Armanen runes (or ''Armanen Futharkh'') are 18 pseudo-runes, inspired by the historic

Younger Futhark The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The ...

runes, invented by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist

Guido von List Guido Karl Anton List, better known as Guido von List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed was ...

during a state of temporary blindness in 1902, and described in his ''Das Geheimnis der Runen'' ("The Secret of the Runes"), published as a periodical article in 1906, and as a standalone publication in 1908. The name seeks to associate the runes with the postulated Armanen, whom von List saw as ancient

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ...

priest-kings. The Armanen runes continue in use today in

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

and in

Germanic neopaganism Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...

Publication

Von List claimed the pseudo-runes were revealed to him while in an 11-month state of temporary blindness after a

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

operation on both eyes in 1902. This vision in 1902 allegedly opened what List referred to as his "inner eye", via which the "Secret of the Runes" was revealed to him. List stated that his Armanen Futharkh were encrypted in the ''Rúnatal'' of the

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

(stanzas 138 to 165 of the

Hávamál ''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ,Unnormalised spelling in the :Title: Final stanza: ../ref> classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of he High One��) is presented as a single poem in the Icelandic , a collection of Old Norse poems f ...

), with stanzas 147 through 165, where Odin enumerates eighteen wisdoms (with 164 being an interpolation), interpreted as being the "song of the 18 runes". List and many of his followers believed his runes to represent the "primal runes" upon which all historical rune rows were based. The book was dedicated to his good friend Friedrich Wannieck and in the introduction, before his discussion of the runes, there is a copy of a correspondence between Wannieck and List. ''Das Geheimnis der Runen'' was published in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1908 by the

Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft Guido Karl Anton List, better known as Guido von List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed was ...

( Gross-Lichterfelde). It was also known as GLB 1 of the Guido-List-Bücherei (GLB) series. The book was also published as a periodical article as "''Das Geheimnis der Runen''", "Neue Metaphysische Rundschau" 13 (1906), 23-4, 75-87, 104-26. An English language translation of the book was published in 1988 by Stephen E. Flowers.

List of runes

Armanenrunor_i_cirkel_med_siffror_vector

List's row is based on the Younger Futhark, with the names and sound values mostly close to the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

Futhorc Anglo-Saxon runes ( ang, rūna ᚱᚢᚾᚪ) are runes used by the early Anglo-Saxons as an alphabet in their writing system. The characters are known collectively as the futhorc (ᚠᚢᚦᚩᚱᚳ ''fuþorc'') from the Old English sound va ...

. The two final runes, ''Eh'' and ''Gibor'', added to the Younger Futhark inventory, are taken from Anglo-Saxon ''Eoh'' and ''Gyfu''. Apart from the two additional runes, and a displacement of the ''Man'' rune from 13th to 15th place, the sequence is identical to that of the Younger Futhark. List noted in his book, ''The Secret of the Runes'', that the "runic futharkh (= runic ABC) consisted of sixteen symbols in ancient times." He also referred to the Armanen runes as the 'Armanen Futharkh' of which Stephen E. Flowers notes in his 1988 English translation of Lists 1907/08 'Das Geheimnis der Runen', that "The designation 'futharkh' is based on the first seven runes, namely F U T A R K H (or H) it is for this reason that the proper name is not futhark—as it is generally and incorrectly written—but rather 'futarkh', with the 'h' at the end." The first sixteen of von List's runes correspond to the sixteen

h runes, with slight modifications in names (and partly mirrored shapes). The two additional runes are loosely inspired by the Anglo-Saxon

. # ''Fa'' (an inverted Fe) – F # '' Ur'' – U # '' Thurs'' (as Anglo-Saxon ''

Thorn Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

'') (also known as 'Dorn') – Th # ''Os'' (a mirrored

'' As/Oss'') – A(O). In Armanic writings, the

Othala rune Othala (), also known as odal and ēðel, is a rune that represents the ''o'' and ''œ'' phonemes in the Elder Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc writing systems respectively. Its name is derived from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic *''ō� ...

is generally seen as a variation / extension of Os. # ''Rit'' (as ''

Reidh *Raidō "ride, journey" is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the ''r''- rune of the Elder Futhark . The name is attested for the same rune in all three rune poems, Old Norwegian Ræið Icelandic Reið, Anglo-Saxon Rad, as well as for t ...

