"Runes are letters of an alphabet that evolved in pre-Christian times in Scandinavia and Germany, which developed their own form in England with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons."

from The Book of English Magic by Philip Carr-Gomm & Richard Heygate

The runes can be used in different ways -including readings (known as castings), charms and spells, and inscriptions.

The most popular runes used today tend to be a set of runes called The Elder Futhark runes.

I've created a document that gives some basic meanings for the Elder Futhark runes.

There is a free pdf of this on my Free Stuff page if you'd like to download it.

You can also print the pdf, cut out the rune letters and use them as a makeshift set.