In Norse mythology, the invention of runes is attributed to Odin: The Hávamál (stanzas 138, 139) describes how Odin receives the rune through his self-sacrifice. The text (in Old Norse and in English translation) is as follows:
| Veit ec at ec hecc vindga meiði a |
I know that I hung on a windy tree , |
| netr allar nío, |
nights all nine, |
| geiri vndaþr oc gefinn Oðni, |
wounded with a spearand given to odin, |
| sialfr sialfom mer, |
myself to myself, |
| a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn. |
on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run, |
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| Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi, |
No bread did they give me nor drink from a horn, |
| nysta ec niþr, |
downwards I peered, |
| nam ec vp rvnar, |
I took up the runes, |
| opandi nam, |
screaming I took them, |
| fell ec aptr þaðan. |
then I fell back from there |
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