A clear and authoritative textbook as well as an attractive, amply illustrated, and well-made artifact. It is written in an accessible style that nevertheless does not oversimplify. Michael Barnes has set a new standard, providing us with a clear and dedicated textbook for teaching the study of runes.
STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING
Barnes has succeeded in ... Read moresystematizing for students an elusive body of knowledge, and models...a careful, logical approach.
MEDIEVAL REVIEW
Extremely welcome [and] likely to attract an international readership. The book covers essential aspects of runology and it provides us with a succinct research overview.
NOWELE
An accessible and useful introduction to the topic.
YEARS WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES
Provides students with an introduction to the topic which is both accessible and erudite. It brings the reader up to date on current issues in the discipline and demonstrates the concern with methodological rigour for which its author is well known.
HISTORY
Not only a handbook but a textbook for the study of runes.
CHOICE
A prudently structured, lucidly written, and judiciously reasoned overview of a subject that has engendered much divisiveness among experts. [...] A first-rate contribution.
ANGLIA
[An] immaculately produced book. [...] This book is both a pioneering textbook of runic studies and a reference resource on runes, thus serving the needs of students of language studies, medieval history and cultural matters, and the just plain curious.
REFERENCE REVIEWS
Overall, the book is abundant in interesting material, well-written, and.is a rare reliable source on this often overdramatized aspect of our field.
COMITATUS
An immaculately scholarly and notably rational introduction to runology. [It] tells the reader everything he or she needs to know about runes and how to study them. It will be invaluable to students.
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
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