Knotwork and Runes: Part III

I would hardly call any of this "revisionism," not that I'm knocking the idea of revisionism, but this is based in clear fact. I saw a program on television last week, in which one of the characters, an Irish-American, was wearing a ring with knotwork on it. It reminded me of how powerful, positive and negative, imagery can be.

****************************************

From the "Celtic knot" webpage on Wikipedia:

"Examples of plaitwork (a woven, unbroken cord design) predate knot work designs in several cultures around the world, but the broken and reconnected plaitwork that is characteristic of true knot work began in Northern Italy and Southern Gaul and spread to Ireland by the 7th century."

--Sir Edward Sullivan - The Book of Kells (1986) Studio Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-85170-035-8

***********************************************************************************************

There are innumerable sources, but I won't be redundant. As stated earlier, there was not a Druidic culture in Cisalpine Gaul; as there were no standard pentagrams or triple moons. To the best I can figure, the Cernic culture may have originated there, and those seeds were sewn so deep that they resisted Druidic influence. It's also possible that Cernism originated in the Hallstatt culture and then was migrated to the subalpine region (as well as othe regions).
.

Knotwork and Runes: Part II

'Runes: Alphabet of Mystery'

From sunnyway.com

[You would need to visit the above link in order to view the alphabet symbol comparisons]

A reader directed me to a wonderful website called "Omniglot, a guide to writing systems", which illustrates examples of various alphabets of the world. By examining some of these we can begin to see the influences which may have led to development of the Germanic/Norse rune alphabets. It is commonly thought that the Etruscan and Latin alphabets were sources, but as you will see below, there may have been others, also. All of the data that follows are from the information and graphics from the Omniglot website.

First, let's look at the major runic alphabets (called "futharks" based upon the first six symbols). There are many other variants, but the Elder, Anglo-Saxon, and Younger Futharks are the most well-known.

Runes were used to write many languages including, Gothic, German, Frisian, English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Russian, Hebrew and other Semitic languages (due to trade relations with the Khazars, a Semitic tribe of traders of the Silk Road).

The runes might be read from left to right or from right to left, even on the same artifact. Translation of runic inscriptions is therefore extremely difficult, and complicated by the fact that rune masters sometimes wrote cryptic puzzles or in secret script.

Elder Futhark

"The Elder Futhark is thought to be the oldest version of the runic alphabet, and was used in the parts of Europe which were home to Germanic peoples, including Scandinavia. Other versions probably developed from it. The names of the letters are shown in Common Germanic, the reconstructed ancestor of all Germanic languages."

Anglo-Saxon Futhore

"A number of extra letters were added to the runic alphabet to write Anglo-Saxon/Old English. Runes were probably bought to Britain in the 5th century by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians (collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons), and were used until about the 11th century. Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewelry, weapons, stones and other objects. Very few examples of runic writing on manuscripts have survived. " [The chart that follows is incomplete. There are additional A-S runes, which you can see here.]

Younger (or Scandinavian) Futhark

"This version of the runic alphabet was used sporadically in Scandinavia, in particular in Denmark and Sweden, until about the 17th century ." [There are variants of the Younger Futhark also, which you can see here.]

The commonality of symbols of all of the following alphabets makes sense when one considers the migration of ancient peoples from the east to the west. The people and languages of northern Europe are considered "Indo-European" because of this migration. It's not unreasonable that customs, languages, alphabets, mythology, etc. share common origins. Staggering, isn't it!

Etruscan Alphabets

"The Etruscan alphabet is thought to have been developed from the Greek alphabet by Greek colonists in Italy. The earliest known inscription dates from the middle of the 6th century BC.

More than 10,000 Etruscan inscriptions have been found on tombstones, vases, statues, mirrors and jewelry. Fragments of a Etruscan book made of linen have also been found.

Most Etruscan inscriptions are written in horizontal lines from left to right, but some are boustrophedon (running alternately left to right then right to left).

Used to write: Etruscan, a language spoken by the Etruscans, who lived in Etruria (Tuscany and Umbria) between about the 8th century BC and the 1st century AD. Little is known about the Etruscans or their language."

Latin Alphabets

"The Old Italic alphabets developed from the west Greek alphabet, which came to Italy via the Greek colonies on Sicily and along the west coast of Italy. The Etruscans adapted the Greek alphabet to write Etruscan sometime during the 6th century BC, or possibly earlier. Most of the other alphabets used in Italy are thought to have derived from the Etruscan alphabet."

[There are further examples, but mostly with images, so you would need to go the link above to compare for yourself.]

Runes and Knotwork: Part 1

To the average person, the subject of "the runes" or "runestones" conjures up an image of Vikings or Norsemen. Their alphabet. To that same person, the sight of "knotwork" designs and symbols would immediately conjure up an image of Irish culture or the Celts. The truth is that the runes originated earlier in Etruria; and the knotwork originated in Cisalpine Gaul.

The Celts actually originated in what today is basically southern Germany: The Hallstatt culture. From there, they spread far and wide. It's not entirely clear if it developed as more of an "ethnic group" or more of "a culture." Some accounts, from Roman and Greek historians, describe them as being very tall and light haired, while other accounts show them as not being particularly tall, and brunette. One thing is clear: There were people described as Celts living in Cisalpine Gaul long before there were people described as Celts living in the British Isles. There is also clear archeological evidence that clear Celtic artifacts were brought into the British Isles from Gaul (art, symbols, chariots, brass pottery, etc.).

In other words, the style came from Gaul, and to get back on subject: The current evidence shows that the knotwork symbols were Cisalpine Gaulic in origin. What are we trying to do? We're trying to get to the truth. I have discovered that there is no evidence of any Druidic culture in the Cisalpine region, so we have to keep moving toward the truth. Perhaps the people in that region were more inclined to maintain a more clearly defined Cernic spirituality, rather than a Druidic priesthood? Other than that, they shared so much in common with Gaul.

The evidence for an Etruscan origin of the runes is even stronger, as we will see. It's not entirely clear as to why the alphabet was adopted by Norse people rather than by Gauls, ancient Slavs, or others. Of course, there are some who would say that the runes are much more than an alphabet, but have magical powers. It is clear that the earliest Romans were more of a political movement than anything else. They demolished everything Etruscan to the point where they get the credit for technology and creativity that did not originate with them. The runes was one of the casualties of this movement. As I have stated before, and will again and again: There is incredible irony in that the flag of the Langobards had a Odal Rune in the middle of it. If we are not going to set the record straight about the runes and knotwork, then who is?