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Ancient Runes

Here is a table containing all the letters of the alphabet:

Alphabet
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
 
 
 
 


It has six rows (going from left to right) and five columns (going from top to bottom). The Vikings communicated in writing by making simple scratches on wood or stones called runes. Sometimes they were written in a secret or coded way. Here is 'was' written in NRICH's coded runes:

Was written in the NRICH coded runes

Can you work out how the code works using the table of the alphabet?
Here is a message in secret runes:

code1

code1

code1

code1

Can you decipher it?
Perhaps you can make up your own message.

This activity requires some lateral thinking - a bit of fun!