In fact, the Vikings left behind a great number of documents in stone, wood and metal, all written in the enigmatic symbols known as runes. They relied on these symbols not only for writing but also to tell fortunes, cast spells, and provide protection. Early Germanic tribes of northern Europe were first to develop runes, but the Scandinavians soon adopted the symbols for their own use. When the seafaring Vikings traveled to faraway lands, they brought their system of writing with them, leaving runic inscriptions in places as distant as Greenland. Scholars believe that early peoples used the runes originally as a means of communication and only later for magical purposes.
Historians disagree on when runes first came into use.
Since the first objects inscribed with runes date to the second and third centuries A.D., some surmise that the runic alphabet arose during the first century A.D. Scholars concur that runes grew out of an earlier alphabet, but which one is unclear. A likely candidate is the Etruscan alphabet. Many argue that the geographic proximity of the Etruscans, who lived in northern Italy, to the Germanic tribes of northern Europe makes it likely that these two groups had some form of cultural exchange. Also, similarities exist in some letterforms of the Etruscan and runic alphabets. Another possibility for a source alphabet is Latin.