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'Ancient Runes' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/

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Thank you for all the solutions you sent in to us. Do remember to explain how you get to your answer - we want to know your thinking and reasoning.

Tutku at Erenkoy Isik School in Turkey wrote to tell us how he found out the message:

I looked at the word "WAS" and I found that, "W" has 5 lines for left that shows us the number of the row which the letter is written.
And it has 3 lines for right that shows us the number of the column which the letter is written in.
And this rule is the same for A and S .
So I found the secret message:

LOOK UNDER THE STONE

Rachel at Nightingale Junior School explains very clearly how to decipher the code:

Look at the left hand side of the first rune. Count the number of sticks. This tells you how many rows to go down on the letter chart. Put a ruler on this row to make sure you don't get lost.
Next look at the right hand side of the same rune. Count the sticks. This tells you how many columns to go across in the alphabet chart. Follow the column down with your finger until you get to the row you put your ruler on. Where they meet is the letter you need.
You decode the whole message like that.

Another Rachel sent in her own message. Perhaps you can work out what it says?

message in runes