February
11
/ 2014
Researchers have been trying for years to crack a little-known runic code called Jötunvillur, which has only been found in nine inscriptions in northern Europe. However, a runes expert has finally been able to decrypt a message scratched into a piece of wood and it just might help solve the mystery of the Vikings’ secret codes. In Old Norse the word rune means ‘letter’, ‘text’ or ‘inscription’, and in old Germanic languages it means ‘mystery’ or ‘secret’. Indeed, runes have been found to have played an important role in ritual and magic. There are a number of different Runic alphabets, with the earliest known codes dating from the 1st century AD. However, the vast majority of Runic inscriptions date from
