Runes are letters composed of the Runic Alphabet which were used by different German tribes before the adoption of the Latin script. Runic alphabet is phonetic, i.e. each letter corresponds to one sound. There are also Scandinavian variants of the Runic Alphabet, since some of the Scandinavian nations originate from the German tribes. Also, the term Runes is associated with Kalevala, an ancient Scandinavian poem.
