SECRET RUNES

The "Lønnruner", that in Norwegian language means “secret runes”, that we can call also “cypher runes”, were systems of crypted writing used to hide important contents of the messages.

Employed mostly on stone and wood, these systems had to protect the content of trading and political messages, but also magic, or more simply, personal messages.

Runic alphabets and their systems of cryptic writing were taught from person to person, and not in schools, since at that time schools were run by ecclesiastics, who didn't have any interest to spread their use.

The excavations on the heaven of Bergen, in Norway, has brought to light hundreds of woodsticks and tablets used as trade messages, trademarks and, above all, exercies of runic writing. In this we can admire the bright skill of the masters of runic writing.

The system of secret runes is based upon the numeration of Aettir and of the single runes as follows:

1. Table of numeration – ancient Futhark

We have many examples of cryptic runes written using the Younger Futhark; usually their order of numeration within the Aettir is upside-down, in other words the Aett of Freyr is seen as Third Aett, while the Aett of Tyr is seen as the First.

In this peculiar cases the numeration in Younger Futhark appears as follows:
 

2. Younger or Scandinavian Futhark Table

The first rule to get into the codification of cipher runes is to find the sign, or the stick that has never a number upper to 3: these signs or sticks stand for the Aettir.

CYPHER RUNES SYSTEM

System 1 – The number of sticks at the left of the long one stands for the Aett the rune belongs to.

The number of sticks on the right stands for the position of the rune within the Aett.

3. System 1

System 2 – The long lines stand for the Aett the rune belongs to, while the short ones are referred to its position in its Aett.

4. System 2

An example of system 2 lies on the Rotbrunna stone.

On the other hand, in some inscriptions the system is reversed, so to say that the short lines are leftside, standing for the relative Aett, while the long ones, on the right side, stand for the position of the rune into its Aett.

5. System 3

System 3. The method is the same of system 1. The difference between them is about inclination of the lines.

In the picture below we find it on the right, etched on this woodstick, found into the excavations of the Briggen heaven in Bergen, used to practice with the encoded writing.
 

6. Stick for practice of cryptic writing found in Bergen, Norway.

System 4. The system is the same of the methods 1, 2 and 3.

7. System 4

An example of this system lies upon the Rok stone, in the picture below, on the left.

8. Runic stone of Rök, Östergötland, Sweden.

System 5. Another method uses the same symbol (seemingly the thirteenth run of Ancient Futhark, Eihwaz), turned leftward to indicate the Aett, and turned rightward to indicate the position of the rune into the Aett.

9. System 5

We have and example of this system in an inscription found ond Rok stone (the picture above, yet cited for the previous system), in which the Younger Futhark is used, instead.
 

System 6. This methoed is for its principles the same as system 5. In the following table it has been applied to Younger Futhark with the natural order of the Aettir.
 

10. System 6

11.Runic stone in Kingigtorssuaq, Greenland.
At the lower right, an example of cypher rune into system 6
 

An example of inscription that uses this system can be found on the baptismal font of the Norum Church in Sweden.

In the picture above, on the right of the runic engraving.

Also in this case the order of Aettir is reversed. The First Aett is, in this case, the Tyr's one.

12. Baptismal font of the Norum church, Sweden. At the top, on the right, an example of cryptic writing in System 6.

System 7.  At a first sight the inscription of this system seem to use Othila and Sigil rune of the 'short twigs' system.

If so, inscription should be read this way: oosoosssooosssssossoosss.

But that's not correct, since here we have a cryptic system of runes.

The system is the same of 5 and 6 ones, that use signs and symbols to number the position of the rune and the Aettir.

The number of Othila runes gives the Aettir; the number of rune Sigil gives the position of the rune within the Aettir.

13. System 7

System 8. Discovered in different runic Middle-Aged inscription found in Bryggen, into the heaven of Bergen, this system uses the head of a man as basis.

The system counts the Aett of Futhark with left wiskers and the position of the rune with the right ones.

14. System 8

System 9.

Also this system has been found among the numerous runic inscription of Bryggen into the haven of Bergen.

It uses a fish as basis.

At the left we count the Aett, while on right we have the position of the rune.

15. System 9

“Branch Runes”

Also the so called 'Branch Runes' are an ancient method to write cryptic messages.

Using the numeration and the position of every rune within the three families, we wrote two different words: “the runes”, and we do this with the purpose to underline that every separation of word is marked by the position of the signs on the right, that stand for the belonging family, and they alternate each other: for the first word “the” they come from above, at the word changing, they start from below.

This allows us to write complex sentences separating the words without superflous symbols.

16a. Branch Runes

At the left of the vertical stick we have the number of the “family” (1,2,3); on the right there is the position of the rune in every Aett (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

16b. Branch Runes: code

 
 
The published material upon these pages is taken from “Runemal, la Lingua degli Dei e degli Eroi” - L'Età dell'Acquario editions. For info and booking please write to info@runemal.org