Runes are the characters of the alphabet used by the Vikings and other Germanic peoples from about the second to the 15th centuries A.D. Some runes vaguely resemble letters in our own alphabet; others look more like symbols.
All had meaning to the Vikings, who carved them into their so-called rune stones - large monuments that honor the memory, and the names, of Norsemen past. See your own name spelled out in runes, and learn the meaning of each of the 24 runic characters. Here's my name in runes.