Ancient Runes of the Anglo Saxons

The script in the logo of this website is an ancient type of writing known as runes used by Germanic tribes including the Anglo Saxons, or early English. The letters are TH (one letter called "thorn" represented that sound), S, and W (for The Shorter Word). You can pick them out in the table below.

The early Germanic tribes were primitive and not highly educated or literate, so there have only been a few findings of runes on paper manuscripts. Instead runes were most often carved into wood or ivory, or were engraved on metal and are therefore found on artifacts such as jewelry, weapons, or stone markers. They were used for decorative purposes but also for magical spells. The word rune comes from a word meaning "secret" or "mystery" and, like Egyptian hieroglyphs to the ancient Egyptians, the symbols were believed to have special properties and powers which could bless, curse, protect, etc. Gradually, as Christianity spread, the Roman Catholic Church spread the use of its alphabet along with the gospel. Thus, Runes gave way to the new symbols, the Roman/Latin alphabet, the same symbols we use to write English today. However, runes were still used out in the country for centuries and many superstitions still clung to these Old English symbols. Even today runes are used for decorative and traditional purposes. 

There were several Germanic runic alphabets, all very similar. Below is the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) runic alphabet. You can see that the runes were influenced by contact with the Romans as many of the symbols are similar.

 

              

There's lots of information on runes online, but here's a particularly fun spot-- The Tolkien Society. JRR Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, was an expert on runes and a professor of medieval history at Oxford University in England. This site gives information on runes and also on how Tolkien used runes in Lord of the Rings.