The Ferune ᚠ represents the f-sound. It is the first letter of the Futhark alphabet. Its name means "(mobile) wealth", cognate to English fee with an original meaning "sheep" or "cattle" (German Vieh, Sanskrit pashu). The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is fehu. The name is recorded in all three rune poems:
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.
The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is 𐍆 f, called faihu. Such correspondence between all rune poems and the Gothic letter name, as well, is uncommon, and gives the reconstructed name of the Old Futhark a high degree of certainty.
The runes were used by the Goths, the Herulians, the Germans and the Frisisans in south and middle Europe and the Angles and Saxons in the west.
When runes were carved in stone, the runes were created by sculpting many points close to each other, until the rune master had a complete line.
The runes were introduced to Scandinavia during the same period that the well known spiral-ornaments were introduced from Crete, somewhere between 1800-400 BC.
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