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Research one of these rune origins...

North Germanic

Scandanavian

Celtic

The runes were an alphabet used by the northern Scandanavian tribes of Europe. Not only were these symbols used as letters, but also as a form of divination. Odhinn himself hung on the World Tree, Yggdrassil, in order to gain knowledge of the runes and their secrets. Runemasters and mistresses were recognized by their deep blue cloaks and the leather pouches at their sides. Since today's society dictates that I dress otherwise, such garb is worn only within the circle.

Each rune had its own specific meanings. Below you will find these meanings, in addition to the Gods and Goddesses associated with the runes, as well as the trees and English alphabet equivalents. I hope you use this runic dictionary well.

May the Gods of Asgard guide your steps.
May Thorr's hammer protect you.
May Freyja give you wisdom and magical power
And may Freyr grant you prosperity.

Here's some of the Scandinavan runes (I'd post the runes pics but I can't cause they are kinda heavy and they are many)
ALGIZ
Alphabet: Z
Tree: Yew
Deities: Valkyries
Meaning: Visible movement, blockages removed. If near negative, people actively trying to stop you.

ANSUZ
Alphabet: A
Tree: Pine
Deity: Odhinn
Meaning: Transformation, new goals, information that changes your life. Negative: Bad advice

BERKANA
Alphabet: B
Tree: Birch
Deities: Frigg, Nerthus, Hel
Meaning: Creativity, new beginnings, birth, marriage. If near negative rune, failure, divorce, stagnant period.

DAGAZ
Alphabet: D
Tree: Spruce
Deity: Odhinn
Meaning: Sudden realization, awakening, mystic light, attraction between two people.

EHWAZ
Alphabet: E
Trees: Oak, Ash
Deities: Freyja, Freyr
Meaning: Trust, self transformation, new attitude, new home, new goals, steady progress. If near negative, progress blocked.

EIHWAZ
Alphabet: EI, Y
Tree: Yew
Deities: Odhinn, Ull
Meaning: End of a matter, situation or problem, drastic change, end of a relationship. Negative: Old conflicts and situations cause trouble.

FEHU
Alphabet: F
Tree: Elder
Deity: Aesir
Meaning: Money, property, fulfillment, good luck, dynamic power, goals reached. Neagtive: A person or offer to be avoided.

GEBO
Alphabet: G
Trees: Ash, elm.
Deities: Odhinn, Freyja.
Meaning: The exchange of force or power between the Gods and humans. Wedding, legacies, promotion, windfall. Negative: Sadness caused by someone close.

HAGALAZ
Alphabet: H
Trees: Yew, Ash.
Deity: Ymir
Meaning: Ability to bring opposites into harmony. Delays waiting for the right time. Negative: Setbacks, delays, situations out of your control.

INGUZ
Alphabet: NG
Tree: Apple
Deities: Ing, Freyr
Meaning: Creating life-force at work, family, relatives, children, parents, spouse. Benefits from family. Negative: Family becomes a burden.

ISA
Alphabet: I
Tree: Alder
Deities: Frost Giants
Meaning: Period of absolute stillness. Be careful of what you say. Negative: Hasty words bring trouble, indifference, uncaring, detached emotions.

JERA
Alphabet: J
Tree: Oak
Deity: Freyr
Meaning: A cycle, time, reaping rewards, no quick results.

KENAZ
Alphabet: C, K
Tree: Pine
Deities: Frejya, Dwarves, Weland, Loki
Meaning: The rune of craftsmen and the crafy or sly. Controlled energy for dissolution, life-strength, ambition, determination, inspiration. Negative: Bad judgement, confusion.

LAGUZ
Alphabet: L
Tree: Willow
Deities: Njord, Balder
Meaning: Hidden movement below the surface, no progress seen, but it is happening. Life energy, manifestation coming from other planes. If near negative, behind the scenes action blocks progress, usually with a woman involved.

