You know how it is, you want to use some Anglo Saxon runes but don’t know how to do it.
A common problem…
According to runer, oops, rumour, the original Anglo Saxons created their runes by using a hammer and chisel.
Or something very similar, it might have been a rock and another rock, except the second rock was a bit sharper than the first rock.
However, technology has moved on since then, and we no longer have to use a couple of rocks to create runes.
We now have drawing, or paint, software.
Using this, we don’t have to use a couple of rocks to create runes.
I spent quite a while trying to work out how I could use a couple of rocks to create runes on my computer, but every attempt failed.
Yes, you guessed correctly – the computer was runed – oops, ruined.Let’s be sensible.
Anglo Saxon runes consist entirely of straight lines.
There are no curves, loops, or bends, so obviously ‘special characters’ such as the @ or % symbol for example are out of the question.
Well, the @ special character is, but with a little dexterity the % might be do-able, because there’s a straight line in it.
I wanted some runes that meant ‘death,’ for a novel that I was writing,* and after a little research I found the ones that I wanted.
I could have just copied them – copied the original ones, but they might have been copyrighted material, so I created my own.
Here’s the best way of doing it, in drawing or paint software.
But first, make sure that the software has a ‘grid’ option.
This just means that it has a series of lines that run from top to bottom and from side to side.
You can switch the grid option on or off, the lines can’t be seen when you’ve finished, they’ll be invisible in the finished product, even if you inadvertently leave the grid option on.
Start the first line of the first rune on a fixed point on the grid, on the left hand side.
This fixed point might be 1500 pixels, for example.
This first line of the first rune might be a vertical line.
Place your cursor on the top of this vertical line, and draw another straight line, at an angle (45 degrees is ideal.)
Finish this line about halfway down from the top of the first line.
Keep hold of the cursor and draw another line upwards at a 45 degree angle.
Finish this line on the same small square as the top of the original vertical line.
Keep hold of the curse and draw a vertical line.
Finish this line on the same grid (small square) as the bottom of the first line.
If all went well, you have now created a Saxon rune, like the one above, which is an authentic one, i.e it was originally used by the Anglo Saxons. Use the same system for any other runes which you might want to create.

*For my Anglo Saxon horror story, ‘Our Saxon Life.’