Runology is the study of therunic alphabets, runic inscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch ofGermanic linguistics.[1][2][3]
Runology was initiated byJohannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was interested in the linguistics of theGeatish language (Götiska språket), i.e.Old Norse. However, he did not look at the runes as merely an alphabet, but rather something holy or magical.[4][5]
The study of runes was continued byOlof Rudbeck the Elder (1630–1702) and presented in his collectionAtlantica. ThephysicistAnders Celsius (1701–1744) further extended the science of runes and traveled around Sweden to examine thebautastenar (megaliths, today termedrunestones). Another early treatise is the 1732Runologia byJón Ólafsson of Grunnavík.
The sundry runic scripts were well understood by the 19th century, when their analysis became an integral part of theGermanic philology andhistorical linguistics.Wilhelm Grimm published hisÜber deutsche Runen in 1821, where among other things he dwelt upon the "Marcomannic runes" (chapter 18, pp. 149–159). In 1828, he published a supplement, titledZur Literatur der Runen, where he discusses theAbecedarium Nordmannicum.
Sveriges runinskrifter was published from 1900. The dedicated journalNytt om runer has been published by the "Runic Archives" of the Museum of Cultural History at theUniversity of Oslo from 1985. TheRundata project, aiming at a machine-readable catalogue of runic inscriptions, was initiated in 1993.
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