(Later grave slabs or stone coffins were sometimes inscribed with Who was buried, and also who made sure the stone was raised. grave stone inscriptions, often with who carved the runes and.'Hrolf was here' type inscriptions on cliff walls, large.

Word divisions were not generally recognised in Runic writing, although one or more dots were occasionally used for this function.

Later they settled down into a left to right pattern.

The direction of writing in early Runic inscriptions is variable.

(secret, runic letter), from the Proto-Norse ᚱᚢᚾᛟ runo (secret, mystery, rune), from the Proto-Germanic rūnō (secret, mystery, rune), from Proto-Indo-European *rewHn- (to roar grumble murmur mumble whisper). The word rune comes from the Old Norse word rún Runic inscriptions have been found throughout Europe from the Balkans to Germany, Scandinavia and the British Isles. The earliest known Runic inscriptions date from the 1st century AD, but the vast majority of Runic inscriptions date from the 11th century. Alternatively it may have developed from one of the ancient alphabets used in Italy for Etruscan or other languages. A number of letters resemble those used in early Greek alphabet.

The Runic alphabet may have been based on an early version of the Greek alphabet. Little is known about the origins of the Runic alphabet, which is traditionally known as futhark after the first six letters.

Elder futhark runes converter