A runestone is a large stone carved with runic inscriptions — usually in the early Germanic alphabet known as the futhark.

The runic alphabet, or Futhark, gets its name from its first six sounds (f, u, th, a, r, k), much like the word 'alphabet' derives from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta.

The inscription measures roughly four by five feet. Within its chiseled border lie 255 runic symbols — characters from ...

The ancient runic alphabet, used by Germanic peoples centuries ago prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet, remains one of the most enigmatic early writing systems. Chief among its mysteries is ...

Archaeologists remain baffled by a surprising, seemingly ahistorical find located deep in the Canadian wilderness. But after ...

In addition to communicating language, some runes also had a mythological connection, being linked with deities in Germanic paganism. The runic alphabet eventually evolved to reflect the transition ...

It’s believed Germanic people drew inspiration from the Roman alphabet to create the characters, according to the museum, but the exact origins of runes and how they were used has remained murky.

During the fall of 2021, archaeologists excavating a grave in eastern Norway unearthed a block of red-tinged sandstone etched with spidery runes, an ancient system of writing used by Germanic ...

In German, W is simply called veh, and pronounced like an English V. Most European languages that use the Latin source alphabet, Barrett notes, “have the W only because they borrowed English ...