Does the Sekler runic script really come from the runes of the Huns?

  • 2025. November 26.
  • Klára Sándor

Claim:

The Sekler runic script comes from the runic script of the Huns.

Rebuttal:

Connecting the two runic scripts was first the idea of János Thuróczy, later chroniclers took it from him. However, the ancestor of the Sekler runes was probably one of the western Turkish scripts.

In detail:

Based on the medieval Hungarian chroniclers’ writings, it is a widespread view that the Seklers ’inherited’ their woodcut runic script from the Huns. The first source of this claim is the chronicler of King Matthias Corvinus, János Thuróczy, the later authors who voice this view took it from him. Thuróczy connected the strange signs cut into wood by contemporary Seklers with their alleged Hun origin and ’moral purity’, saying that they preserved a lot of their ancestral traditions, including their runes.

In actual fact, the Sekler script came into being in several different stages, the runes preserved in its earliest sources emerged in the 13th century the earliest, while its basis was probably one of the western Turkish scripts, along with various writings left behind on the territory of the Khazar kaganate, the Bulgarian Turks and the Avar inscriptions. Since these all have yet to be deciphered, their closer connections remain a mystery at this point.

Runic inscription in the Unitarian church of Inlăceni, Romania, from 1668

Common past: knowledge to dispel historical misconceptions – supporting the work of Slovak and Hungarian history teachers through print and online publications, professional conferences. A project of the Association of History Teachers and the Hungarian-language newspaper of the Denník N news portal.

Funded by the European Union. The information and statements contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union or the Tempus Public Foundation. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.

Fueling Dreams: EU-Financed Programs Empowering Entrepreneurs and Startups - RAISE fosters startup growth and scale-up within and across Europe