In our previous article, The Origin and Uses of Runes: The History That Drives Modern Runic, we covered where Futhark runes came from, how they were used, and what constitutes a rune. While the use of Futhark is no longer a daily occurrence, these symbols are still pervasive in cultures around the globe—for both favorable and reprehensible reasons.
The Rise of Runes in Nazi Germany
Runes themselves, and the many forms of Futhark in general, have played an integral role in cultural shifts over time. However, modern cultures have co-opted the use of runes for both intriguing and nefarious purposes. The Nazi party of Germany, for instance, claimed runic letters following the emergence of the Völkisch ideology. The Völkisch identity was about unity: sharing something in common with others, whether through living in the same place, enjoying the same activities, or something else. However, some found their place in the Völkisch ideology through their common ancestry with the Aryans—an allegedly “ideal” human race. Such Völkisch concepts later developed into white supremacist thinking and the pursuit of the Übermensch.
But how did these old runes relate to what would later become the German Nazi party? The correlation began in 1908 with a man named Guido von List. After emerging from a period of alleged temporary blindness, von List claimed to have had an ancient alphabet of holy symbols revealed to him from a perfected race of humans. He claimed that these humans were wise, strong, and the ideal form of man: Aryans.
The symbols that von List shared closely resembled Younger Futhark, but with some modifications. Allegedly, these symbols granted access to the wisdom of the Aryans, and thus, the Nazi party claimed many of these runes to represent their various activities and organizations in pursuit of making the world a place of Aryan supremacy. The primary Nazi symbol, the swastika, was a new addition of von List’s, and he alleged that it described the perfect union between humanity and the divine, perfected Aryan state of being—which is why it quickly became the hallmark of the Nazi party and their ambitions.
Runes in Contemporary Culture
Thankfully, the Nazi regime is far from the only place that runes have been used in the modern day. Many fictional properties, including TV shows and novels, have incorporated runes to distance readers from standard English and evoke a high fantasy setting. Perhaps most notorious among these is J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which revolutionized fictional stories prior to his death in 1973.
Tolkien, as a passionate linguist himself, regularly incorporated runes into his work—not as a created fantasy language like his Elvish, but as a written representation of dwarven writing. It is entirely possible to translate these runes; in fact, they are simply standard English written in runic form.
However, even those who are not fantasy literature fans have likely still encountered at least two runes in a perhaps inconspicuous place: their phones. The Bluetooth symbol that displays a wireless connection between devices also sees its origin in the Futhark runic system.
The term “Bluetooth” itself comes from Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, a former king of Denmark whose most notable visual feature was a discolored tooth (presumably one that had been injured and subsequently died). Gormsson’s accomplishments include uniting Denmark with the nearby region of Norway—a parallel that the creator of Bluetooth, Jaap Haartsen, wanted to evoke in his own attempt to unite devices such as computers and cellular phones.
Thus, when it came time to decide on a logo for such connective technology, there seemed an obvious choice: something derived from the name Bluetooth himself. In a fit of inspiration, the creators took from the Younger Futhark runic alphabet and blended the letter “h” ᚼ (of Harald) with the letter “b” ᛒ (of Bluetooth). To this day, the Bluetooth symbol is made up of these two Futhark runes joined into a single logo.
Can Runic Make a Comeback?
Some linguists have posited that switching back to runic writing would be a return to form that, after some initial growing pains, could produce clearer English without the phonetic struggles currently faced by young students (and those who struggle with spelling in general). However, wide adoption of runic has faced a similar lack of interest as Esperanto—a language created by L. L. Zamenhof to serve as a universal language that could be shared by all the world. While Esperanto currently has a user base of around two million, it has less than 1,000 native speakers.
Use of runes remains roughly as popular as Esperanto; many in the modern day have reclaimed these symbols from historical bad actors and now incorporate them into Wicca and other forms of spiritual practice. Additionally, in extremely secluded areas of Scandinavia, runes continued to be used up until the 1900s because of a lack of exposure to other language systems. This more modern runic language, called Elfdalian, died out less than 100 years ago.
The history of runes is long and complex, spanning thousands of years and numerous cultures. For a better understanding of how runes originated and the purposes for which they were originally used, be sure to explore The Origin and Uses of Runes: The History That Drives Modern Runic.
