RUNES (BRITISH MUSEUM PRESS)

From late antiquity through to the early middle ages, people across north-western Europe were inscribing runes on a range of different objects. This book tells their story from their mysterious origins, their development as a script, to their use and meaning in the modern world. Illustrated with a range of beautiful objects from jewellery to tools and weapons, it reveals memorials for the dead, business messages, charms and curses, insults and prayers, giving us a glimpse into the languages and cultures of Europeans over a thousand years ago.