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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 Guido Karl Anton List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), better known as Guido von List, was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed w ...
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'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...
priest-kings. The runes continue in use today in
esotericism Esotericism may refer to: * Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements * Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...
and in Germanic neopaganism.


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 (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...
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 in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...
(stanzas 138 to 165 of the Hávamál), 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 States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
and
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1908 by the Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft ( 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

List's row is based on the Younger Futhark, with the names and sound values mostly close to the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
Futhorc. The tenth rune ' ''Ar'' ', and the final "rune", ''Gibor'', were added to the Younger Futhark inventory. The first, was possibly taken from Anglo-Saxon - ' ''Cen'' ' rune, inverted, so that the short 'leg' points to the left, rather than to the right, as it did in the original Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet. Or, more likely, from the Swedish Dalecarlian - ' '' Er'' ' rune (the only extant rune which looks exactly like it, and has a very similar sound value). The second, was a medieval German heraldic symbol, originally representing a wolf trap. The latter, had nothing at all to do with runes, until List 'made' it a "rune" by adding it to the inventory. 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 Younger Futhark runes, with slight modifications in names (and partly mirrored shapes). The two additional runes are loosely inspired by the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.


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 mainly 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 F ...
'' symbol, which sometimes leads to the mistaken conclusion that the ''Wolfsangel'' is linked to the ancient
runic alphabet Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
. List associated his Gibor rune with the final stanza of the ''Rúnatal'' (stanza 165 of the Hávamál, 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 and Nazi occultism. The Armanen runes were employed for magical purposes in works by authors such as Friedrich Bernhard Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer, and after World War II in a reformed "pansophical" system by Karl Spiesberger. More recently, Stephen Flowers, 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 Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
, with a reprint published by Adolf Schleipfer of the " Armanen-Orden". 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 interested in the ling ...
) 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 (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
under Kaiser
Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...
. The collapse of Wilhelmine Germany at the end of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
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—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 (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, 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 a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
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 a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, who led the SS from 1929 to 1945, was one of many leading Nazi figures associated with the Thule Society ''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. 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 autu ...
'' 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 (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
ideology and Germanic mysticism. They also represented virtues seen as desirable in SS members, and were based on The Runes order designed by
Karl Maria Wiligut Karl Maria Wiligut (alias Weisthor, Jarl Widar, Lobesam; 10 December 1866 – 3 January 1946) was an Austrian Völkisch occultist and soldier. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and was a leading figure in the Irminis ...
which he loosely based on the historical
runic alphabet Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
s.


Use in contemporary esotericism

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Karl Spiesberger 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 (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
aspects of the Listian, Marbyan and Kummerian rune work and placing the whole system in a "pansophical", or eclectic, context. In recent times Karl Hans Welz, Stephen E. Flowers, A. D. Mercer, and Larry E. Camp and 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 Per ...
:
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'

; Karl Spiesberger ''Runenmagie'

Karl Hans Welz
Knights of Runes
'' Handbook of Armanen Runes'' by Larry E. Cam

Flowers (1992)


See also

* Rudolf John Gorsleben * Siegfried Adolf Kummer * Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels * Runic divination * Peryt Shou *
Karl Maria Wiligut Karl Maria Wiligut (alias Weisthor, Jarl Widar, Lobesam; 10 December 1866 – 3 January 1946) was an Austrian Völkisch occultist and soldier. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and was a leading figure in the Irminis ...
* Wiligut runes *
Esotericism in Germany and Austria Germany and Austria have spawned many movements and practices in Western esotericism, including Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Ariosophy, among others. Early Esotericism Knights Templar and Freemasonry The original Knights Templar ...


References


Sources

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


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 Writing systems introduced in 1908 Austrian inventions 1908 in Austria