MANNAZ
Alphabet: M
Tree: Holly
Deities: Heimdall, Odhinn
Meaning: Man, lover or husband, male influence in life. New career opportunities, positive link with the Gods. Negative: Material loss.

NAUTHIZ
Alphabet: N
Tree: Beech
Deities: Norns
Meaning: Distress that clouds reality. Something out of the past that drives you, (not necessarily good), caution needed to succeed. Negative: Impatience leads to disaster.

OTHALAZ
Alphabet: O
Tree: Hawthorn
Deities: Odhinn, Thor
Meaning: Inborn qualities, tangible posessions. If near negative, illusions, jealousy, greed, wasted efforts.

PERDHRO
Alphabet: P
Tree: Beech
Deities: Norns
Meaning: Chance, unexpected material gain, surprise. If near negative, a secret that can hurt you.

RAIDHO
Alphabet: R
Tree: Oak
Deity: Forseti
Meaning: Journey, getting to the truth, seeing past illusions. If near negative, travel problems, inconvenience, blocks.

SOWILO
Alphabet: S
Tree: Juniper
Deity: Balder
Meaning: Change, guidance, time of renewal, drastic changes, complete turnaround, advancement of plans, change of residence. Negative: Failure which leads to new opportunities.

TIWAZ
Alphabet: T
Tree: Oak
Deities: Tyr, Mani
Meaning: Unbiased wisdom, justice, law and order, justified victory and success. Negative: Intrigue, deception, others working against you.

THURISAZ
Alphabet: TH
Tree: Oak
Deity: Thorr
Meaning: Journey over water, good news from a distance, inner strength to break resistance or pass a time of waiting. Negative: Delayed or unpleasant journey.

URUZ
Alphabet: U
Tree: Birch
Deity: Vanir
Meaning: Advancement, good fortune, happiness, basic powers of manifestation. If near negative, bad luck, minor illnesses.

WUNJO
Alphabet: W
Tree: Ash
Deities: Freyr, Elves
Meaning: Security, comfort, happiness, good social life. Negative: Needless self sacrifice.

Drake Faydark, Ravenclaw.

HOLY HELL.....a 1st year can't KNOW every subject.........he has to have one he is bad at, even Hermoine did........

This goes beyond maximum points Drake! 15 points for Ravenclaw and a bonus ten for discovering the entire alphabet! TWENTY-FIVE POINTS IN TOTAL!

How about being bad at Divination? Or maybe Muggle Studies?

hmm... dunno, I just happen to know lot's of things lol

Well, Divination could work you being bad at, cos it seems to be the cleverest people suck at it! ((eg Hermione, Professor McGonagall))

Well it could be, but don't discount points if I make a good work on Divination ok?

OOC - can we have a 6th year class???

don't worry, I won't!

lavi we set the assignments for ALL years!

I need to update you on what's been going on....I'll find it all and pm it to you...K!!!

The assignments are pretty much for all years, but I expect a much higher standard from the higher years. When I have a moment to myself, I'll do three lever=ls of assignments - one for years 1 2 3, on for 4 and five, one for six and seven

OOC ok cool.

Aw man, that sucks. Drake wiolll juts loads of points...

Edward strode up to the desk to hand in a long essay on Runes, suprising both his teacher and his best friend Jasmine. He did not know why he enjoyed Runes so much - but it simply fascinated him.

Runes, in all their varieties, may be regarded as the "national" script of the ancient North Germanic tribes. The origin of the name rune (or runic) is probably related to the fact that the ancient Germanic tribes, like all primitive peoples, attributed magic powers to the mysterious symbols scratched on armour, jewels, tombstones, and so forth. This is given credence by two related Germanic forms that mean "mystery, secret, secrecy": the Old Germanic root ru- and the Gothic runa. The most interesting runic inscriptions are those that were cut for magical purposes and those that appeal to deities.

