Rune
A rune is a character of the runic alphabet used by the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian peoples. In modern usage, the word also designates each stone, piece of wood or bone bearing a rune and used as a divinatory support.
Origin and etymology
The word comes from the Old Norse run, meaning secret or whisper. This etymology evokes the esoteric character attributed to runes: a reserved knowledge. The earliest attested runic inscriptions date from the 2nd century CE, on objects found in Scandinavia and northern Germany (Vimose comb, Ovre Stabu spearhead). The origin of the alphabet is debated, but most specialists link it to North Italic alphabets transmitted to the Germanic peoples via the Alps. The three main runic systems are the Elder Futhark (24 runes), the Anglo-Saxon futhorc (up to 33 runes), and the Younger Futhark (16 runes) used in the Viking Age.
Evolution and tradition
Runes were first used for practical writing: commemorative inscriptions on runestones (the runesteinar of Sweden are the most numerous, from the 9th to the 11th century), marking of objects, short messages. Their divinatory use is mentioned by Tacitus in Germania in the 1st century: he describes a Germanic rite of drawing carved sticks. The modern divinatory practice of runes was largely reconstructed in the 20th century, notably by Guido von List as early as 1908 and then by Ralph Blum in The Book of Runes (1982), who standardized the commercial spread. Edred Thorsson and Diana Paxson extended this reconstruction with greater historical rigor.
Practical use
For a consultation, the practitioner has a set of 24 Elder Futhark runes, carved on stone, wood, bone or ceramic. The querent asks a question, shuffles the runes in a bag, and then draws the number prescribed by the chosen spread. Each rune bears a name and a meaning reconstructed from the medieval runic poems. On Tarotoui, the 24 Elder Futhark runes are available as a complete divinatory system, with upright and reversed interpretations. Common spreads range from one rune (quick answer) to nine runes (full cast on a surface). The Wyrd rune (twenty-fifth blank rune) added by Ralph Blum has no historical basis.
Going further
The systematic divinatory use of ancient runes is poorly documented historically. Modern practice combines reconstruction and contemporary creativity, which does not invalidate its symbolic interest. Note also that runes were instrumentalized by some volkisch movements and by Nazi ideology in the 20th century (Sowilo rune misused by the SS, Algiz by the Hitler Youth). This history weighs on their contemporary perception.