The ancient signs have developed through time and location. This is a breath list of the most common groups: Elder Futhark, Medieval runes and Younger Futhark. Where the older alphabet consisted of 24 letters, the younger were reduced to only 16, giving several letters more than one sound and meaning. Might be easier to learn the letters, but the reading, on the other hand, became significantly more difficult. The Medieval added some much need sounds, and is close to the Latin alphabet.