Viking Runes. Not created by me.

1. Viking Runes
Like wrestling, swimming and fighting, writing
was considered a special skill among the
Vikings.
.
What do you notice about these shapes?

2. What is the Viking in
the picture doing?
What do you think is
on the pieces of
wood he is looking
at?
When we write
music, we use
notes. What do we
use to write
words?

3. The Viking letters were called runes. They weren't
written with pen and ink on paper. Instead, runes
were carved with a knife or chisel into stone and
wood. To make carving into these surfaces easier,
the runes were made using only straight lines.
What letters in our alphabet use lines
and not curves?

4. Why do you think there are no
curved letters in Viking writing?

5. The Vikings carved the
straight-lined letters of their
alphabet in
stone, wood, bone and
metal. These lines were
first made
on a stave- a series of lines
that served as a guide for
rune writing.
It was made using straight
sticks. You can trace any
letter of the
Viking alphabet on this
stave.

6. The Vikings believed that,
Odin hung upside down on
the tree of knowledge for
nine days. When he saw
the runes, he used his
sword to carve them into
the tree. In return for
gaining the wisdom and
magic powers from the
runes, Odin gave up his left
eye.
Because of this sacrifice,
the Vikings considered the
runes to be sacred.

7. How do you know who owns
a P.E bag in lost property?
Runes weren't used to write
stories.
They were used for
everyday writing such as
labelling household items
and personal belongings.
They were also used by
merchants to keep records
of items bought and sold.
Wood tag identifying
property,
reading "Thorgrim's
pile”

8. Viking warriors decorated their swords
and spears with runic symbols They are
different to the runic alphabet. They use
curves. They believed the runes were
magical, and made the weapon stronger
in battle.
Viking believed that warriors who knew
how to read and write runes could blunt
enemies' weapons, break chains, cure
illnesses, guard against witches and be
protected in battle and on threatening
seas.
What are these?
What do you notice
about the shapes
On the spear heads?

9. Do you know what these are?
Gravestone
give us
information
about the
date of birth
and death
of the
person who
is buried
there.

10. press to go to see runes on the internet.
Vikings made rune stones.
The stones were often
decorated with black, red, blue
and white paint extracted from
berries, garden plants and clay-
like earth.
The stones often depicted
snakes, horses and ships along
with the inscriptions. They gave
information about families,
deaths, and name giving.

11. Have you seen these before?
Viking runes were also
inscribed on thumb
sized stones. The stones
were placed in bags
and removed one by one
by Viking fortune-tellers
and magicians. The
stones were then used to
predict the future, heal
the sick, banish evil, or
bless people, places, and
things.

12. Here is the 24 character Viking runic alphabet arranged
following our alphabetical order. Can you see any letters
That are similar to ours?

13. Name Viking runes
Write a message to your Viking
friend.

14. Press to write your name in runes. Internet

15. Illuminated Letters
Press to enter website for illuminated letters
When the monks at Lindisfarne were
invaded, they may have been in the
middle of illustrating a book. Find out
about these books and how the monks
made them. Their life was hard. They
had to pray, fast and work. Monks also
had to give up all personal possessions,
stay unmarried, and obey their abbot.
Being comfortable was viewed as a sin,
so the monks wore rough baggy clothes
and their abbeys were freezing cold and
draughty