In using runic inscriptions as evidence for sound change we tend to focus on the
interpretation of individual texts rather than examining the dataset as a whole.This study
aims at the phonological analysis of a corpus of 90 runic inscriptions on the Continent to test
claims that the phonological processes which characterise Old High German and Old Saxon are at
work in the 5th-7th centuries.The study presents significant challenges to existing models of
these sound changes.
