The old runic letters were much used in the Viking Age. Runes have been found from the Black Sea in the south to Russia in the east, all over Europe and Scandinavia, and in Greenland. Wherever there were vikings, there were runes. Runes on memorial stones, weapons, tools, calfskin, wax plates, wooden boards and pins.

Runes were used in trading and when epitaphs were written. Runes were used to send messages, mark possessions, make calendars, write law-books and love letters.

“Runes I write, they came from the gods”, is written on a rune stone in Gotland in the west of Sweden. Whether or not the runes actually came from the gods, the viking certainly seemed to think so.

This concise and readable book tells the story of the viking runes, and each letter is explained with the help of a runic verse dating from the Viking Age.

A little Book about the Runes is a quick guide to a fascinating world, for the general reader.