Runes

=//**__under construction by ALEX-GMS__**//=

=Runes= = = =**__In the Very Beginning __**=

During the first century [|__C.E.__] the middle-northern regions of [|__Europe__] occupied barbarians and vikings, also known as the early [|__Germanic peoples__] of the first century. People think that barbarians act dumb and uncivilized, but they had their own culture. They had gods and even their own writing system,an alphabet. They advanced almost as much as the Greeks! According to the Germanic peoples mythology the runes should come from the center of the world tree, Yggdrasil, where the three Norns lurk. The Norns mirror the three fates, they control reality itself.

__A B C D E F G...__ Going to the runic sights of middle-Europe, people see slabs of rock with symbols known as norse runes. Each symbol can stand for a word or a letter. For example, the symbol [|__Thurisaz__] represents the letters th and also means giant, soft and hard, and danger. The symbol [|__Tiwaz__] stands for the letter T and Tyr, the god of victory. As it was told, the letters held great power in honoring the gods, and recording special events. Giant slab and stones full of paragraphs of runes, have been found and displayed all over mid-Europe. One specific artifact, the Kensington Runestone is believed to be the description of the viking’s adventure to America before the time of Columbus.

__ Not What They Seem __

Runes obtained a special power to them. According to legend, the god of wisdom and war, [|__Odin__] envied [|__the three Norn’s__] (fate’s) power to influence reality by carving runes in the stump of [|__Yggdrasil__]. Since the runes come from the [|__Well of Urd__], the world tree’s life force, Odin climbed down Yggdrasil, stabbed himself with his own spear, dipped his head in the well, and told all gods to not help him. There he stayed, for nine days and nights, suffering. He almost died! He was now the most powerful being of the cosmos. A theory suggests that the knowledge to use the runes power comes from within and that it takes great suffering and a clear mind. Another one says that it could be the power of influence, and how one word can hold such a great power over people. They will always be more than just an alphabet. __Farewell!__ The use of these intricate letters did not last. The [|__Roman Empire__] conquered the [|__Celts__] and Germanic peoples in 102 C.E.. They were Christianized and had to use the Roman alphabet. afterwards, the runes are now used as decor and still has a superstitious effect on the people of Northeastern Europe.

__Works Cited__ Mcoy, Daniel. http://norse-mythology.org/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

"rune." World Book. , p. 520.

"Kensington Runestone." World Book

"Germanic-peoples." https://www.britannica.com. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki. Accessed 29 Jan. 2017.