Modern Day Use of Runes

In some of my books I have used an anglo-saxon version of runic symbols, which have been used in history for many things including divination and magic. I thought it would be interesting to look at two modern day use of runes.

Nazi Symbolism

During the second world war, Heinrich Himmler shared a fascination of the runic alphabet and considered it to have symbolic meaning. The Schutzstaffel (also known as the SS) is recognised by two Sig runes side by side. Sig means Sun, however, it was reinterpreted and became known as a Victory sign and could be seen on the uniforms of German officers. Typewriters, even had an extra key added with the double-sig symbol.

Other symbols used by the German army included:

J R R Tolkien

Anglo-saxon runes have often been used in literacy, most famously by J R R Tolkien in his novel, The Hobbit, as the alphabet of the Dwarves. The runes were thin and angular, making them easy for cutting and engraving into wood, stone and metal. They can be seen as the language used on Thror’s Map in The Hobbit, as well as the West Gate of the Moria. Although Tolkien adapted the original Anglo-Saxon alphabet, primarily it remained the same. Identifiable runes were also used in the initial drafts of The Lord of the Rings, but later replaced by an adapted rune-like alphabet invented by Tolkien himself, called Cirth.

Using Runic Script     Translating Runic Script     The Runic Square – a puzzle