Chapter XI: Runes and Ogams

The Runic alphabet originated among the Scandinavians, who probably adapted it from some other script, since no traces of any pictographic characters whence it may have been derived have been found. Some scholars hold that it is derived from the "Phœnician" alphabet; others say that it comes from the Latin. Canon Taylor has a definite theory that it is a degraded form of the Greek alphabet; for in the sixth century B.C. the Goths swarmed in the region south of the Baltic and east of the Vistula, and in their trading relations with Greek colonists north of the Black Sea may readily have obtained a knowledge of the Greek alphabet. The question, however, of origin remains, and is likely to remain, unsettled.

The sharp, angular form of the runes proves that they were incised on wood, stone, or some such rigid material, and these characters persist in the few manuscripts which have been found. The primitive Gothic alphabet is named, on the acrologic principle, "futhorc," after the first six letters, _f_, _u_, _th_, _o_, _r_, _c_. It was divided into three parts or "aetts," named after the first letter of each "aett" or family--"Frey's aett," "Hagl's aett," and "Tyr's aett"--as shown in the following illustration from an article on Runes by Miss Gertrude Rawlings (_Knowledge_, 1st October, 1896).

The Scandinavian, Anglian, and Manx runes are local variants of this oldest form. Runic inscriptions--monumental and sepulchral--have a wide, although exclusive, range. They are found in the valley of the Danube, but not in Germany; in America, but not in Ireland; in the Isle of Man, but not in Wales--thus evidencing their restriction within Scandinavian lines of migration. The oldest was found at Sandwich, in Kent; but an especially interesting example is the well-known Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire, on which is inscribed a poem, "The Dream of the Holy Rood," ascribed to Cædmon, the herdsman poet of the seventh century. The early voyage of the Vikings to Vineland, as they named America, has illustration in a Runic epitaph cut in a rock on the Potomac. "Here lies Syasi, the fair one of Western Iceland, the widow of Koldr, sister of Thorgr, by her father, aged twenty-five years. God be merciful to her." The old alphabet was displaced by the Latin on the conversion of the peoples of Northern Europe to Christianity, but not before Ulphilas, the Bishop of the Goths, had woven some of its characters into the compound script which was the vehicle of his memorable translation of the Gospels, the lovely manuscript of which, in gold and silver letters on purple vellum, is worth a visit to the University of Upsala to see.

The curious Ogam alphabet, which may date from the fifth century A.D., and the use of which did not extend outside the British Isles, is held by some scholars to be derived from the Runic, but its characters indicate that more probably it is a debased copy of the Roman. Ogam, according to Professor Rhys, the highest authority on the subject, probably means "skilled use of words." The letters are formed by straight or slanting strokes drawn above, or beneath, or right through horizontal or perpendicular lines. The alphabet is divided into four aicmes or groups, each containing five letters: the first aicme, B, L, F, S, N being placed under the line (assuming this to be horizontal); the second aicme, H, T, D, C, Qn, above it; the third aicme, M, G, Ng, F(?) R, diagonally through it; and the fourth aicme, comprising the vowels A, O, U, E, I, intersecting it at right angles. Canon Taylor sees in the ogams an adaptation of the runes to the needs of the engraver, "notches cut with a knife on the edge of a squared staff being substituted for the ordinary runes." And he thinks that the derivation of the ogams from runes is shown in the fact that their names agree with the names of runes of corresponding value, and that they are found exclusively in regions where Scandinavian settlements were established. Professor Rhys regards them as "probably, the work of a grammarian acquainted with Roman writing, but too proud to adopt it." The larger number of Ogam inscriptions occur in Ireland; others are scattered over Scotland, Wales, and the south-west of England.

It may be thought that any survey of the history of the Alphabet, however free from overcrowding in detail, and however popular in treatment, would outline the story of the origin of, and changes in, each of the twenty-six letters which are, for the English-speaking races, the vehicle of communication and the depository of knowledge. But, probably, enough has been said to show that the information which would alone warrant such table of derivations is not yet forthcoming, and, perhaps, never will be. The most plausible theory that the wit of man, supported by a set of facts that seemed to hang well together, could devise, was formulated by M. de Rougé, and it has been seen that the epigraphic material found in the Ægean renders his apparently well-based and coherent theory no longer tenable.