The origin of the runes offers many difficult problems and has been hotly argued by scholars and others. The theory of the Urrunen (forerunners of the runes), a supposed prehistoric north Germanic alphabetic script, holds that it is the parent not only of the runes but also of all the Mediterranean alphabets, including the Phoenician. This belief, based on racial and political grounds, need not be seriously considered. Some scholars propounded the 6th century BC Greek alphabet as the prototype of the runes; others have suggested the Greek cursive alphabet of the last centuries BC. Several eminent scholars have proposed the Latin alphabet as the source of the runes. The most probable theory, supported recently by many scholars, is that the runic script derived from a North Etruscan, Alpine alphabet. In that case, it is very probable that it originated about the 2nd century BC or a little later.

It is still unknown whether the runes were originally employed mainly for magical purposes, as suggested by the name runa, or as a usual means of communication. The earliest extant runic inscriptions, numbering over 50, come from Denmark and Schleswig and date from the 3rd to the 6th century AD. About 60 inscriptions from Norway date from the 5th to the 8th century, slightly later than the continental ones. There are also about 50 Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions extant, including the Franks Casket (about AD 650-700); the right side of the casket is in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, in Florence, and the rest is in the British Museum. The largest number of inscriptions, about 2,500, come from Sweden; most of these date from the 11th and 12th centuries AD.

There is no certain evidence of wide literary use of runes in early times, but some scholars hold that the runic writing was widely employed for all kinds of secular documents, such as legal provisions, contracts, genealogies, and poems. The known manuscripts are, however, rare and relatively late. The gradual displacement of the runes coincided with the increasing influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The runic scripts lingered on for a long time after the introduction of Christianity, however; indeed, the use of runes for charms and memorial inscriptions lasted into the 16th or even the 17th century.

The ogham alphabet was restricted to the Celtic population of the British Isles. There are over 375 known inscriptions: 316 of them have been discovered in Ireland, chiefly in the southern counties, with only 55 from the northern counties; 40 inscriptions have been discovered in Wales; two come from Devon; and one from Cornwall. One inscription was discovered at Silchester in southern England. About 10 come from the Isle of Man, and a few from Scotland. The Welsh inscriptions are usually bilingual, Latin-Celtic. With one exception, the Irish records are in ogham alone. Most peculiar is the runic-oghamic inscription from the Isle of Man (the runes being a kind of "secret" writing and the oghams being a cryptic script). The distribution of the ogham inscriptions, combined with their language and grammatical forms, point to South Wales or southern Ireland as their place of origin and to the 4th century AD as the date of their origin.

The ogham character was used for writing messages and letters (generally on wooden staves), but sometimes it was also written on shields or other hard material and was employed for carving on tombstones. The oghams formed a cryptic script, and there were several varieties, such as wheel oghams, bird oghams, tree oghams, hill oghams, church oghams, colour oghams, and others. The main ogham alphabet consisted of 20 letters represented by straight or diagonal strokes, varying in number from one to five and drawn or cut below, above, or right through horizontal lines, or else drawn or cut to the left, right, or directly through vertical lines. The ogham alphabet was divided into four groups (aicme), each containing five letters. Oghams were employed during the Middle Ages; the 14th-century Book of Ballymote reproduces the earliest keys for translation. In many cases the ogham inscriptions run upward.

Several ogham inscriptions known as the Pictish oghams were found in western Scotland, on the small island of Gigha off the western coast, in Argyll, in northeastern Scotland, and on the northern isles, such as the Shetland Islands. They either belong to the same type as the Irish and Welsh oghams or are written in another ogham variety.

~Edward Cooper, Hufflepuff

Excellent! take fifteen points!

bumping...

what are those bumpings you say Phoe? I don't get it.

Bumping is moving a thread upwad in the forum so people can still see it. Meaning noone forgets its here

Exactly what Trickster said...

I will accept no more homework assignments. I will assess and award points for those already submitted, then set a new assignment for next week...