What is "rune"

Rune \Rune\ (r[udd]n), n. [AS. r[=u]n a rune, a secret, a mystery; akin to Icel. r[=u]n, OHG. & Goth. r[=u]na a secret, secret colloquy, G. & Dan. rune rune, and probably to Gr. 'ereyna^n to search for. Cf. Roun to whisper.]

1. A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of the ancient Norsemen, or Scandinavians; in a wider sense, applied to the letters of the ancient nations of Northern Europe in general.

   Note: The Norsemen had a peculiar alphabet, consisting of sixteen letters, or characters, called runes, the origin of which is lost in the remotest antiquity. The signification of the word rune (mystery) seems to allude to the fact that originally only a few were acquainted with the use of these marks, and that they were mostly applied to secret tricks, witchcrafts and enchantments. But the runes were also used in communication by writing.

2. pl. Old Norse poetry expressed in runes.

   Runes were upon his tongue, As on the warrior's sword.
   --Longfellow.

   Rune stone, a stone bearing a runic inscription.

Old English run, rune "secret, mystery, dark mysterious statement, (secret) council," also "a runic letter" (runstæf), from Proto-Germanic *runo (cognates: Old Norse run "a secret, magic sign, runic character," Old High German runa "a secret conversation, whisper," Gothic runa), from PIE *ru-no-, source of technical terms of magic in Germanic and Celtic (cognates: Gaelic run "a secret, mystery, craft, deceit, purpose, intention, desire," Welsh rhin "a secret, charm, virtue"). Also see Runnymede.\n

\nThe word entered Middle English as roun and by normal evolution would have become Modern English *rown, but it died out mid-15c. when the use of runes did. The modern usage is from late 17c., from German philologists who had reintroduced the word in their writings from a Scandinavian source (such as Danish rune, from Old Norse run). The runic alphabet is believed to have developed by 2c. C.E. from contact with Greek writing, with the letters modified to be more easily cut into wood or stone.

n. 1 A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of various ancient Germanic peoples, especially the Scandinavians and the Anglo-Saxons. 2 A Finnish poem, or a division of one, especially a division of the Kalevala. 3 Any verse or song, especially one with mystical or mysterious overtones; an incantation. 4 (context obsolete English) A roun.

n. any character from an ancient Germanic alphabet used in Scandinavia from the 3rd century to the Middle Ages; "each rune had its own magical significance" [syn: runic letter]

Rune is an action video game developed by Human Head Studios which was released in 2000. The game is based on Norse mythology, showing the conflict between the gods Odin and Loki and the buildup to Ragnarok, the end of the world. Built on the Unreal Engine, the game casts the player as Ragnar, a young Viking warrior whose mettle is tested when Loki and his evil allies plot to destroy the sacred runestones and bring about Ragnarok.

Upon release Rune received generally positive reviews. A stand-alone expansion pack for the game, titled Rune: Halls of Valhalla (HOV), was released in 2001. Both the base game and HOV were ported to Linux by Loki Software. Ryan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee, would also later port Human Head's 2006 title Prey. A port to the PlayStation 2 was also released under the title Rune: Viking Warlord in 2001. The game was re-released digitally under the name Rune Classic in 2012, with HOV included.

A pen-and-paper adaptation of Rune was published by Atlas Games.

Rune may refer to:

Rune is a fictional vampire-like being from Malibu Comics' Ultraverse imprint. He was created by Barry Windsor-Smith and Chris Ulm, and first appeared as a back-up story in Sludge #1.

Rune is a role-playing game published by Atlas Games in 2001.

Rune is the first feature film, either independent or otherwise, to debut on Apple Inc.'s Video iPod. It was released on October 10, 2006. Its main character is a linguist who is doing research on the source of all modern languages.

Special effects in the film were done by Santa Monica's Radium, a firm with credits ranging from Target commercials to feature films like Spider-Man 2.

According to online press releases, the film was shot over the course of 2 months, a fairly long shoot by the standards of independent film, and was entirely independently financed.

The film's cast is international and diverse, with German ingénue Anna Bäumer as the linguist, and veteran character actor Bill Wise, veteran of a number of Richard Linklater films.

The movie also used several local actors from the states of Texas and Oklahoma. Oklahoma City was used for a lot of the scene in the movie and housed the Isis Production Company office for the shoot of the film.

Rune is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse word rún, meaning "secret". It is a popular name in Belgium, where it ranked in top thirty names for baby boys in 2006 and was the tenth most popular name for boys in 2006 in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Rúni, a variant of the name, was among the ten most popular names given to baby boys in the Faroe Islands, Denmark, in 2007. Notable people with the name include:

• Rune Almén (born 1952), Swedish high jumper
• Rune Bratseth (born 1961), Norwegian footballer
• Rune Christiansen (born 1963), Norwegian poet and novelist
• Rune Djurhuus (born 1970), Norwegian chess player
• Rune Glifberg (born 1974), Danish professional skateboarder
• Rune Holta (born 1973), Norwegian speedway rider
• Rune Jarstein (born 1984), Norwegian footballer
• Rune Klakegg (born 1955), Norwegian jazz pianist and composer
• Rune Klan (born 1976), Danish comedian and magician
• Rune Kristoffersen, Norwegian musician
• Rune Larsson (born 1924), Swedish hurdler and sprinter
• Rune Lindström (disambiguation), multiple people
• Rune Pedersen (disambiguation), multiple people
• Rune Skarstein (born 1940), Norwegian radical economist
• Rune Temte (born 1965), Norwegian actor
• Rune Westberg, Danish singer-songwriter