A set of symbols often known as runes served a number of functions all through historical past, performing as an alphabet, a software for divination, and a system imbued with magical significance. These symbols, etched onto objects like stones, wooden, and metallic, have been employed by Germanic peoples, primarily in the course of the Migration Interval and the Viking Age. Runic inscriptions supply insights into the beliefs, practices, and every day lives of those cultures. As an example, an inscription on a comb may supply a easy dedication, whereas one on a rune stone may commemorate a big occasion or particular person.
As a writing system, runes offered a way of communication and record-keeping. Their symbolic nature additionally lent them to divinatory practices, the place castings of marked stones have been interpreted to supply steerage or predict the longer term. This follow intertwined with the broader cultural context, linking the runes to Norse mythology and its pantheon of gods and goddesses. The research of those symbols affords precious historic knowledge, shedding gentle on historic Germanic language, tradition, and perception techniques.