'') – R # '' Ka'' (as in Younger Futhark) – K # '' Hagal/Hag'' (as Younger Futhark ''Hagall'') – H # ''Nauth/Not'' (as Younger Futhark ''Naud'') – N # '' Is'' (as in Younger Futhark) – I # '' Ar'' (similar to short-twig Younger Futhark) – A # '' Sig/Sol'' (as Anglo-Saxon '' Sigel'') – S # '' Tyr'' – T # ''Bar'' (as Younger Futhark ''Bjarkan'') – B # ''Laf'' (as Younger Futhark ''Logr'') – L # ''Man'' (as Younger Futhark '' Madr''); – M # '' Yr'' (as in Younger Futhark, but with a sound value – Y # ''Eh'' (the name is from Anglo-Saxon Futhork, the shape like Younger Futhark ''Ar'') – E # ''Gibor/Ge/Gi'' (the name similar to Anglo-Saxon Futhork '' Gyfu'') – G

Gibor rune

There is no historical runic equivalent to the 18th rune, the "gibor rune" (the name may be based on the Anglo-Saxon Gyfu rune). Its shape is similar to that of the ''

Wolfsangel (, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) th ...

'' symbol, which sometimes leads to the mistaken conclusion that the ''Wolfsangel'' is linked to the ancient

runic alphabet Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

. List associated his Gibor rune with the final stanza of the ''Rúnatal'' (stanza 165 of the

, trans. H. A. Bellows): :An eighteenth I know, / that ne'er will I tell :To maiden or wife of man, '' acuna' :The best is what none / but one's self doth know

Connection to ''völkisch'' ideology

List's book is seminal to later currents of

Germanic mysticism Armanism and Ariosophy are esoteric ideological systems that were developed largely by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term 'Ariosophy', which means the wisdom of the Aryans, was ...

and Nazi occultism. The Armanen runes were employed for magical purposes in works by authors such as Friedrich Bernhard Marby and

Siegfried Adolf Kummer Siegfried Adolf Kummer (born 24 September 1899 in Radeberg, died 1977 in Dresden) was a German mystic and Germanic revivalist. He is also most well known for his revivalism and use of the Armanen runes row. He, along with Friedrich Bernhard Ma ...

, and after World War II in a reformed "pansophical" system by

Karl Spiesberger Karl Spiesberger (29 October 1904 – 1 January 1992) was a German mystic, occultist, Germanic revivalist and Runosophist. He is most well known for his revivalism and usage of the Sidereal Pendulum for divination and dowsing and for his anti- ...

. More recently,

Stephen Flowers Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, Adolf Schleipfer, Larry E. Camp and others also build on List's system. The book also remains popular in German

Neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

, with a reprint published by Adolf Schleipfer of the "

Armanen-Orden The Armanen-Orden (AO; German language, German for "Armanen Order", "Order of the Armanen") was founded as a revival of the Ariosophy, Ariosophical Guido von List Society by German occultist Adolf Schleipfer (b. 1947) and his then-wife Sigrun von ...

". During the 19th century, interest in the runic alphabets (such as the academic discipline of

runology Runology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runic inscriptions and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. History Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was very interested in the lingu ...

) was revived in Germany by the ''völkisch'' movement, which promoted interest in Germanic folklore and language in a reaction against the rapid modernisation of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

under Kaiser

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

. The collapse of Wilhelmine Germany at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

led to an upsurge of interest in ''völkisch'' ideology, which rejected liberalism, democracy, socialism and industrial capitalism—all traits reflected in the political system of

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is als ...

—as "un-German" and inspired by subversive Jewish influences. By the end of the war (1918) there were about seventy-five ''völkisch'' groups in Germany, promoting a variety of pseudo-historical, mystical, racial and anti-semitic views. This had a major influence on the embryonic Nazi Party; Hitler wrote in his 1925 book ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Ge ...

