The business was started in 1994 when I was made redundant after many years in the travel industry and then quality management. I am more-or-less retired now but I continue the Runemaker websites as a labour of love.

But back then, while waiting for "real" work, I indulged my personal interests and made some stuff for my own use.

Friends and relatives saw what I was doing, and I soon started getting orders. Realizing there might be a market for all things runic, I started taking bits and pieces to craft fairs along with the Celtic craftwork, wooden toys and games that I was making and selling here in England. I was surprised at the level of interest in the rune wares and was flattered that people wanted to buy my products.

I used to supply rune goods to a couple of dealers such as Jonathan Cainer of York and Occultique of Northampton who were selling my work all over the world. Another wonderful dealer - Snapdragon of Sevenoaks - got my rune sets featured in Ure Geller's "Encounters" magazine in 1996. As a result of this publicity and an appearance on American TV, I received orders from as far afield as Germany, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Brazil, India and New Zealand to name just a few countries.

Oswald the Runemaker is now basically a one-man retirement hobby run from home in Buckinghamshire, England and financed from private resources. It combines three of my long-term interests - runology, woodwork and Celtic art.

I first got interested in the runes after seeing the Bewcastle monument as a teenager.

My father was a Geordie (i.e. a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne), a brilliant mathematician and engineer, and he knew everything, at least I thought he did!

But when I spotted this monument in a Cumbrian churchyard and asked him what the writing on it was, he was stumped.

This made such a big impression on me, I determined there and then to learn all about the strange angular symbols that were unknown to the great and wise Tom Oswald.

And so, for half a century now I have searched, prodded and squirreled away every piece of Runic knowledge that has come my way. I started with scientific runology - the archaeological study of runes and their application purely from the historical point of view, and then moved on to read the mystic writings.

Here, I found that much of the published work on the mystic use of Runes is supposition, inspiration, and downright guesswork. Whilst the early Germanic and Norse Runes are well covered, not so much had been written about the Ancient Pagan (or Anglo-Friesian) runes. I have therefore carried out my own research to establish an authentic arrangement of runes that would accurately reflect their mystic use when they first arrived in Britain. The goods described in the RuneWares pages are the result.

Finally - to answer the questions I am most frequently asked - I am an experienced Runemaster, an Anglo-Saxon by descent and my last name really is Oswald.

There is another bio page on my author website at www.boboswald.com  related specifically to my writings which gives some more information about my life and career.