[Sca-cooks] runic script

[H Westerlund-Davis]

Stefan,
If it is okay I would love to chat with you regarding your question off list, if that is okay with you. I don't mind sharing with you the information I have acquired in my classes and from my professors. This thread of discussion is moving away from food.
Aelina the Saami

 


 

 
Duct Tape is like the Force: It has a light side & a dark side
and it holds the universe together.




________________________________
From: Stefan li Rous <stefanlirous at austin.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Fri, January 29, 2010 11:39:32 PM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] runic script

Aelina the Saami said:
<<< Since it was laborious to write in runic form many educated "Vikings" wrote in Latin or had the monks scribe for them......>>>

I'd be interested in knowing what you base this on.  Scripts tend to be optimized for the material and tools being used to write with. If they aren't optimum, they tend to get modified. Writing in soft clay results in different scripts than writing on paper. Paper usually ends up with different scripts than that used to scribe rock or mark on wood. Stamping in wood different from pyrography (burning characters into wood).

>From what I've glanced at in runes, I would say they are optimized for chipping into stone. Runes are faster and more clearly written in stone than Latin script. Latin script may be faster on paper or parchment when using a pen. Runes are not inherently more laborious than other scripts.

Also in period the definition of "literacy" was being able to write, specifically, in Latin. So "educated" and "literate" may vary depending upon who definitions you use.

Info on literacy:

literacy-msg      (18K)  2/ 4/08  Literacy levels in the Middle Ages.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/EDUCATION/literacy-msg.html
per-literacy-art   (8K)  7/26/94    Would your persona have been literate?
http://www.florilegium.org/files/NICOLAA/per-literacy-art.html

Info on scripts:
Paleo-Scribes-art (25K)  9/ 5/97    "An Introduction to Palaeography for Scribes"
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCRIBAL-ARTS/Paleo-Scribes-art.html
scrpt-develop-art (57K)  6/20/00    "Societal Influences on Script Development"
                                       by Mistress Aquilanne Grace.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCRIBAL-ARTS/scrpt-develop-art.html

I'm glad you put "Vikings" in quotations. Viking is more of a job description than an ethnic group or culture.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****


_______________________________________________
Sca-cooks mailing list
Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org