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The Armanen runes (or Armanen Futharkh) are 18 pseudo-runes, invented by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist Guido von List, during a state of temporary blindness in 1902. Inspired by the historic Younger Futhark runes, they were described in his Das Geheimnis der Runen ("The Secret of the Runes"); this was published as a periodical article in 1906, and as a standalone publication in 1908. The name seeks to associate the runes with the postulated Armanen, whom von List saw as ancient Aryan race priest-kings. The runes continue in use today in esotericism and in Germanic neopaganism.
Das Geheimnis der Runen was published in Leipzig and Vienna in 1908 by the Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft (Gross-Lichterfelde).English translation of 'Das Geheimnis der Runen' by Stephen E. Flowers It was also known as GLB 1 of the Guido-List-Bücherei (GLB) series.
The book was also published as a periodical article as " Das Geheimnis der Runen", "Neue Metaphysische Rundschau" 9 13 (1906), 23-4, 75-87, 104-26.The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
An English language translation of the book was published in 1988 by Stephen E. Flowers.
List noted in his book, The Secret of the Runes, that the "runic futharkh (= runic ABC) consisted of sixteen symbols in ancient times."In his English translation of the work, Stephen Flowers insists that the final "h" is not a misspelling, but indicates the seventh rune, Hagal; the historical Younger Futhark likewise have "h" in seventh position, while the first of the Elder Futhark was fuþarkgw, so that the historical name fuþark spells the initial sequence common to both the Elder and the Younger variant. He also referred to the Armanen runes as the 'Armanen Futharkh' of which Stephen E. Flowers notes in his 1988 English translation of Lists 1907/08 'Das Geheimnis der Runen', that "The designation 'futharkh' is based on the first seven runes, namely F U T A R K H (or H) it is for this reason that the proper name is not futhark—as it is generally and incorrectly written—but rather 'futarkh', with the 'h' at the end."For more about the basis of this, see GvLB no. 6, Die Ursprache der Ario-Germanen und ihre Mysteriensprache.
The first sixteen of von List's runes correspond to the sixteen Younger Futhark runes, with slight modifications in names (and partly mirrored shapes). The two additional runes are loosely inspired by the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
| 1. | Fa | F | an inverted Fe |
| 2. | Ur | U | — |
| 3. | Thurs | Th | also known as 'Dorn'; as Anglo-Saxon Thorn |
| 4. | Os | A/O | a mirrored Younger Futhark As/Oss; in Armanic writings, the Othala is generally seen as a variation / extension of Os.Gorsleben, Rudolf John; 'Hoch-Zeit der Menschheit' (1930). Kummer, Siegfried Adolf; 'Heilige Runenmacht' (1932), 'Runen-Magie' (1933). Spiesberger, Karl; 'Runenmagie Handbuch der Runenkunde' (1968). Welz, Karl Hans. Flowers, Stephen; 'Rune Might: Secret Practices of the German Rune Magicians' (1989) |
| 5. | Rit | R | as Reidh |
| 6. | Kaunan | K | as in Younger Futhark |
| 7. | Hagal/Hag | H | as Younger Futhark Hagall |
| 8. | Nauth/Not | N | as Younger Futhark Naud |
| 9. | Isaz | I | as in Younger Futhark |
| 10. | Ar | A | similar to short-twig Younger Futhark |
| 11. | Sig/Sol | S | as Anglo-Saxon Sowilo rune |
| 12. | Tiwaz rune | T | — |
| 13. | Bar | B | as Younger Futhark Bjarkan |
| 14. | Laf | L | as Younger Futhark Logr |
| 15. | Man | M | as Younger Futhark Mannaz |
| 16. | Yr | Y | as in Younger Futhark, but with a sound value i |
| 17. | Eh | E | the name is from Anglo-Saxon Futhork, the shape like Younger Futhark Ar |
| 18. | Gibor/Ge/Gi | G | the name similar to Anglo-Saxon Futhork Gyfu |
Its shape is similar to that of the Wolfsangel symbol, which sometimes leads to the mistaken conclusion that the Wolfsangel is linked to the ancient runic alphabet.
