- "I mistranslated ehwaz... It means partnership, not defence; I mixed it up with eihwaz."
- —Hermione Granger after her Ancient Runes O.W.L.[src]
The Study of Ancient Runes (commonly shortened to Ancient Runes) is an elective course at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and presumably Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that can be taken by students third year and above.
It was taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling during the 1990s at least[1] and it is the study of runic scriptures, or Runology. Ancient Runes is a mostly theoretical subject that studies the ancient runic scripts of magic.
Class information
Ancient runes are a form of writing which witches and wizards used hundreds of years ago.
Classwork and homework involves plenty of practise translating runes, and the O.W.L. involves translating something written in runes into English. Hermione Granger used Spellman's Syllabary to translate her homework.
Class materials
The Words learned in this class
Only two words and their English translations are known. Hermione mixed these two words up on her Study of Ancient Runes O.W.L. exam: Ehwaz means "Partnership" and Eihwaz means "Defence".[2]
Numbers
| Animal | Notes |
|---|---|
 | the creature's invisibility abilities represents "0" |
 | the creature's single horn represents "1" |
 | the creature's dual horns represent "2" |
 | the triple-headed creature represents "3" |
 | the creature comprised of four different colours in feathers represents "4" |
 | the five legs of the creature represents "5" |
 | the maximum hours of the creature's ability to survive out of fire and the amount of legs most said creatures have represents "6" |
 | due to the magically powerful number still being shrouded in mysteries, the unknown symbol represents "7" |
 | the eight-eyed creature represents "8" |
 | the nine-headed creature represents "9" |
Required textbooks
Spellman's Syllabary by Spellman (possibly)
Add a photo to this galleryGrades
Passing Grades
|
Fail Grades |
Known O.W.L.s
Behind the scenes
- Throughout all of the Harry Potter books and film adaptations, not a single Ancient Runes class was seen taking place.
- In reality, the words mentioned by Hermione in the Order of the Phoenix are Proto-Germanic runes. Ehwaz literally means "horse", while eihwaz literally means "yew-tree."
- A variety of Elder Futhark runes are depicted on Lucius's Azkaban placard in the film. The easily identified ones are: Othila, which means "estate, heritage, possession" and corresponds to the Latin letter "o"; Ansuz (albeit rotated slightly), meaning "Odhinn (leader of the Æesir)" and corresponds to the Latin letter "a"; Uruz, meaning "wild ox" or "drizzle" and corresponds to the Latin letter "u"; and Mannaz, meaning "man" and corresponds to the Latin letter "m".[3] This (along with the presence of the aforementioned two other Elder Futhark runes in the novel) suggests that the Elder Futhark runic alphabet at least (if not others too) is very much in use in the wizarding world and most likely learnt in Study of Ancient Runes, albeit with some additions from wizardkind, such as the numbers.
- In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, one of the items is a rune dictionary, for which certain characters: Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Irma Pince and Gellert Grindelwald, are capable of using to translate and unlock rune bookshelves.[4][5]
- Luna and Xenophilius Lovegood may have both taken this subject as the latter published some runic texts in an issue of his magazine (the Quibbler) whilst the former explained the information contained in those runic texts.[6]
- In film adaptation Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione compares Ancient Runes to Divination, thinking the first a fascinating subject and the second very woolly, however in the novel she did the same but with Arithmancy and Divination.
See also
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ According to a note on J. K. Rowling's site, Bathsheda Babbling is the current Ancient Runes teacher
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31 (O.W.L.s)
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_futhark#Rune_names
- ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- ↑ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 10 (Luna Lovegood)
| Hogwarts Curriculum | ||
|---|---|---|
| Core classes | Astronomy · Charms · Defence Against the Dark Arts · Herbology · History of Magic · Potions · Transfiguration |  |
| Elective classes | Alchemy · Arithmancy · Care of Magical Creatures · Divination · Muggle Studies · Study of Ancient Runes | |
| Extra-curricular classes | Apparition · Advanced Arithmancy Studies · Ancient Studies · Art · Flying · Ghoul Studies · Magical Theory · Muggle Art · Muggle Music · Music · Xylomancy | |
| Examinations | ||
| First year exams · Second year exams · Third year exams · Fourth year exams · Ordinary Wizarding Level · Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test | ||
| | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Professor: Bathsheda Babbling | |||||
| Textbooks: Advanced Rune Translation · Ancient Runes Made Easy · Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms · Rune Dictionary · Spellman's Syllabary | |||||
| Known Runes: Acromantula · Demiguise · Ehwaz · Eihwaz · Fwooper · Graphorn · Hydra · Quintaped · Runespoor · Salamander · Unicorn · Unknown · Mark of Merlin | |||||
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