The runic alphabet is a writing system based on angular shapes, originally carved into wood or stone. Runes were first used mainly in Northern Europe by the Anglo-Saxons and Norse tribes. One theory says that runes evolved from Etruscan writing, however, other quasi-runic scripts in other parts of the world (e.g. Rovásírás and Orkhon) also exist.
Relevance[]
J.R.R. Tolkien decided that a number of his races of Arda would used runic scripts. In The Hobbit, Old English runes, or Futharc, are used to display the writing of the Dwarves on Thrór's Map; they read as Westron (English) words and not Dwarven. The foreword of The Hobbit (50th anniversary edition and later) explains the usage of the Old English runes and help the reader read the Map, although translations are also revealed at the end of chapter 3, "A Short Rest".
Eventually Tolkien elaborated on a totally original runic writing system while writing The Lord of the Rings. Although most of the letters between historical runes and Tolkien's Cirth, invented by Elves, are identical, they do not share the same values, since the Cirth follow the phonetic principles of Tengwar characters.
In the history of Arda, a runic script called Cirth was invented by Daeron of Doriath to represent Sindarin words. Runes came to be used widely by races other than the Elves; especially the Dwarves.