Books on Runes are not legion in France. Ever since the “Introduction to Runology” by Lucien Musset in 1965, very few works have been published on this subject which is nonetheless very rich.

 

This new work enables the various opportunities of research on the appearance of the runes in Northern Europe to be analysed and understood. The author deals with all the theories that have been voiced and gives a novel analysis to runic inscriptions. He details the main epigraphic sources in old Fuþark of the German Iron Age and places them in their historical context. This work also offers an

interesting analysis of the symbolism of the different types of inscriptions, like “ALU”, “LAUKAZ” or “OTA”. Understanding these recurrent inscriptions throughout Northern Europe, enables one to revive the mental universe of these ancient Germans.

 

Stephen Pollington is a British author who is well known in the United Kingdom for his numerous books and articles on the ancient history of Northern Europe. The first version of this book was published in 2016 with Anglo-Saxon Books and intended for the English public. With the French edition, the author has added new, unpublished entries, centred on discoveries made in France as well as the entries already present in the English version.