Neither would there be advantage in cataloguing the two hundred and fifty alphabets which have come into being since prehistoric man scratched his rude pictographs on the faces of cliffs and on fragments of slate or bone. Some fifty of these alphabets have survived, and of these about half are found in India, but, whatever of historical value they may hold, their use is restricted and local. The rest are, in the main, variations of three scripts--Roman, Arabic, and Chinese--and an outlook on the world's course makes it no matter of doubt that it is with the Roman, as the vehicle of culture of the most advancing races of mankind, that there lies the maintenance of supremacy and the extension of its sway.

+Aabcdefghijklmnoprſstuvwxyz&
aeiou

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYZ

a e i ó u | a e i o u
ab eb ib ob ub | ba be bi bo bu
ac ec ic oc uc | ca ce ci co cu
ad ed id od ud | da de di do du

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. _Amen._

OUR Father, which art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy Name; thy kingdom come,
thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this Day our daily Bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us:
And lead us not into Temptation,
but deliver us from Evil. _Amen._

HORN BOOK,
ONCE THE UNIVERSAL PRIMER

(_Now so excessively rare that a good example fetches £20 and upwards_).

INDEX
Abu Simbel, 206
Acrology, 86, 104, 153, 210, 223
Ægean civilisation, 159, 187-194
Akerblad, 129
Akkadian civilisation, 105
" cuneiform, 100, 170
" religion, 105
Alaskan life, pictograph of, 65, 66
Algerian rock-paintings, 33
Almanack symbols, 102
Alphabet, Abyssinian, 213
" Arabic, 209
" Aramean, 207-8
" Armenian, 211
" birth of the, 124
" Chalcidian, 199, 215, 216
" Coptic, 216
" Corean, 87
" Dravidian, 207
" English, 37, 220-222
" Ethiopic, 213
" Georgian, 211
" Greek, 136, 213
" Hebrew, 136, 151, 208, 213
" Hellenic, 207, 213
" Indian, 213
" Indo-Bactrian, 211, 212
Alphabet, Ionian, 215
" Irish, 218
" Latin, 38, 199, 216, 217
" Mongolian, 208
" Ogam, 225
" Pehlevi, 93, 211
" Phœnician, 188, 194, 196, 207, 213
" Pictograph and, 26
" Runic, 220, 223
" Russian, 215
" Sabæan, 212
" Samaritan, 152
" stages of development of, 38, 39
" Syriac, 208
" variations in English, 220
Amenophis III., 110
America, development of man in, 74
Arabic numerals, 209, 212
Art, prehistoric, 24, 25
Asoka, 211
Assyrian numerals, 210
Australian aborigines, 27
" grave-posts of, 52
" rock-paintings of, 29
Ave Maria, 80
Aztecs, 75

Baal Lebanon, vessels from, 145, 146
Babylonian characters, 99, 186
Babylonians, 105, 157, 208
Bark, picture-writing on, 58, 59, 67, 68
Behistun rock-inscription, 94, 95, 101, 128, 181
Belts, wampum, 45-51
Benefit of clergy, 22
"Bible," etymology of, 10
Bible as charm, 19
Bite, written charm against centipede, 19
Black letter, 219
Body, parts of, used for measurements, 101
"Book," etymology of, 10
"Book of Breathings," 119
"Book of the Dead," 117, 125, 200
Borchardt, Dr., 116
Brahma, 16, 17
Budge, Dr. Wallis, 119, 123, 127, 130, 133
Burckhardt, 180
Bushman rain-charm, 34
Bushmen rock-paintings, 30-32

