Runes and their Secrets er en engelsk- og tysksproget artikelsamling, der omhandler en bred vifte af runologiske emner, skrevet af anerkendte fagfolk.

Artiklerne stammer fra indlæg på et internationalt runesymposium, der blev holdt i 2000. Tidsmæssigt dækker Runes and their Secrets runeindskrifter fra 1. til 16. århundrede, herunder spørgsmål om runernes navne, kronologi, literacy, runemønter med mere. Dertil kommer artikler om den ældste runeforskning samt runemagi. Flere af artiklerne præsenterer helt ny viden, eksempelvis om de runekrypterede oplysninger om militære og erotiske hemmeligheder fra midten af 1500-årene.

En række bidrag har fokus på danske forhold: Anne Pedersen skriver om Jelling-monumentet, Jørgen Steen Jensen om Svend Estridsens runemønter, mens Marie Stoklund drøfter de danske runeindskrifters kronologi og typologi.

Andre bidrag har et bredere, internationalt tilsnit: Bernard Mees skriver om runernes brug i det første århundrede e.Kr., Kathrin Lüthi om sydtyske runeindskrifters vidnesbyrd om literacy, mens Nancy Wicker behandler fremstillingen af guldbrakteater. To artikler af Alan Griffiths og Bernd Neuner drøfter runernes navne. De angelsaxiske runer er temaet for to andre artikler af R.I. Page, Gaby Waxenberger. Jan Ragnar Hagland skriver om Bent Billes runeoptegnelser fra 1500-tallet, mens Per Stilles bidrag omhandler runeforskningens barndom i samme århundrede. Blandt de mere teoretiserende emner kan nævnes Michael Barnes diskussion af normaliserede runerækker og Mindy MacLeods artikel om binderuner. Sproghistorien i den ældste runeperiode er temaet hos Hans Frede Nielsen og Terje Spurkland. I to artikler af Anne-Sofie Gräslund og Lise Gjedssø Bertelsen drøftes runeindskrifterne set fra en kunsthistorisk synsvinkel. Endelig handler Stephen E. Flowers bidrag om runemagi.

Redaktørerne
Hovedredaktør Marie Stoklund, f. 1934, cand. mag., er fhv. museumsinspektør og seniorforsker ved Nationalmuseet i København. Forfatterskabet rummer en lang række artikler om danske, grønlandske og færøske runeindskrifter fra 1958 og frem.

Medredaktørerne Michael Lerche Nielsen, f. 1964, Bente Holmberg, f. 1945, og Gillian Fellows-Jensen, f. 1936, er alle tilknyttede Afdeling for Navneforskning, Københavns Universitet, med forfatterskaber primært om sted- og personnavne.

English
Runes and their Secrets is a collection of articles, mainly in English, dealing with a wide range of runological topics, all the works of recognised scholars. The articles originated as papers read at an international runic symposium that was held in the year 2000. Runes and their Secrets embraces Danish/Scandinavian runic inscriptions, as well as runic inscriptions from other parts of the Germanic world from the first to the sixteenth century, that is before and after the conversion to Christianity. It includes such topics as the names of the runes, their chronology, literacy, runic coins etc. There are also articles on the oldest runic research and runic magic. Several of the articles present new knowledge, for example about runic encryption of military and erotic secrets from the middle of the sixteenth century.The chief editor Marie Stoklund is former keeper and senior research associate at the National Museum in Copenhagen. The co-editors Michael Lerche Nielsen, Bente Holmberg and Gillian Fellows-Jensen are all associated with the Institute of Name Research at the University of Copenhagen.

The editors
The chief editor is Marie Stoklund, born 1934, formally keeper and senior research associate at the National Museum in Copenhagen. She is the author of numerous articles on Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese inscriptions that have appeared since 1958.

The co-editors, Michael Lerche Nielsen, born 1964, Bente Holmberg, born 1945, and Gillian Fellows-Jensen, born 1936, are all associated with the Institute of Name Research at the University of Copenhagen, and their work has been primarily concerned with place-names and personal names.

Pressen skrev
Each paper has been written by an academic expert and will have been subjected to peer review and criticism before being selected for inclusion therein; the paper will, therefore, represent a good crosssection of the current theories in this difficult area of study.
- Ian Read, RUNA, issue 20, 2007.

"If Runes and Their secrets is any indication, there is ample evidence for the vitality of the scholarly study of runes among the pages of this impressive collection of papers. I suspect it will gain a large share of enthusiastic readers."
- Michael Moynihan, TYR, vol.3, 2007-2008.

"The volume contains some valuable runological scholarship on pertinent issues. Indeed, many articles tend to show a high standard and are useful tools."
- Svante Fischer, Fornvännen 103, 2008.