The symbols can be traced back to Futhark, the oldest known runic alphabet. Archaeologists remain baffled by a surprising, seemingly ahistorical find located deep in the Canadian wilderness. But after ...

Runes are the characters of the alphabet used by the Vikings and other Germanic peoples from about the second to the 15th centuries A.D. Some runes vaguely resemble letters in our own alphabet; others ...

The Vikings are often portrayed as illiterate, uncultured barbarians who evinced more interest in plunder than in poetry. In fact, the Vikings left behind a great number of documents in stone, wood ...

PRAGUE (AFP) — An inscribed cow bone dating back to the seventh century proves that Germanic runes were the oldest script ever used by the ancient Slavs, Czech scientists said Thursday. Up to now, it ...

Two rare artifacts inscribed with ancient letters, or runes, could be the key to a mysterious era of Viking history when they suddenly abandoned their old alphabet and transitioned to a new one.

A rune stone discovered in Norway is being called the world’s oldest, bearing inscriptions that date back to the earliest known days of runic writing. Sometime 1,800 to 2,000 years ago, someone who ...

These rune meanings offer a fascinating glimpse into ancient symbolism and Norse mythology. These aren’t just simple written letters from a forgotten alphabet. The 24 Elder Futhark runes go beyond ...

Perhaps no one has ever been as excited to see a comb as Danish archaeologist Søren Sindbæk. He and a team of archaeologists from Aarhus University recently unearthed one at a historic Viking town ...