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What are Runes?
The word "RUNE" means "mystery", "to whisper", "secret".
They were used as sacred, magical "keys" or "doorways" through which various powers are directed to do the will of the Vitki or Galdramenn for divination, to bind spells, to make talismans, to chant and work magick of all kinds. It was through the Will of the user the powers flowed through. The actual physical sign seems to have little power on its own but in combination with the will of a trained person that any results can be expected. In "Egil Skallagrimsson's Saga", a young man miscarves a series of love runes which the result his intended fell ill.
Egil Skallagrimsson was not only a great Viking Warrior/Poet but also a well known Rune master. Egil took the stave, seeing the young man's mistake, corrected it and the beloved was well again. Special Runes were carved, engraved or inlaid on weapons, war gear and even on one's self for added protection. It is the inner form rather than the outer one that was most important.
They were also used as an alphabet for secular writing such as on memorial "Runestones" set up for a fallen comrade, a family member or even to commemorate a bridge building or other worthwhile subject. Carved on wooden tallies by a merchant, pieces of jewelry or other object to show ownership. Some Icelandic manuscripts and sagas were written in Runic as this was what the language was understood in before Latinate letters were used and even after. A young Jarl or chieftain's son, like Sigil, would have been expected to read and carve/write runes as well as have, perhaps, a working knowledge of how they would have been used both secular and magickal.
The Elder Futhark has 24 runes. This "runic alphabet" got its name after the sound of what is traditionally held to be the six first runes in this "alphabet":
F - U - Þ - A - R - K