Cadger's Map, 57
Cadmus, 17
Cædmon, 224
Cave-man, art of, 24, 25
Census-roll, Indian, 71
Champollion, 129, 130
Charms, written, 16, 17, 19, 20, 119
Chinese characters, 83
" determinatives, 85
" picture-writing, 83, 84, 103
Clay tablets, 89
Cleopatra, 130, 131
Clermont-Ganneau, M., 146
Clog almanack, 45
"Code," etymology of, 10
Cords, knotted, 39, 43, 82
Corean alphabet, 87
Creation tablet, 110
Cretan hieroglyphs, 167, 184, 195
" linear characters, 171, 173, 175, 184
Crete, Mycenæ and, 182
" origin of Ægean civilisation in, 192-94
" relics of script in, 51
" Syria, Egypt, and, 159
Cuneiform writing, 89-112
" " discovery of, 93-97
" " meaning of, 89
" " mode of, 98
Cursive characters, 217
Cypriote's syllabary, 178
Cyprus, civilisation in, 179

Darius, 93, 95, 127
Della Valle, 90
Delphi, 162
Deluge tablet, 111
Demotic writing, 115, 127, 216
De Rougé 139, 142-45, 226
De Sacy, 93
Determinatives, 85, 100, 103, 122, 170
"Digits," etymology of, 101
Dikta, Mount, slab from, 171
Diodôros, 196
"Diploma," etymology of, 11
Disease, barbaric theory of, 60

Edwards, Chilperic, 112
Egypt and Babylonia, 112
Egyptian art, 115
" demotic, 115, 127, 216
" hieratic, 115, 125-127, 139, 155, 194
" hieroglyphs, 41, 114-124
" numerals, 210
" writing, stages of, 115
Enchorial writing, 127
Eshmunazar, sarcophagus of, 140, 153
Eteocretans, 184
Europe, continuity of man in, 24, 189
Eusebius, 137
Evans, Arthur, 25, 51, 154, 159, 177, 189, 193, 195

Fingers as pictographs, 101
Flinders Petrie, Professor, 116, 177, 185, 186, 202
Frazer, J. G., 193

Gardner, Prof. P., 158
Goulás, 162
Græcia Major, 199
Graffito, 161
Grave-posts, Indian, 53-55
Greek alphabet, 199
" papyri, 198-206
" settlements, 198
" signary, 185
Grotefend, Dr., 93, 101
Gurob, 177, 202

Haddon, Professor, 19
Halévy, 104
Haynes, 108
Herculaneum papyri, 201
Herodas, mimes of, 202-204
Herodotus, 39, 92, 97, 134, 137, 138, 190, 199
Hieratic writing, 115, 125-27, 139, 155, 194
Hieroglyphic wheels, 45
Hieroglyphs, Cadger's, 57
" Egyptian, 114-124
" Hittite, 150, 168, 173, 181, 195
" Mexican, 73
Hilprecht, Dr., 108
Hittites, 179-81, 185
Hoffman, Dr., 45, 52, 54, 64
Hogarth, D. G., 159
Horus, 158
Hunting expedition, pictograph of, 62, 64
Hutchinson, Mark, 32
Hyksos, 119, 154

Iberian signary, 185
Ideographic stage of alphabet, 38, 72-79
Ideographs, 101, 115, 120-21, 167
" comparative, 124
Indian and stolen loaves, 16
" census roll, 71
" chief, pictograph of life of, 67
" grave-posts, 53, 54
" petition for fishing rights, 69
Innuit record of departure, 72
Inscriptions, cuneiform, 90
Ionia, 194
Iroquois, 50
Isis, 130, 158
Itzcoatl, 79

Japanese writing, 86
Jesus, "Sayings" of, 205

Kahun, 177
Karian signary, 185
Keane, Professor, 99, 191
Kenyon, Mr., 200
Klein, Dr., 147
Knôsos, 162, 191
Knotted cords as records, 39, 82

Latin alphabet, 38, 199, 216-17
Layard, Sir A., 98
Legends in Genesis, origin of, 112
"Letters," etymology of, 10
"Libel," etymology of, 10
"Library," etymology of, 10
Linear signs, Cretan, 171, 175
Lion weights from Nineveh, 146, 149
Love-letter, pictorial, 58
Love-song, pictorial, 58

