RUNE

RUNE. A character in an ancient script of 24 angular LETTERS, usually cut on wood or carved in stone, and known as either the runic alphabet or Futhark/Futhorc (with or without an initial capital: from the names of its first six letters, regarded as equivalents of f, u, th, a or o, r, and k or c). The origin of the script is uncertain; most probably it was adapted by the Goths from the Etruscan ALPHABET and later influenced by Roman. It was used from the 3c to the 16/17c, especially in Scandinavia, Iceland, and Britain, to write GERMANIC LANGUAGES. Runes, long regarded as magical, have been used on monuments, in charms, in fortunetelling (casting the runes), and as decorative motifs. Each has a mnemonic name beginning with the sound of the letter, such as feoh (property) and ūr (bison) for the f and u symbols. The letters THORN (thorn) and WYNN (joy) were added to the Roman alphabet for writing OLD ENGLISH, and the runic name æsc (ASH) was given to the digraph æ. Runic writings survive in c.4,000 inscriptions and some manuscripts.