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 ...

Side view of the blade of an 1,800-year-old iron knife with Danish runes that seem to spell out the word "hirila.". Archaeologists in Denmark have discovered runic letters inscribed on a knife blade ...

Two rare artifacts inscribed with ancient letters, or runes, could be the key to a mysterious era of Viking history when they suddenly abandoned their old alphabet and transitioned to a new one.

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Editor's Note: This article was provided by our partner, ScienceNordic. The original is here. Why did Vikings sometimes use codes when they wrote in runes? Were the messages secret, or did they have ...

Researchers say the runic letters may spell "little sword," which could have been the name of the knife's owner or the knife itself. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...