The Origin and Initial Function of the Runes

Here we take a further look at the Anglo-Saxon Runes and the many duties they undertook in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic society. The Old English version of the runic alphabet called the Futhorc and named for its first six letters is distinguished from its ancestor, the Common Germanic Elder Futhark, by its increase in the number of runes to twenty-eight and sometimes thirty-three, as well as modifying some of the shapes and values of the original twenty-four runes of the Elder Futhark (Page, 1973).  The Futhorc came to England with the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth-century invasions, although runes were at this time also quite widespread in other areas around England such as Norway, Sweden, the Danish isles, and on the Jutland peninsula (Page, 1973).  The runes existed in Scandinavia through another version of the runic alphabet, called the Younger Futhark, which reduced the number of runes in the Elder Futhark to fifteen.