16. Tacit. Germ. ii. 19. Literarum secreta viri pariter ac
foeminae ignorant. We may rest contented with this decisive
authority, without entering into the obscure disputes
concerning the antiquity of the Runic characters. The
learned Celsius, a Swede, a scholar, and a philosopher, was
of opinion, that they were nothing more than the Roman
letters, with the curves changed into straight lines for the
ease of engraving. See Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes,1.
ii. c. 11. Dictionnaire Diplomatique, tom. i. p. 223. We may
add, that the oldest Runic inscriptions are supposed to be
of the third century, and the most ancient writer who
mentions the Runic characters is Venantius Fortunatus (Carm.
vii. 18), who lived towards the end of the sixth century-
Barbara fraxineis pingatur RUNA tabellis.