Witches’ runes: a different set of signs
Witches’ runes are not the Elder Futhark. They are a set of drawn signs, most often thirteen: sun, moon, waves, rings, a scythe, a crossroads. They carry no sounds and spell nothing, and no inscription was ever cut in them. Some sets hold eight signs instead of thirteen. Both systems are used, and neither is the other: if you came looking for the row that spells, the twenty-four are here.
Where this comes from
first appearance in print Susan Sheppard, A Witch’s Runes · 1998
The oldest printed set we can name is Susan Sheppard’s book of 1998. Dana Corby, who published her own version as a book in 2018, says the system appeared in the magazine Crystal Well in the mid-1970s. That earlier printing we have not seen, so the date stands here as her account, not as ours.
What the poems say
The poems describe the twenty-four runes of the Futhark, and no witness mentions the thirteen signs. If you came looking for the row that spells, it is gathered here, rune by rune.
Runes and tarot: what is the difference? Did the Vikings use the Elder Futhark?