Each letter, called a rune, had its own unique sound that was said, or sung, to represent them. What was carved in these hard materials were enigmatic letters made up of straight lines. These documents were based on the earlier Viking oral tradition and information Vikings had carved in stone, wood, bone and metal. The Vikings left behind a great culture recorded in a number of manuscripts written on vellum, which are both rich in wisdom and artistic achievement. The Vikings are often portrayed as illiterate and uncultured barbarians who were more interested in plunder than in wisdom. ![]() Belief in the divine origin of the runes meant that runes possessed magical powers. Since the Vikings believed the runic letters to be a gift from Odin, they treated them with great reverence. Hávamál - verse 139 (as told by Odin) Við hleifi mik seldo ne viþ hornigi, No bread was I given nor drink from a horn, At the end of his ‘shamanistic journey’, hanging suspended for nine windy nights, Odin learned the mysteries of the runes, which he then passed on to his people. Þá hefir hann bazt ef hann þegir Over the meaning According to legend, the Norse god Odin speared himself to a tree, in a self-sacrificial attempt to receive sacred knowledge. Þeim er gerðu ginnregin And written by Odin Inum reginkunnum Which were created by the gods ![]() Hávamál - verse 80 Þat er þá reynt When searching forĮr þú at rúnum spyrr Answers in the runes The Old Norse word Rún means "secret", and runes were thought of by Vikings as sacred secrets, and a way of interacting with both the living and the spirit world.
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