Short answer: well yes, but kinda no? But mostly yes.

Historically there’s not much in the way of physical evidence for the divinatory use of runes like we use them today, and we lack significant evidence regarding how extensively and in what form or function runes were used in the magical sense.

Their origins are not as mystical as the myths suggest either, and in fact they are likely derived from a combination of Old Italic and Mediterranean scripts. The oldest known runic inscriptions date to about 160 CE. For comparison, the oldest Latin inscription is likely from around the 6th-7th centuries BCE.

Moreover, there’s a popularity in modern paganism to use Elder Futhark as the magical alphabet of choice with its presumed association to the Vikings and the Eddas, but really this is a pre-Viking alphabet. What the Vikings and the Old Norse of that day would have used is the Younger Futhark, and the Anglo-Saxons had their own iteration as well.

The common runes used in divination today are the Elder Futhark, a runic alphabet pre-dating the Viking Age and was a broadly used writing system of proto-germanic languages (before Old Norse). Our earliest runic inscription comes from about the second century CE as I said above. This roughly coincides with the life of Tacitus, the often quoted Roman historian who gave us one of, if not the oldest, account of germanic divination in 98 CE as part of his work Germania.

Augury and divination by lot no people practise more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment. In public questions the priest of the particular state, in private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes toward heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according to the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove unfavourable, there is no further consultation that day about the matter; if they sanction it, the confirmation of augury is still required.

–Tacitus’ Germania, circa 98 CE

“Distinguished by certain marks.” Perhaps I am missing sources that speak to it more exactly, but to me this is inconclusive and coincides too closely with our earliest known evidence of the Elder Futhark as a functional alphabet. This in my mind casts doubt on the use of runes in divination and magical practices during this time (to say nothing of later centuries), but I am neither a historian nor expert, and just because our oldest inscriptions date to about the mid-second century CE, this does not mean carvings didn’t exist and remain to be found, or were simply etched on objects unsuitable for recovery two thousand years later (like wood from a fruit tree).

Now, common misconceptions aside, does this take away from the runes in modern practice? No, I don’t believe it does. I believe firmly in the power of the runes. Why? Because we have imbued them with it. Our beliefs; the story of Odin and the runes; the influence of the Icelanders, writers far closer to the ancestral pagans of old, who likely preserved an older belief in their magical nature. These all give them power.

As the bearers of this living tradition, we can choose to impart power to these runes, following the traditions of our ancestors and having trust that the gods will aid us in kind. We know from the Havamal (written centuries after Christianization, mind you) that the runes were important to Odin, and from the Icelanders’ sagas that they were likely used to magical ends. So, our willingness to carry this forward and expound upon these practices despite the academic scarcity gives the runes their power, and provides a medium both for the gods to communicate with and support us today.

As I grow this website I’d like to start regularly making content on runework and tarot, perhaps even ogham, both as a way of learning myself and helping others learn. Keep at eye out.for more to come!

Also, I just released my Gifting Cycles page! Check it out for an example of how this humble pagan organizes their practice.