'' that "the basic ideas of the National Socialist movement are ''völkisch'' and the ''völkisch'' ideas are National Socialist." List's work led to the adoption of his "Armanen runes" by the ''Völkisch'' movement, which had already adopted the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

as a symbol of Germanic antiquity, and from there List's runes became an integral part of German and Austrian nationalistic socialist symbology.

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

, who led the SS from 1929 to 1945, was one of many leading Nazi figures associated with the

Thule Society The Thule Society (; german: Thule-Gesellschaft), originally the ''Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum'' ("Study Group for Germanic Antiquity"), was a German occultist and '' Völkisch'' group founded in Munich shortly after World War I, n ...

''völkisch'' group, and his interest in Germanic mysticism led him to adopt a variety of List's runes for the SS. Some had already been adopted by members of the SS and its predecessor organisations but Himmler systematised their use throughout the SS. By 1945 the SS used the swastika and the '' Sonnenrad''. Until 1939, members of the ''

Allgemeine SS The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autumn ...

'' were given training in runic symbolism on joining the organisation. Runic signs were used from the 1920s to 1945 on SS flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of various aspects of

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

ideology and

. They also represented virtues seen as desirable in SS members, and were based on The Runes order designed by Karl Maria Wiligut which he loosely based on the historical

Use in contemporary esotericism

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

reformed the system, removing the

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

aspects of the Listian, Marbyan and Kummerian rune work and placing the whole system in a "pansophical", or

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

, context. In recent times

Karl Hans Welz Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

, Stephen E. Flowers, A. D. Mercer, Larry E. Camp and Victor Ordell L. Kasen have all furthered the effort to remove any racist connotations previously espoused by pre-war Armanen rune masters. In German-speaking countries, the Armanen Runes have been influential among rune-occultists. According to Stephen E. Flowers they are better known even than the historical

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...

The personal force of List and that of his extensive and influential ''Armanen Orden'' was able to shape the runic theories of German magicians...from that time to the present day. ..the ''Armanen'' system of runes...by 1955 had become almost "traditional" in German circles

The Armanen runes also have a significant impact in English language occultist literature.Pennick (1992); '' The Armanen Runes'

'' The Armanen Rune Set'

; '' The Armanen'

;

''Runenmagie'

Knights of Runes
'' Handbook of Armanen Runes'' by Larry E. Cam

Flowers (1992)

References

*Flowers, Stephen E. 1992. '' Rune Might: Secret Practices of the German Rune Magicians''. *——— (as

Edred Thorsson Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed tryin ...

). 1984.
Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic
'. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc. *——— (as Edred Thorsson). '' Runecaster's Handbook, Northern Magic, Runelore''. *Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 1993. '' The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology''. *———. 2003. '' Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity''. *von List, Guido. 1902. ''

Das Geheimnis der Runen Armanen runes (or ''Armanen Futharkh'') are 18 pseudo-runes, inspired by the historic Younger Futhark runes, invented by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist Guido von List during a state of temporary blindness in 1902, and described in hi ...

''. Vienna. (Translated into English by Stephen E. Flowers, 1988, Destiny Books. ) *Mercer, A. D. 2015.
Runen - Wisdom of the Runes
' Amsterdam, Aeon Sophia Press, *Pennick, Nigel. 1992. '' Secrets of the Runes: Discover the Magic of the Ancient Runic Alphabet''. * von Schnurbein, Stefanie. 1992. ''

Religion als Kulturkritik Baroness Stefanie Anna Hildegard von Schnurbein (born 24 June 1961 in Augsburg) is a German literary scholar, and Professor of Modern Scandinavian Literature at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Biography She belongs to the Schnurbein family, or ...

''.

External links

Armanen runes
by S. Hawkins
online version
{Dead link, date=October 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Guido von List Runes in Germanic mysticism Occultism in Nazism sv:Runor#Armanenrunorna och ariosofin