runes pl.n. 1. Anything that requires {heavy wizardry}
or {black art} to {parse}: core dumps, JCL commands, APL, or
code in a language you haven't a clue how to read. Not quite as
bad as {line noise}, but close. Compare {casting the runes},
{Great Runes}. 2. Special display characters (for example, the
high-half graphics on an IBM PC).