NO, 'RUNE' IS NOT THAT WORD YOU USE WHEN YOU CAN’T COME UP WITH ANYTHING ELSE

 (Or Why Must Authors Keep (Mis)using It.)

Yes, I am going to ramble about runes. Because I can. I like runes, I really do, even though I’m much too lazy to actually learn their meanings thoroughly and all… But at least I know most of them, and I know what runes are, and it annoys me to no end to see the expression tossed around in various works of fiction.

All right, the dictionaries (I checked Oxford and Cambridge) allow the word to be used for any symbol with mysterious or magical meaning, so I can’t exactly argue with that. Okay. How about this: when people (teenagers, mostly) read/hear the expression, do they have any idea what runes actually are i.e. where the expression derives from? Does the words ‘futhark’ ring any bells with them? I think not. At least not in most cases.

I’ve come across the usage of the word ‘rune’ in the wider sense in the series Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and a television show called Elephant Princess. The first time, I didn’t know what runes really were, either. Now I do, and I wish people would simply say ‘symbols’, or ‘signs’ when talk about some magical patterns, or make up their own name for them. Let the expression ‘runes’ be reserved for the actual runes. I’m pretty sure at least some heathens who believe in the Norse Pantheon would agree with me. After all, runes are very strongly connected with their religion. I, for one, would feel slighted if somebody showed me these:

 and claimed they were runes (and possibly not have any idea about the futhark).

~S