Thod_Thoresway

What's the coolest fact that you know about the English language? For me it's the fact that it was originally written using runes! Growing up between England and Scandinavia, and familiar with Norse runes, I was excited to discover that English culture also once had its own runic script. Despite being functional in purpose, I believe that runes – like all of the world’s many systems of writing, past and present – have an inherent beauty that lends itself to modern design. In fact, I personally think that runes are one of the most beautiful systems of writing that ever existed! Due to runes falling out of use long before the English language developed into its current form, attempting to create runic transliterations of Modern English feels a bit like jamming a square plug into a round hole. So to give my runic designs meaning, I decided to learn some Old English, which was also an exciting experience – and one that I highly recommend! Compared to Modern English, Old English is surprisingly different yet distinctly familiar. It definitely needs to be studied as a ‘foreign language’ to be understood by the 21st century English speaker but it’s definitely English. A paradox, almost. The grammar is very different, and the many verb conjugations are challenging but also present an opportunity to convey a lot of meaning with few words! I hope you like my designs, and enjoy the products on which they’re displayed!