Runes

Runes are the letters of the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian alphabets, carved in stone, wood or metal from the first centuries CE onward. Each one has a name with a meaning (cattle, ice, sun…). Their modern use in divination, with stones or tiles drawn from a pouch, developed mainly in the 20th century; the Roman historian Tacitus does describe the Germanic peoples casting lots with marked sticks, but without specifying what signs were used. Today’s interpretations are therefore largely reconstructions.