The origins of Hunnish Runic Writing (1) Preface

 

 

VARGA GÉZA

 The origins of Hunnish Runic Writing

 

The legacy of the Gods emerging from the chaos of the Flood

 

 

INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF WRITING

Budapest, 2005. 

 

Studies on the history of writing

 Series of studies published by the Írástörténeti Kutató Intézet (Institute for Research on the History of Writing)

  

Studies of the series published so far:

 

Simon Péter - Szekeres István - Varga Géza:

Bronzkori magyar írásbeliség (Bronze Age Hungarian Literacy)

Varga Géza:

 Székely rovásjelek hun tárgyakon (Székely Runic Symbols on Hunnish Objects)

Varga Géza:

 Rovásírás és mitológia (Runic Script and Mythology)

Bakay Kornél - Varga Géza:

Rabló nomád hordák inváziója, avagy a kincses Kelet örököseinek honalapítása? (The Invasion of Plundering Nomadic Hordes or the Foundation of a Nation by the Inheritors of the Wealthy Orient?)

Varga Géza:

A székely rovásírás eredete (The Origins of Székely Runic Script)

Bíró Lajos:

A fehér ló (The White Horse)

Varga Géza:

The Origins of Hunnish Runic Script

 

Expected:

 

Varga Géza:

A magyarság jelképei (Hungarian Symbols)

Andrássy Kurta János:

Holtak völgye, Holdvilág-árok (Valley of the Dead, Moonlight Gorge)

 

 

 

 

Cover: objects decorated with hieroglyphs representing the axis of the world, which throw new light on the origin of Székely script - an Anasaz-Indian pot from New-Mexico with the equivalents of runes "j" and "m" (standing for the name of Jima, the first man; adapted from Grahame Clark), and a Hunnish bronze fibula from the Carpathian Basin with the inscription "(é)szak" (North) and the symbolic representation of the North Pole (in the author’s possession).

Front page: a part of the fresco from Rehmire's tomb (1504-1450 BC.), Egypt (adapted from Gábor Ilon) representing a Cretan envoy carrying a half-finished metal ingot on his shoulders. The drawing of the ingot developed first into the Székely runes "u" and "v", then into the Etruscan, Greek and Latin letters "v" and "u".

 

Contents

 

Preface to the English edition	7.
Preface	9.
History of the scientific views on the origins of Székely runic script	10.
Principles of deriving the origins of Székely script	26.
The development of writing	28.
The shapes of runes and the objects they represent	29.
The mythology, names, and sound values of runes	32.
Rituals and runic script	35.
Types and number of characters	37.
Order of characters	39.
Direction of reading and characters	48.
Syllabic signs	52.
The regular use of syllable and vowel signs	55.
The birth of letter scripts	58.
Comparing of writing systems	61.
The academic historical-geographical preconception	68.
The Turkish connection	70.
What the historical sources say	71.
Székely script of the Huns	73.
The age of the development of Székely character forms	79.
The age of unification of Székely character sets	82.
Hungarian vocabulary connected to writing	87.
Ligatures that survived millennia	92.
Migrations of peoples	97.
Summary	101.
Bibliography	109.

Preface to the English edition

 

The scientific world is just beginning to recognize the historical significance of Székely (Hunnish) runic script. With the exception of some descriptions and records, the books and articles on Székely runic script, though they could fill a library, do not have much lasting value. Works on the history of writing usually just mention its name and consider it a late descendant of Old-Turkish script. However, extensive research on Székely script has led us to the conclusion that it is not a thin twig but the very stem from which the tree of writing systems has grown.

At present Hungarian researchers cannot but admit that the concept of Old-Turkish origin they have maintained for a hundred years does not hold up any longer. However, they have not worked out other theories of origin, because the special features of the Székely writing system do not fit into the present theories on ancient history. And that is exactly the significance of this nearly forgotten script. It makes possible conclusions so far not thought of.

Historical records and archaeological finds prove that the Huns, emerging from the mists of millenia before the birth of Christ, used it. This steppe nation imposed tribute on the Chinese, Persian, Byzantine, and even the Roman emperors. Is it surprising after this, that we find treasures in the Hunnish heritage?

The equestrian culture of the steppe has preserved an ancient view of the world practically unchanged. Man could conquer the steppe only after domestication of the horse, probably around 4000 BC. Thanks to the breeding of large-bodied animals, a highly developed culture developed on the steppes. However, the steppe’s special resources restricted the possibilities of economic development, and thus conserved the lifestyle, as well as the millenia-old symbolism and philosophical system of the people who lived there. Thus today Székely script offers one of the best means to understand Neolithic culture and the beginnings of human civilization. The information Székely script conveys is so important, that man cannot understand his own past without knowing the origin of Székely runic script.

We can recognize this only after solving several scientific problems. Such unresolved problems are for example the similarity of characters in different linear writing systems; the relationship between Székely runes and popular artistic, religious and royal symbols; connections between script, language and mythology, etc. In possession of these new results, with the help of Székely script complex symbols on pottery from the European Neolithic or American Indian cultures can be understood and deciphered.

