Germanic alphabet ?

Agnes   Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:50 am GMT
Did Germanics use to have an alphabet before adopting the Latin one, or they were illiterates?
Guldhorn-fyren   Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:58 pm GMT
Ek Hlewagastiz Holtijaz horna tawido
zxczxc   Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:58 pm GMT
I think the thorn and eth in the Icelandic alphabet (as well as Old English) are relics of runes. So is the yogh. But I could well be wrong.
Travis   Sun Sep 03, 2006 12:29 am GMT
Brennus, runes in the sense of the the Elder and Younger Futharks, the Futhorc, and other closely related scripts were used only for writing Germanic languages. As for Slavic languages, while there are small hints that some sort of writing system may have been used in areas of pre-Christian Slavic-speaking Eastern Europe, we really do not know anything about them, unlike runes proper.
Travis   Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:35 am GMT
>>I think the thorn and eth in the Icelandic alphabet (as well as Old English) are relics of runes. So is the yogh. But I could well be wrong.<<

The thorn and the wynn (replaced in most written Old English today with "w") in written Old English were derived from runes, but the eth is just a crossbarred "d"; the reason why the lowercase eth has a curved horizontal line is because that is how "d" was written at the time the eth was introduced, and unlike the "d" this never got straightened out later on.
zxcxzc   Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:27 pm GMT
Thanks for clearing that up, Travis
Fredrik from Norway   Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:45 am GMT
It's often very fascinating how the runes convey messages from the Dark Ages, like the inscription on the Norwegian Eggjum stone, from the first half of the 8th century:

Transcription of the runes:
nissolusotuknisaksestain
skorinni????maRnak danisniþ
rinRniwiltiRmanRlagi??
??????galande

In standard Old Norse spelling:
Ni's sólu sótt ok ni saxe stæin skorinn.
Ni (læggi) mannR nækðan, is niþ rinnR,
Ni viltiR mænnR læggi ax

Suggested translation:
No sun sought and no sax (= knife) stone scarred
No man lay it nude as the niþ runs
No bewildered men lay it aside

The inscription is probably a spell against uncovering or removal of the stone.