The European Futhark or Futhorc, where did it come from?
This "Alphabet" if you can call it that, has a highly debated origin among scholars.
Does this Writing, Phonetic, and Symbolic Runic system, predate the spread of Roman Culture, and the use of the Greek alphabet ?
The answer will totally surprise most people !
What does the Science Say ?
The Elder Futhark runes are now believed to originate in the Old Italic scripts: either a North Italic variant (Etruscan or Raetic alphabets), or the Latin alphabet itself. Most likely the Tyrsennian, or Etruscan Runes. Which date back to roughly 800 - 1,000 BC. Examples can be found in the Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia.
We now know for certain, that it was not a derivation from the Greek alphabet via Gothic contact to Byzantine Greek culture. That was a popular idea in the early 1900’s, but has since been ruled out by a dating of the famous “Vimose inscriptions” to the 2nd century.
It can't be from Greek.
The Goths were making first contact with the Greek culture in the early 3rd century. Conversely, the Greek-derived 4th-century Gothic alphabet does have two letters derived from runes, j (from Jer j) and u (from Uruz u).
So, if the proto-Germanic, and Early Etruscan or Tyrsenian language family were so close, then why is there even a debate?
Rome wrote the history.
They were at war with their Northern Neighbors, the Tyrsenian Tribes. These ongoing wars created such a public dislike for them, that Romes own Etruscan origins were wiped from the record.
The Tyrrhenian Sea, was named and mapped by the Greeks, after the Tyrsenian people. Tribes who self identified as the “Sons of Tyr” hence the name. Greek states who had trade relations with these Tribes long before Rome’s founding, report them having their own distinct language, writing system, and religion. This writing system far more closely resembles the Futhark than it does the Greek Alphabet. The big oddity, is that the Etruscan Runes appear to be a blend of Proto Germanic, Futhark, and the Greek AlphaBet.
This is a big indicator that both Futhark, and the Greek writing systems, all predated the Etrucans Runes.
They unironically refer to this as the Tyrsenian Language family. They are named after the “Sons of Tyr.” a Germanic God and group of people. They are using a Runic system of writing, and Rome still to this day still has the Audacity to try and co-opt the history.
The Futhark is Old.
It Predates Christ, Rome, and possibly even the Greek alphabet itself. The latter we will likely never prove, at least until the Vatican releases it's “archived” portions of history. Or, until the Etruscan Runes are accurately attributed to their Proto-Germanic origin.
These, Etruscan Runes are far too similar to the Futhark to ignore, and if the current narrative on their origins does not make sense, then we have to ask ourselves why.
Our days of the week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are named after Germanic gods. The cardinal directions North, South, East, West, all names taken from Germanic spoken history. The English, Norse, and many other European languages trees all come from Proto-Germanic. So how can we just accept that the Futhark is Greek or Roman in Origin?
Organized religion depends on a lack of critical thinking, and a deep trust in the “church.” This is something that most Pagan folks just can not accept. Odin sacrificed parts of himself for deep knowledge.
Be more like Odin. 🤘
Links and Sources :
Runes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes
Elder Futhark - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Futhark?variant=zh-cn
Etruscan Origins - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_language