coins: Skanomody solidus, Harlingen solidus, Schweindorf solidus, Folkestone tremissis, Midlum sceat, Kent II coins (some 30 items), Kent III, IV silver sceattas, Suffolk gold shillings (three items), Upper Thames Valley gold coins (four items).swords and sword-sheaths: Vimose chape, Vimose sheathplate, Thorsberg chape, Schretzheim ring-sword, Ash Gilton (Kent) gilt silver sword pommel, Chessel Down II (Isle of Wight) silver plate (attached to the scabbard mouthpiece of a ring-sword), Sæbø sword.

spearheads: Vimose, Kovel, Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg, Wurmlingen.

seaxes: Thames scramasax, Steindorf, Hailfingen.

rings: six known Anglo-Saxon runic rings, a few examples from Alemannia (Vörstetten-Schupfholz, Pforzen, Aalen neck-ring).

belt parts (plaques, buckles, strap-ends): Vimose buckle, Pforzen buckle, Heilbronn-Böckingen, Szabadbattyan.

brooches: Boarley (Kent), Harford (Norfolk) brooch, West Heslerton (North Yorkshire), Wakerley (Northamptonshire), Dover (Kent).

fibulae: some 50 Elder Futhark inscriptions, popular in 6th to 7th century Alemannia.

bracteates: some 133 Elder Futhark inscriptions, popular during the Scandinavian Germanic Iron Age / Vendel era.

Later, a preference for valuable or prestigious objects (jewelry or weapons) seems to develop, inscriptions often indicating ownership. The actual number was probably considerably higher, maybe close to 400,000 in total, so that on the order of 0.1% of the corpus has come down to us, and Fischer (2004:281) estimates a population of several hundred active literati throughout the period, with as many as 1,600 during the Alamannic 'runic boom' of the 6th century.Įspecially the earliest inscriptions are found on all types of everyday objects. A similar ratio is estimated for Alemannia, with an estimated 170 excavated graves to every inscription found (Lüthi 2004:323).Įstimates of the total number of inscriptions produced are based on the 'minimal runological estimate' of 40,000 (ten individuals making ten inscriptions per year for four centuries). Of 366 lances excavated at Illerup, only 2 bore inscriptions. The following table lists the number of known inscriptions (in any alphabet variant) by geographical region: AreaĬontinental Europe except Scandinavia and FrisiaĮstimates of total number of inscriptions produced Įlder Futhark inscriptions were rare, with very few active literati, in relation to the total population, at any time, so that knowledge of the runes was probably an actual 'secret' throughout the Migration period. Close to 6,000 Younger Futhark inscriptions are known, many of them on runestones. The tradition of runic literacy continued in Scandinavia into the Viking Age, developing into the Younger Futhark script. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Elder Futhark script was still in its early phase of development, with inscriptions concentrated in what is now Denmark and Northern Germany. The division into Scandinavian, North Sea (Anglo-Frisian), and South Germanic inscriptions makes sense from the 5th century. The precise figures are debatable because some inscriptions are very short and/or illegible so that it is uncertain whether they qualify as inscriptions at all.

These inscriptions are on many types of loose objects, but the North Germanic tradition shows a preference for bracteates, while the South Germanic one has a preference for fibulae. 267 items) and Continental or South Germanic ( 'German' and Gothic, c. The total 350 known inscriptions in the Elder Futhark script fall into two main geographical categories, North Germanic (Scandinavian, c. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of Elder Futhark (some 350 items, dating to between the 2nd and 8th centuries AD), Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (some 100 items, 5th to 11th centuries) and Younger Futhark (close to 6,000 items, 8th to 12th centuries). They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. Inscription made in a runic alphabet Younger futhark inscription on bone.Ī runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets.

Elder futhark rune reading