As man shall not trace runes
Except he can read them well,
It is thus with many a man
That the dark letters bewilder him.
I saw on the cut whalebone
Ten hidden[[149]] letters carved,
That have caused to the leek-linden (woman)
A very long sorrow.
“Egil traced runes, and placed them under the pillow in the bed where she rested. It seemed to her as if she awoke from a sleep, and she said she was then healed, though she had little strength. Her father and mother were very glad” (Egil’s Saga, c. 75).
When persons were deaf, they communicated with others by means of runes.