Link to Essay I
Link to Essay II
Link to Essay IV
Popular period vs. modern day
Of course, the period in history with which they are most associated is the Viking period. This is officially dated from 3rd - 10th Centuries, during which they built many of the still standing runic stones, with over 2000 in Scandinavia alone.
Their society was one of extreme opposites, harsh war against peaceful farming, curses and blessings, Gods and mortals. Although the runes existed before Viking society, the Vikings wove them into their own religion, believing that Odin, head of the Gods, had sacrificed himself to obtain them and had given them only to a few select mortals to understand and carve. The runes must have seemed like a wondrous thing, to a society, which had little understanding of written text. Perhaps this was a partial reason why the Vikings took to the runes so well. They integrated them into all parts of their society, from their myths and legends to carving them on weaponry and household items. In every example of their use in this era, the runes are portrayed as something to be feared. Great respect is given to those who can use them, they are powerful and often demand outstrips supply, leading to mistakes by the uneducated.
In direct contrast, modern society appears to have no place for a system such as this. Although Tarot and interpreters of other systems are still available today, they are now more associated with 'New Ager's' or something to make fun of. They are misunderstood and used to make money, rather than used to make a better society. Stock markets, Internet banking and reaching weekly targets are just a few examples of things that are important in today's society. The state that exists now has no opposites; there are no great threats, no great opportunities for discovery. The only potent threat is from others of our own kind.
We have sanitised religion, discarded magic in all it's forms as heresy, understood our living environment until it holds no major secrets, taken the building blocks of life and started moulding them to our own ends and set on self annihilation as an outlet for our destructive tendencies. Society is no longer stable, having been given the right to fragment and diversify until it no longer functions as one unit.
The age of Science is here, with an explanation for everything.
So how can the runes possibly be related to the modern age?