Runology is the study of the

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, runic inscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of

Germanic linguistics Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary te ...

History

Runology was initiated by

Johannes Bureus Johannes Thomae Bureus Agrivillensis (born Johan Bure; 1568–1652) was a Swedish polymath, antiquarian, mystic, royal librarian, poet, and tutor and adviser of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He is a well-known exponent of Gothicism. Life ...

(1568–1652), who was interested in the linguistics of the ''

Geat The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swed ...

ish language'' (''Götiska språket''), i.e.

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

. However, he did not look at the runes as merely an alphabet, but rather something holy or magical. The study of runes was continued by

Olof Rudbeck the Elder Olaus Rudbeck (also known as Olof Rudbeck the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, and occasionally with the surname Latinized as ''Olaus Rudbeckius'') (13 September 1630 – 12 December 1702) was a Swedish scientist and writer, professor ...

(1630–1702) and presented in his collection ''Atlantica''. The

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedes, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories ...

(1701–1744) further extended the science of runes and traveled around Sweden to examine the ''bautastenar'' (

megaliths A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

, today termed

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

s). Another early treatise is the 1732 ''Runologia'' by Jón Ólafsson of Grunnavík. The sundry runic scripts were well understood by the 19th century, when their analysis became an integral part of the

Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philology, philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a Comparative method, comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, wi ...

and

historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also known as diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of how languages change over time. It seeks to understand the nature and causes of linguistic change and to trace the evolution of languages. Historical li ...

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author, philologist and anthropologist. He was the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1 ...

published his ''Über deutsche Runen'' in 1821, where among other things he dwelt upon the "

Marcomannic runes 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 ...

" (chapter 18, pp. 149–159). In 1828, he published a supplement, titled ''Zur Literatur der Runen'', where he discusses the '' Abecedarium Nordmannicum''. Sveriges runinskrifter was published from 1900. The dedicated journal ''Nytt om runer'' has been published by the "Runic Archives" of the Museum of Cultural History at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

from 1985. The

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future resea ...

project, aiming at a machine-readable catalogue of runic inscriptions, was initiated in 1993.

References

Germanic studies {{philology-stub

History

See also

References