Runes

Runes are the letters of the ancient Germanic alphabets. The oldest, the Elder Futhark, has twenty-four signs and was used roughly between the second and eighth centuries, mostly in inscriptions carved into stone, metal and wood. Its name comes from its first six letters: fehu, uruz, thurisaz, ansuz, raido and kaunan. Each rune has a name and a meaning, such as fehu, cattle and wealth, or algiz, protection. The modern divinatory use, with stones or tiles drawn from a bag, became popular in the twentieth century and draws on Tacitus's mentions of Germanic divination.