Editing Germanic languages (section)

=== AD ===
From roughly the 1st to the 2nd century AD, or possibly even before AD (as per the dating of the [[Svingerud Runestone]]: 50 BC to 275 AD),<ref>{{cite web |title=Inscribed sandstone fragments of Hole, Norway: radiocarbon dates provide insight into rune-stone traditions |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/inscribed-sandstone-fragments-of-hole-norway-radiocarbon-dates-provide-insight-into-runestone-traditions/52AF86395C4454EF01F436465EC5DE22 |website=cambridge.org |access-date=2025-04-26}}</ref> certain speakers of early Germanic varieties developed the [[Elder Futhark]], an early form of the [[runic alphabet]]. Early runic inscriptions also are largely limited to personal names and difficult to interpret.

The [[Gothic runic inscriptions|Gothic language was initially written with Elder runes]], but starting from the 4th century, such was superseded by the [[Gothic alphabet]], developed by Bishop [[Ulfilas]] for his translation of the [[Bible]] in the 4th century.<ref>[[Fausto Cercignani|Cercignani, Fausto]], ''The Elaboration of the Gothic Alphabet and Orthography'', in "Indogermanische Forschungen", 93, 1988, pp. 168–185.</ref>

Later, Christian priests and monks who spoke and read [[Latin]], in addition to their native Germanic varieties, began writing the Germanic languages with slightly modified Latin letters. However, throughout the [[Viking Age]] and [[Middle Ages]], runic writing remained in common use and development in Scandinavia, acting as the people's writing system alongside the state's Latin script, first diminishing properly when the printing press was introduced; however, the runic tradition survived regionally, especially in the Swedish province of [[Dalarna]] – see [[Dalecarlian runes]].