Anglo Saxon Runes LO: I can recognise Anglo- Saxon runes. Anglo Saxon Runes Success Criteria: I can recognise historians used these runes to find out what happened during Anglo-Saxon times. I can successfully interpret Anglo-Saxon runes. Anglo Saxon Runes Runes were letters used by the Saxons to write short messages of ownership, like “This belongs to Offa”. When the Anglo-Saxons became Christians, they began to use the Roman alphabet for writing (as we still do today). Before that time, they wrote in runes like these: How many letters do you think there are? There are 33 letters in the Runic Alphabet. Is that more or less than the Roman one that we use? We have 26 letters in our Roman alphabet. The Anglo Saxon alphabet takes it’s name from the first 6 letters. ‘Futhork’. F U TH O R K Feo Ur Thorn Os Rad Ken Here are the remainder. G W H N I J IE P X S T B E M L NG Beroc Eoh Mann Lagu Ing OE D A AE Y IO Otael Daeg Ac Asec Yr Ior And finally….. EA QU C ST G Ear Cweorp Calk Stan Gar You can see that some of the runes are quite like our capital letters. Some are easier to guess if you turn them upside down. Some are not what you would think! The word RUNE means secret or mystery. Runes were used in religious ceremonies. They were a charm or a spell as well as a way of writing messages. The Anglo Saxons believed that if you used the runes in the right order they had magical powers. That is why…….. To spell ( to put down the right letters in the right order) And….. A spell (a magic spell)….. are the same word in English Carving of Runes • They were usually carved on wood or stone (not written in books). • The runes consist mostly of vertical and diagonal marks, with notably fewer horizontal marks or curves. • It is thought that runes were designed this way to help carving in wood. • Runes were thought to have magical powers and Saxons thought they would protect them from illness and danger. Each rune had a name and were like pictures. The runes were all made of straight lines which made them easier to carve. Runes were often carved on precious objects or stone monuments. This means ‘joy’ This means ‘ash tree’ Did you know that even our words READ and WRITE are connected with runes. The Anglo Saxon word ‘writan’ means to carve runes. The Anglo Saxon word ‘ridan’ means to interpret or know what the runes mean. Anglo-Saxon Runes Historians use runes to find out information from the past. The earliest surviving runes are dated to about A.D. 200. These early runes up to about A.D. 650 appear to all use the same “futhark“. Most of these older inscriptions are very short and cryptic, and in most cases it is hard to translate them or even be sure what language they are. You are going to try to decode this book title, using Anglo-Saxon Runes. Now it is your turn! You are going to try to write your name using the Runic alphabet. Here is mine. M I S S H.