Scientific analysis of Székely script has not been a smooth process. Although as early as the 13th c. Hungarian chronicles mentioned a “Hunnish-Scythian” script, which was still used by Székelys, analysis of the written relics was still a discovery for “modern science.” For example in 1864 Balázs Orbán called attention to a runic inscription from 1668 in the boxed ceiling of the Unitarian Church in Énlaka.  For a long time this was the only known text to prove the existence of Székely script.

This summer a short inscription was discovered on the clay nozzle of a blast-furnace from the 10th century. Today the number of runic texts mentioned by various authors is about 50.

Most of them are inscriptions painted, scratched or engraved into the walls, ceilings, stones, bricks, or tiles of Transylvanian churches from the 13-16th c., and usually have something to do with the building’s construction. Letters exist from István Szamosközi, a history writer in the 16th c., and from Hungarian monks in South America, who used Székely runes as a secret writing, when dealing with sensitive questions. The Constantinople text was first copied by Hans Dernschwam in 1553. It had been written in 1515 by imprisoned Hungarian envoys who wanted to inform others about their fate. The interest of the contemporary science is illustrated by several character sets (e.g. the Nikolsburg alphabet of the 15th c.) as well as by some longer documents. The system of writing and the runic variant of the Lord’s prayer has survived in Rudimenta written by János Thelegdi in 1598, while the words of a runic calendar-stick have been copied and left to us by count Ferdinando Marsigli. These records remained in manuscript form and were buried in libraries for a long time.

The exact number of texts can hardly be determined. New discoveries are reported in the media almost every year; their interpretation is regularly late or ambiguous, which hinders their classification. What makes our work even more difficult is that the principles of script-classification have not been elaborated yet. Székely runes are letters and hieroglyphs at the same time, which have been used either as symbols, complex signs or decorative motifs. The inventory of texts is much longer if these latter relics are also included. Otherwise we will find ourselves in the odd situation that an easily readable and comprehensible text is not considered writing just because its letters are composed in a floral pattern.

The present Hungarian academic-scientific point of view on this subject is characterized by perplexity, as it cannot explain the recently recognized connections between signs and symbols. For instance the frame on the Énlaka inscription, which has been regarded as a decoration so far, has been deciphered only recently, despite the fact that it has been the most often mentioned Székely text in the last 125 years.

The stakes are high, since the parallels of the Énlaka flower-like sign-montage can be found in the 4000-years old Hittite rock-pantheon in Yazilikaya and the rock-drawings in Khwarism…

   

"A thousand years for you is like the passing of yesterday"

(90.  Psalm)

 

To the memory of László Szabédi, persecuted to death for his book

 

 

Preface[1]

 

Clarifying the origins of Székely runes is a question of major significance for the history of civilization. Finding the answers should be a task for Hungarian scientists, however there is not much we can really be satisfied with.

Our arrears is not only due to the relatively small amount of data[2]; it may also be related to the fact that in Hungary there is no state institute to carry out researches on runic script; there is no training for historians of writing. Besides, research on the history of writing is poorly funded even in wealthier countries. According to a script historian, I. J. Gelb, the study of writing does not exist as a science, because inventorying writing relics - and avoiding the crucial questions at the same time - cannot be regarded as science (Gelb/1952).

Taking stock of all runic script relics still lies ahead; theories about the possible origins of Székely script all show caution, lack of information, lack of methodology and preconceptions of their authors. This attitude will change[3] only if the dominating theory of research goes beyond the ancient preconception that presumes an early homeland in the North.

---

[1] This study is the result of 25 years of research. During that time, as my critics will mention, I have gone far. Therefore, sometimes I may seem to be able to talk about this topic only with our long dead forefathers.

      However I do not think I have to prove to readers eager for the truth that I am not aiming to build national glory. It took a step by step, years-long contemplation until I could persuade even myself that the surprising conclusions tat follow are acceptable. I could not find any other logical explanation for the connections I had to face all the time, and which have compiled into a self-sustained system through the years.

[2] We possess masses of data that have not been examined by researchers of origin, or which, for lack of a theoretical basis, have not been considered hard facts.

[3] The use of writing and its evaluation has always had political significance.

      When Kuteyba of Arabia occupied Khwarism in 712. AD, he barbarously demolished the libraries in Khwarism, which also bore evidence of the ancient history of Magyars. As Al-Bíruni wrote, "he pursued and slaughtered all who knew the literature of Khwarism, or kept their traditions, all the scholars who had lived among them, so all became covered by darkness, and now nothing is certain about the facts concerning the historical times before Islam reached them" (Al-Bíruni, 36).

      Pál Hunfalvi (Hunsdorfer) had a similar role in Hungarian scientific life after the suppression of the 1848-'49 Hungarian War of Independence, who thought, "bluntness and nationalistic blindness dominated the writings of incompetent people proud of the fictitious Scythian-Hunnish-Székely letters" (quoted in: Kiszely/1996/375). The nearly life-size canvas of Hunfalvi still occupies at a central place, and his ideas are still dominant at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Varga Géza

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