RUNES
Runes are an early form of writing used by the Celtic nation of peoples throughout Europe.
The earliest runic inscriptions date from c150 and the alphabet was generally replaced by the Latin alphabet with Christianization, by c700 in central Europe and by c1100 in Scandinavia. However, the use of runes persisted for specialized purposes in Scandinavia, longest in rural Sweden until the early 20th Century (used mainly for decoration as runes in Dalarna and on Runic calendars).
The runes developed comparatively late, centuries after the Mediterranean alphabets from which they are probably descended. There are some similarities to alphabets of Phoenician origin (Latin, Greek, Italic) that cannot possibly all be due to chance; an Old Italic alphabet, more particularly the Raetic alphabet of Bolzano, is often quoted as a candidate for the origin of the runes.