Magic through writing, 16
Mahaffy, Professor, 91, 97
Malacca, East, 19
Mallery, Colonel, 64, 73
Man in America, 74
Maneh, 150
Mariner, William, 14, 15
Marshman, Dr., 82
Masons' marks, 163
Maspero, 103
Mathews, R. H., 29
Max Müller, Prof., 9, 182
Mayas, script of the, 75-79
Medicine-man, song of, 59
" bad, 61
Mediterranean signary, 185, 189, 195
Memory-aids, 37
Memphis, 138, 188, 202
Menes (?), tomb of, 116
Mexican hieroglyphs, 73
Military expedition, pictograph of, 67, 70
Milk-stones, 160
Minuscule, 37, 219
Mnemonic stage, 38, 39-51
Moabite Stone, 144, 145, 147
Moses, legend of, 106
Mycenæan civilisation, 186-188, 193
" relics, 51, 176, 183
" relics in Sardinia, 189

Nâgari, 17, 87, 207
Nebo, 16
Nebuchadnezzar, 94
Nestorians, 208
New Zealand totem-marks, 52
Niebuhr, Carsten, 92
Nineveh, 98, 99, 146
Nippur, discovery of oldest-known writing at, 108
Nuffar (_see_ Nippur)
Number of words from letters, 9
Numerals, 209, 212

Odin, 17
Ogam characters, 225
Ogmios, 17
Ormuzd, 96
Osiris, 117
Oxyrhynchus, 205

Palæography, Greek, 199-206
"Paper," etymology of, 10
Papyrus, 10, 125, 126, 200
" Papyrus of Ani," 119
" Prisse, 126, 140, 145, 153, 200
"Parchment," etymology of, 11
Paternoster, 80
Pausanias, 190, 193
Payne, 76, 77
Pelasgians, 190
Pen, antiquity of metal, 11
Persepolis, 90
Peruvians, 40, 75
Philæ, obelisk at, 130
Phœnician alphabet, 152, 188, 194, 196, 206, 213
" characters, 135, 137, 148, 151, 154, 177, 185
Phœnicians, 179, 188, 194, 195
Phonetic stage of alphabet, 38, 79-81
Phonogram, 39
Pictograph parent of alphabet, 26
Pictographs of man, 36
Pictorial stage of alphabet, 38, 51-72
Picture-writing as charm, 19
Picture-writing, illustrations of, 35, 58, 59,
61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 83
Pinturos, Maya, 77
Planetary signs, 101
Pliny, 135
Poole, R., 153
Præsos, 160, 184
Precepts of Ptah-Hetep, 127
Prehistoric art, 24
Pre-Phœnician civilisation, 186
Prousia, 183
Ptolemy III., 133
Ptolemy V., 131, 133
Ptolemy XV., 123

Quipu, 39, 40

Rain-charms, 33-35
Rameses III., 180
Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 94, 97
Rebus, 79, 123
Reinach, M., 189
Renan, M., 146
Rhys, Professor, 226
Rock-paintings of Australian natives, 27-29
Rock-paintings of Bushmen, 30, 31
Rock-paintings of North Africa (Algeria), 33
Roman alphabet, 37, 217
" capitals, 37, 217
" type, 37
Rosary, 39
Rosetta Stone, 94, 128-33, 181
Rosetta Stone, inscription on, 132
Runic alphabet, 215, 220, 223-25
Runic letters, 104
Russian alphabet, 215
" letters, 104

St. Patrick, 219
Sardanapalus V., 16
Sardinia, 189
Sargon I., 106, 107, 180
Sassanid inscriptions, 93
Schliemann, Dr., 158, 182
Schoolcraft, 53
Seal-stones, engraved, 51, 160, 167
Semang rain-charm, 35
Semitic characters, 140
Signary, Greek and Mediterranean, 185, 195
Siloam, Pool of, 146, 151
Skin disease, charm against, 20
Spencer and Gillen, 29
Stele of Canopus, 133
" Shera, 116
" the Vultures, 106
"Style," etymology of, 11
Syllabaria, 103
Syllabaries, 39, 103, 173, 178
Symbols, 38, 73, 102, 120, 164-66
Sympathetic magic, 21, 61

