The Vikings used runes upon their grave stones, weaponry, jewelry etc. which is a carved, angular and twisted writing, typically found with some kind of animal like the snake, which the Vikings were particularly fond of. The runic alphabet has 24 letters, nearly as many as the English alphabet which has 26 letters. The runic alphabet was inevitably forced to adapt and expand to 33 letters to produce new sounds, as the Vikings continuously conquered their neighbors and therefore required new ways to converse about these newly conquered lands. Initially, the Viking Elder Futhark alphabet featured 24 runes, but as Viking society evolved, it transitioned into the Younger Futhark alphabet, simplifying to 16 runes before expanding once again during the Medieval period to reflect these new sounds. The reason the runic alphabet is based upon vertical lines is because these were the easiest shapes to carve into stone and wood between the 9th and 11th centuries A.D. with the tools and technologies available to the Vikings within Scandinavia