Runes formed the earliest alphabet of the Viking world, etched into stone, wood, and metal by hands that saw writing as both practical and sacred. These sharp, angled symbols recorded important names, memories, and events, but they also carried a deeper weight, believed to hold protective or magical meaning in Norse culture. Whether scratched onto memorial stones or hidden inside everyday objects, runes linked people to their past and to the unseen forces they respected. Their simple lines revea