When it comes to runes, you have to be mindful of the fact that the Odin mythology and Norse roots are the scandanavian expression of ancient Sumerian and Babylinian knowledge that was exported along with other aspects of their culture to various parts of the world after the cataclyms forced the inhabitants of these ancient civilisations to relocate. Tarot is another expression of this same knowledge, Throwing the bones (The Bones being a form of African Shamanic divination) are another example of this same exported knowledge.
In receipt of this, it doesn't make the Odin connection any less real, or powerful, here is a poem from the Poetic Edda, from 1200 AD (obviously a modernised translation)
The speech of the high one
I know i hung on that windswept tree,
swung there for nine long nights,
wounded by my own blade,
myself an offering to myself,
bound to the tree,
that no man knows,
wither the roots of it run.
None gave me bread,
none gave me drink,
down to the deapest depths i peered,
until i spied the Runes.
with a soaring cry i seized them up,
then dizzy and faiting, i fell.
Well-being i won, and wisdom too,
i grew and took joy in my growth,
from a word to a word,
i was led to a word
from a deed to another deed.
...