Runes are ancient alphabets. The word rune comes from an Old Norse term meaning a secret letter that was used for casting spells. Writing itself was often seen as magic by other people who had no writing systems of their own.
While there are many different types of runes, here the focus is the Elder Futhark.
The Elder Futhark runes are a set of 24 symbols that were used for writing in Scandinavia and other parts of Northern Europe from about 200-800 AD. The word “Futhark” is derived from the first six letters, which are called “Fehu,” “Uruz,” “Thurisaz,” “Ansuz,” “Raidho” and “Kennaz.”The Elder Futhark (or sometimes just “Futhorc”) is the oldest form of runic alphabet. This writing system is believed to have originated from the Old Italic scripts: a variation of the North Italic (Etruscan or Raetic alphabets), or the Latin Alphabet itself.
The first runes were carved into wood, bone, or stone and then painted with various colours to make them more visible.
These ancient Norse runes have been found as far away as Iran, Turkey, England, and India. The first recorded use was found at a Viking settlement near Tängelgårda, Sweden. This runestone dates to around 400 AD but there are no written records that can tell us exactly when it was created.