Lombardic languageLombardic or Langobardic is an extinct West Germanic language that was spoken by the Lombards (Langobardi), the Germanic people who settled in Italy in the sixth century. It was already declining by the seventh century because the invaders quickly adopted the Latin vernacular spoken by the local population. Lombardic may have been in use in scattered areas until as late as 1000 AD. Many toponyms in modern Lombardy and Greater Lombardy (Northern Italy) and items of Lombard and broader Gallo-Italic vocabulary derive from Lombardic.
GothicismGothicism or Gothism (Göticism ˈjøːtɪsˌɪsm; Gothicismus) was a dacianistic cultural movement in Sweden, which took honor in being a Swede, who were related to the illustrious Goths as the Goths originated from Götaland. The founders of the movement were Nicolaus Ragvaldi and the brothers Johannes and Olaus Magnus. The belief continued to hold power in the 17th century, when Sweden was a great power following the Thirty Years' War, but lost most of its sway in the 18th.
OghamOgham (ˈɒɡəm , Modern Irish: ˈoː(ə)mɣ; ogum, ogom, later ogam ˈɔɣəmɣ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language (scholastic ogham, 6th to 9th centuries). There are roughly 400 surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern Munster. The largest number outside Ireland are in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Rune poemRune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Four different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, the Icelandic Rune Poem and the Swedish Rune Poem. The Icelandic and Norwegian poems list 16 Younger Futhark runes, while the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem lists 29 Anglo-Saxon runes. Each poem differs in poetic verse, but they contain numerous parallels between one another.
Runic calendarA Runic calendar (also Rune staff or Runic almanac) is a perpetual calendar, variants of which were used in Northern Europe until the 19th century. A typical runic calendar consisted of several horizontal lines of symbols, one above the other. Special days like solstices, equinoxes, and celebrations (including Christian holidays and feasts) were marked with additional lines of symbols. Runic calendars were written on parchment or carved onto staves of wood, bone, or horn.
RunologyRunology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runic inscriptions and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was very interested in the linguistics of the Geatish 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. The study of runes was continued by Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630–1702) and presented in his collection Atlantica.
Fantasy literatureFantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults. Fantasy is considered a subgenre of speculative fiction and is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes, respectively, though these genres overlap.
Tjängvide image stoneThe Tjängvide image stone, listed in Rundata as Gotland Runic Inscription 110 or G 110, is a Viking Age from Tjängvide (ɕɛŋviːdɛ),, from c. 700-900 AD, which is about three kilometers west of Ljugarn, Gotland, Sweden. The inscription on the Tjängvide stone is carved on a flat slab of limestone which measures 1.7 metres in height, is 1.2 metres wide and 0.3 metres thick. The stone was discovered in 1844 on the farm of Tjängvide, and is located in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.
AlgizAlgiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "z-rune" of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is z, understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal *z continuing Proto-Indo-European terminal *s. It is one of two runes which express a phoneme that does not occur word-initially, and thus could not be named acrophonically, the other being the ŋ-rune Ingwaz . As the terminal *-z phoneme marks the nominative singular suffix of masculine nouns, the rune occurs comparatively frequently in early epigraphy.
Tiwaz (rune)The t-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz. Tiwaz rune was an ideographic symbol for a spear. Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems. In the Icelandic and Norwegian poems, the rune is associated with the god Týr. Multiple Tiwaz runes either stacked atop one another to resemble a tree-like shape, or repeated after one another, appear several times in Germanic paganism: The charm (alu) on the Lindholm amulet, dated from the 2nd to the 4th century, contains three consecutive t runes, which have been interpreted as an invocation of Týr.
