Runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet; often used for writing. They were also applicable in divination and magic. Interestingly runes had a deeper meaning than any other alphabet, save perhaps the hieroglyphs or certain South American tribal alphabets. They were used throughout northern Europe, from Scandinavia and Germany to the UK and Iceland from about 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E. The origin of the modern word “rune” comes from two root words meaning both “whisper” and “secret”.
The origin of the runes is stepped in the mythology of the Germanic peoples and if you are interested in reading about this we suggest the Hávamál (the words of Óðinn the High One) from the Elder or Poetic Edda. This can be found online
here.
The Old Germanic Runic alphabet, or “Elder Futhark”, contained 24 separate runes. These could be used to write but they could also sometimes be connected into a bind-rune. A bind-rune is a more esoteric and meaningful statement. The German Devils symbol is a bind-rune utilizing two separate runes, the Tiwaz and Ansuz runes. A very basic understanding of these runes is that Tiwaz symbolizes honor and victory in battle, while Ansuz symbolizes divine wisdom or the fury of thought. Together we used them to depict the victory of knowledge, or academic excellence.
