Druids & Runes

Did the druids have rune knowledge?
Short Answer:
There’s no historical evidence that Druids used runes. Runes were a writing system and symbolic tool developed by Germanic peoples, while Druids belonged to Celtic cultures. The Celts had their own writing system called Ogham, which used tree names and symbols.

Longer Answer:
It’s a great question! While our knowledge of Druids is limited, we can explore some possibilities:
Early Gauls (France): Runes were in their early stages during this period (around 1st century BCE). It’s conceivable the Gauls might have been exposed to the very first iterations, but unlikely they had extensive knowledge.
Shared Symbolic Roots:Both runes and Ogham likely share some deeper, ancient symbolic roots. So, Druids might have had an intuitive grasp of the underlying concepts within runes, even if they didn’t use them directly.
Irish Druids and Vikings: By the Viking Age (around 8th-11th centuries CE) in Ireland, the younger futhark (a later runic alphabet) was in use. While some contact with Vikings could have exposed Irish Druids to runes, it was likely limited due to the focus of Viking raids on eastern regions.
The lack of concrete evidence only adds to the fascination! It fuels speculation about potential interactions between these cultures. Perhaps future discoveries will shed more light.