune alphabet is named after the first six runes. It can be compared to the Greeks who also had names on their letters, such as Alpha and Beta. The runic alphabet differed between the Nordic countries.

At the beginning of the Viking Age (about 800 e. Kr.), a newer form of runic writing began to displace many of the Old Nordic runes. The new futhark only had 16 characters. The runes could vary in typeface, and the different runes could represent one or more sounds. The runes are based on one or more lines, called staves (cf. letter). This is what the Viking Age rune alphabet looked like:

ᚠ

ᚢ

ᚦ

ᚬ

ᚱ

ᚴ

ᚼ

ᚾ

ᛁ

ᛅ

ᛋ

ᛏ

ᛒ

ᛘ

ᛚ

ᛦ

During the Viking Age, especially at the end of the period (late 900 e. Kr.), it became common to carve runes on large stones. These runestones were often raised as memorials to someone who had died or been on a long journey to far countries.

Commonly, the text was carved in winding patterns. The pattern could be an animal, such as a snake, or a slithering plant. Runes were also carved on personal items, such as combs or weapons.

When Christianity came to the Nordic countries, Latin letters became more common. However, the runes remained in the Middle Ages alongside the Latin alphabet.