Medieval runes
[1] Medieval runes were in use throughout Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, and provided the basis for runology beginning in the 16th century.Whereas the Latin letters were written with quill and ink on expensive parchment, the runes were carved with sharp objects on prepared wooden staffs that were cheaper[2] (see e.g. the Bryggen inscriptions).[7] When the medieval runic alphabet was fully developed in the early 13th century, it mixed short-twig and long-branch runes in a novel manner.In the 15th century, Norwegians and Swedes also stopped using the þ letter, but the Icelanders still retain it in their Latin alphabet.In the oldest preserved manuscript of the Poetic Edda from 1270, and which is written with the Latin alphabet, the m is used as a conceptual rune meaning "man" and in Hávamál it appears 43 times.[8] In the early 13th century, the runes began to be threatened by the Latin letters as the medieval Scandinavian laws were written.[8] The Latin letters were introduced officially during the 13th century, but farmers, artisans and traders continued to write with runes to communicate or to mark goods.[8] It appears that in many parts of Sweden, people considered Latin letters to be a foreign practice throughout the Middle Ages.[9] For 134 years, the people of Gammalsvenskby in Ukraine used it to calculate the passage of time, until 1900 when a member of the community brought it to Stockholm.
vellummanuscriptScanian LawNorth Germanic languagesPhoenician alphabetGreek alphabetCumae variantOld Italic alphabetsElder FutharkYounger FutharkDalecarlian runesphonetic transcriptionsInternational Phonetic AlphabetScandinavianrunic alphabetViking AgephonemeMiddle AgesrunologyVästergötlandLatin alphabetOld NorseparchmentBryggen inscriptionsrunestonesAbsalonrunemastersDenmarkPoetic EddaHávamálmedieval Scandinavian lawslawspeakersCodex RunicusOlaus MagnusÖlandRune PoemsLinnaeusDalarnarunic calendarsGammalsvenskbyUkraineStockholmplasterGotlandList of runestonesList of runologistsRundataGermanic Elder Futhark9th c.Anglo-Frisian Futhorc5th c.Later Anglo-Saxon Futhorc8th c.12th c.Norse Younger Futhark11th c.Long-BranchShort-TwigLater Younger Futhark13th c.18th c.16th c.19th c.Runic inscriptionsRunic magicModern runic writingPseudo-runesStaveless runeswriting systemsHistory of writingGraphemeundecipheredinventorsconstructedby first written accountsAbjadsNumeralsAramaicHatranArabicElifbaEgyptian hieroglyphsElymaicHebrewAshuriCursiveSolitreoTifinaghMandaicManichaeanNabataeanAncient North ArabianPahlaviInscriptionalInscriptional ParthianPsalterPhoenicianPaleo-HebrewPitman shorthandProto-SinaiticSamaritanSouth ArabianSogdianSyriacTeeline ShorthandUgariticAbugidasBrahmicBengali–AssameseBhaiksukiBrahmi scriptDevanagariGujaratiGurmukhiKaithiKalingaKhojkiKhudabadiLaṇḍāLepchaMahajaniMarchenMeiteiMultaniNagariNandinagari