"Tablet," etymology of, 11
Tallies or tally-sticks, 44
Tasmanians, 27
Tattooing, 51
Taylor, Canon Isaac, 38, 78, 99, 102, 123, 125,
135, 139, 142, 145, 149, 154, 199, 206, 219, 223, 225
Tell-el-Amarna tablets, 109, 110
Tell-el-Hesy, 177, 179
Thoth, 16, 126, 132
Tiryns, 191, 194
Tonga Islands, 14
Totem-marks, 52
Trade marks, 51
" signs, 102
Trench, Archbishop, 10
Ts'ang Chien, 16
Tsountas, Dr., 171, 173, 185
Tylor, Dr., 41, 45, 55, 80, 81, 86
Tyre, 137

Ulphilas, Bishop, 225
Uncial letters, 37, 219

Virgin's Pool, 146, 151
"Volume," etymology of, 11
Von Tschudi, 41
Vowel signs, 92, 124, 213

Wachsmuth, 191
Wampum belts, 45-51
War-song, pictograph of, 68
Wheels, hieroglyphic, 45
Whitney, Professor, 85, 114
Writing as magic charm, 16
" belief in divine origin of, 16
" value of invention of, 13

Yahweh, 17, 149
Young, Dr. Thomas, 129
Yucatan script, 73

Zodiacal signs, 102
Zoëga, 129

GEORGE NEWNES, LIMITED, LONDON

THE CRETAN EXPLORATION FUND.

Patron: H.R.H. PRINCE GEORGE OF GREECE,
=High Commissioner of the Powers in Crete=.

Directors:
ARTHUR J. EVANS, M.A., F.S.A.,
_Ashmole's Keeper, and Hon. Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford_.
DAVID G. HOGARTH, M.A., F.S.A., F.R.G.S.,

_Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Director of the British School
at Athens_.

Hon. Treasurer:
GEORGE A. MACMILLAN, Esq.,
_Hon. Secretary of the Society for Promoting Hellenic Studies_.

Hon. Secretary:
JOHN L. MYRES, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.G.S.,
_Student of Christ Church, Oxford_.

_The following Appeal has been issued by the Directors_:--

The new conditions in which Crete is placed, and the final
emancipation of the island from Turkish rule, have, at last, rendered
it possible to organise a serious effort to recover the evidences of
her early civilisation.

How important are the results which a thorough-going investigation
in this field holds out to archæological science may be gathered
from what has already been brought to light in far less favourable
circumstances. The path of Cretan exploration was opened out by
the English travellers Pashley and Spratt. Their exploratory
labours have been followed, in more recent years, by the striking
discoveries of Halbherr and Fabricius. The great inscription
containing the early laws of Gortyna stands alone as a monument
of Greek civic legislation. The bronzes of the Idaean cave have
afforded a unique revelation of the beginnings of classical Greek
art. Further researches, to which English investigation has once
more contributed, have brought into relief the important part played
by the still earlier civilisation of Mycenae, the wide diffusion of
its remains, and even the existence in the island of an indigenous
system of sign-writing anterior to the use of the Phœnician alphabet.
Additional indications, indeed, have come to light which carry back
the chronology of the earlier relics of Cretan culture far beyond the
date of Schliemann's great discoveries on the mainland of Greece, and
attest an intercourse with Egypt going back to the third and, it may
be, even the fourth millennium before our era. We have here in Crete
the first stepping-stone of European civilisation.

The better to solve the many interesting problems thus opened up
it has been decided to form a "Cretan Exploration Fund," under the
direction of the above named and in co-operation with the British
School at Athens, in order to carry out a series of comprehensive
excavations.

In order fully to realise this scheme it will be necessary to
raise a sum of at least £5000. The object has a real claim on
British enterprise. From a national point of view, this task of
scientific exploration in Crete is a fitting sequel to the joint
work of political emancipation in which we have taken part. It may
be mentioned in this connection that the French School at Athens
is already organising plans of excavation on other Cretan sites,
and that a mission with a similar object is being despatched by the
Italian Government.

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End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Alphabet, by Edward Clodd