Runes and runic inscription: These physical examples connects to Nordic European Culture visible within this ancient writing form.

What are runes? What does runi writing teach about Scandinavian ancestry? This presentation will provide an overview of the thousands of runic inscriptions existing today, primarily in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, with a few in Finland, but some being researched in North America. Also reviewed with be examples of runes in pop culture.

Presenter Bio: Loraine Jensen is the founder of the American Association for Runic Studies (AARS), a nonprofit organization based in Minnesota that promotes scholarly research of runes and runic inscriptions in Europe and North America. She has developed extensive networks on runic research, including with Uppsala University in Sweden and the Smithsonian Institution. Those relationships and her expertise as a professional educator resulted in her selection for two prestigious Fulbright Specialist appointments tointerested public throughout North America.study at Uppsala University with Professor Henrik Williams. In 2022, Loraine was awarded the Royal Gustav Adolfs Academy’s Pedagogical Prize from the Royal Gustav Adolfs Academy for Swedish Folk Culture for her valuable efforts in spreading scientifically based knowledge about runic inscriptions to an interested public throughout North America.