List associated his Gibor rune with the final stanza of the Rúnatal (stanza 165 of the Hávamál, trans. H. A. Bellows):
During the 19th century, interest in the runic alphabets (such as the academic discipline of runology) was revived in Germany by the völkisch movement, which promoted interest in Germanic folklore and language in a reaction against the rapid modernisation of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm I. The collapse of Wilhelmine Germany at the end of the First World War led to an upsurge of interest in völkisch ideology, which rejected liberalism, democracy, socialism and industrial capitalism—all traits reflected in the political system of Weimar Germany—as "un-German" and inspired by subversive Jewish influences.
By the end of the war (1918) there were about seventy-five völkisch groups in Germany, promoting a variety of pseudo-historical, mystical, racial and anti-semitic views. This had a major influence on the embryonic Nazi Party; Hitler wrote in his 1925 book Mein Kampf that "the basic ideas of the National Socialist movement are völkisch and the völkisch ideas are National Socialist."
List's work led to the adoption of his "Armanen runes" by the Völkisch movement, which had already adopted the swastika as a symbol of Germanic antiquity, and from there List's runes became an integral part of German and Austrian nationalistic socialist symbology.
Heinrich Himmler, who led the SS from 1929 to 1945, was one of many leading Nazi figures associated with the Thule Society völkisch group, and his interest in Germanic mysticism led him to adopt a variety of List's runes for the SS. Some had already been adopted by members of the SS and its predecessor organisations but Himmler systematised their use throughout the SS. Until 1939, members of the Allgemeine SS were given training in runic symbolism on joining the organisation.
Runic signs were used from the 1920s to 1945 on SS flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of various aspects of Nazism ideology and Ariosophy. They also represented virtues seen as desirable in SS members, and were based on The Runes order designed by Karl Maria Wiligut which he loosely based on the historical .
In German-speaking countries, the Armanen Runes have been influential among rune-occultists. According to Stephen E. Flowers they are better known even than the historical Elder Futhark:
The Armanen runes also have a significant impact in English language occultist literature.Pennick (1992); The Armanen Runes [5]; The Armanen Rune Set [6] ; The Armanen [7] ; Karl Spiesberger Runenmagie [8]; Karl Hans Welz ; Knights of Runes; Handbook of Armanen Runes by Larry E. Camp [10]; Flowers (1992)
Connection to völkisch ideology
List's book is seminal to later currents of Ariosophy and Nazi occultism.
The Armanen runes were employed for runic magic in works by authors such as Friedrich Bernhard Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer, and after World War II in a reformed "pansophical" system by Karl Spiesberger.
More recently, Stephen Flowers, Adolf Schleipfer, Larry E. Camp and others also build on List's system.
The book also remains popular in German Neo-Nazism, with a reprint published by Adolf Schleipfer of the "Armanen-Orden".
Use in contemporary esotericism
After World War II, Karl SpiesbergerSpiesberger, Karl Runenmagie, Runenexerzitien fur Jedermann ("Reveal the Power of the Pendulum"). reformed the system, removing the racist aspects of the Listian, Marbyan and Kummerian rune work and placing the whole system in a "pansophical", or Eclecticism, context.Flowers 1984: 16. In recent times Karl Hans Welz, magitec.com ; runemagick.com. Knights of Runes Stephen E. Flowers, A. D. Mercer, Runen - Wisdom of the Runes by A. D. Mercer and Larry E. Camp Handbook of Armanen Runes by Larry E. Camp (aka Deitrich) [4] (Head of the Knights of Runes and Europa Ltd.). and have all furthered the effort to remove any racist connotations previously espoused by pre-war Armanen rune masters.
The personal force of List and that of his extensive and influential Armanen Orden was able to shape the runic theories of German magicians...from that time to the present day. ... the Armanen system of runes...by 1955 had become almost "traditional" in German circlesFlowers 1984: 15-16.
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