The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered arrives on 29 September 2026, and the third expansion, Songs of the Past, follows in 2027. Geralt leaves retirement to follow Dandelion home to Letten, and every player who has spent a decade socketing runestones into silver swords is asking the same thing: will there be runes, and will any of them be real?
Almost certainly yes, and almost certainly no. Songs of the Past will carry The Witcher 3's invented runestones, glyphs and runewords, and our prediction is that it will not add the real Elder Futhark. This is a prediction made before launch, from what CD PROJEKT RED has shown, and we will revisit it when the add-on ships.
There is one reason to hope otherwise. The Witcher 3 already sells you runewords, sold by a craftsman whose one line in Gwent is "From words is our existence shaped." Now comes an expansion named for songs, starring the series' poet. If runes were ever going to become writing in this world, this is the moment. We think they will stay stones, and the runewords show why.
What is a rune in The Witcher 3?
A rune in The Witcher 3 is a socketed upgrade, not a letter. Runestones go into sword slots and glyphs go into armour slots. Each adds one stat, in lesser, standard and greater tiers, and none of them spells anything. That system shipped in 2015 and has not changed its nature since.
There are ten kinds of runestone, all named after Slavic gods, as our Witcher 3 runes guide explains: Chernobog, Dazhbog, Devana, Morana, Perun, Stribog, Svarog, Triglav, Veles and Zoria. The numbers are small and exact. A Dazhbog stone gives a 2, 3 or 5 percent chance to burn. A Svarog stone adds 10, 20 or 30 armour piercing. Glyphs add 2, 5 or 10 percent to one of the five Signs: Aard, Axii, Igni, Quen or Yrden.
Hearts of Stone (13 October 2015) added four glyphs, Binding, Mending, Reinforcement and Warding, and one new idea: enchanting. Blood and Wine (2016) put its new power into mutations and armour dyes, not runes. So the rune system has grown once in two expansions, and it grew by adding "words".
Will Songs of the Past have runes?
Yes, very likely, because the add-on runs on the same game. It requires The Witcher 3 Remastered, which keeps the base upgrade system and gives every owner Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine for free. The developers have said the core mechanics "aged really well" and needed no major overhaul.
Here is how we score each part of the forecast, with the evidence available on 24 September 2026:
| Prediction | Confidence | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Runestones and glyphs work in Letten | High | Songs of the Past requires Remastered, which keeps the upgrade system |
| Runewords are available on your save | High | Remastered gives all owners Hearts of Stone for free |
| A new rune system replaces the old one | Low | The shown additions are a chain weapon and new mutagens |
| New named runestones or glyphs | Open | Nothing shown yet; Hearts of Stone added some, Blood and Wine did not |
| Elder Runes carved on ruins | Possible | Letten hides a "long-dormant evil", and elven ruins are common in the setting |
| Real Elder Futhark used as writing | Very low | Letten is modelled on rural Poland and Tudor England, not Scandinavia |
Note what is not on the list of announcements. The official material names a new region, a hooked chain that pulls enemies close, unique mutagens, and new enemies called Thornblooms and Swarmion. It names no rune feature at all. When a studio adds a system, it usually says so at the reveal.
Are runewords a way to write with runes?
No, and this is the heart of the argument. A runeword looks like writing: three runestones combined into one named result. But it is a recipe, not a spelling. The meaning comes from the ingredients, not from sounds, and you cannot invent a new one.
Take Severance. The Runewright fills a sword's three slots with a Zoria, a Veles and a Perun runestone, and the result lengthens Whirl by 1.1 yards and Rend by 1.9 yards. Nothing about the three gods' names adds up to "severance". The name is a label on the finished dish. Replenishment needs a greater Triglav, a greater Morana and a greater Dazhbog. Preservation needs a lesser Svarog, Devana and Morana. Swap one stone and you get nothing, not a new word.
Then there is Dumplings, the proof that the designers know exactly what they built. It needs two special stones, Pyerog and Tvarog, and it makes food restore 400 percent more Vitality, "but everything tastes like pierogies". The stones are named for their flavour, in both senses.
Unlocking all of this is a purchase, not a lesson. The Runewright asks for 5,000 crowns to replace his lost tools, then 10,000 for the second level of enchanting and 15,000 for the third: 30,000 crowns. At the end you can read nothing new. A real alphabet works the other way round. Learn the 24 letters of the Elder Futhark once and they combine into any word, which is the same argument our Gothic 2 guide makes about spell lists.
So when Songs of the Past arrives with a poet in the lead, the question is not whether Dandelion will write runes. It is whether the add-on changes what a Witcher rune is. Nothing shown so far says it will.
Songs of the Past runes vs. the Elder Futhark
| Feature | Songs of the Past (2027) | Elder Futhark |
|---|---|---|
| What one sign is | A socketed stone that adds one stat (expected) | A letter with a sound, a name and a meaning |
| How many | 10 runestone kinds in 3 tiers, plus glyphs | 24 |
| How signs combine | Fixed three-stone runeword recipes | Freely, into any word |
| Named after | Slavic gods, and one Polish dish | Sounds and words, such as Fehu, "cattle" |
| Can it be read? | No, a runestone encodes no language | Yes, once you learn the letters |
| In use | Since 2015; the add-on is due in 2027 | Roughly 150 to 800 CE |
What are the real runes?
The real runes are an alphabet. The Elder Futhark has 24 letters, used by Germanic peoples from roughly 150 to 800 CE and carved into wood, bone, stone and metal. Each letter is a sound, a name and a word at once: Fehu is cattle and wealth, Uruz the wild ox, Ansuz a god.
The magic came on top of the writing. In Norse tradition, Odin wins the runes by hanging nine nights on the world-tree Yggdrasil, pierced by his own spear. People then used the letters for charms and protection, combined them into bindrunes and sigils, and read them for guidance in a practice that continues today.
Egil's Saga shows how seriously the sagas took the difference between power and literacy. Egil finds a woman made ill by badly carved runes, cuts the right ones to cure her, and warns that no one should carve runes who cannot read them well. The Witcher's runewords reverse that order: power first, and no reading at all.
Why Letten has no room for real runes
Letten is a region in northern Redania, on the southern bank of the Nimnar, and the seat of Dandelion's family, the de Lettenhoves. The developers say its countryside draws on rural Polish landscapes and its manor house on Tudor architecture. Xbox Wire's preview calls it "inspired by both English and Polish rural regions."
None of that is runic ground. The Witcher world is built on Slavic folklore, and the Slavic peoples had no proven native runic alphabet. Its one Norse-flavoured corner, Skellige, is far from Letten. Its own written runes, the Elder Runes, belong to the elves and the invented Elder Speech. If Letten's buried secret leads into ruins, elven signs on the walls would fit the setting. The Elder Futhark would not.
That is also why the invented runestones are the honest choice. A 2027 expansion about a Redanian noble family has no reason to put a real Viking Age alphabet on a Polish country estate. The Blood of Dawnwalker, made by Witcher veterans at Rebel Wolves, faced a similar Eastern European setting and also chose invented signs.
Want runes you can actually read?
Songs of the Past will likely hand Geralt the same runestones he has carried since 2015: ten gods, three tiers, and a Runewright who sells words you cannot read. The real runes are 24 letters, and they have been readable for close to two thousand years.
The quickest way in is to draw one. You can cast a free rune reading in your browser right now, using the genuine Elder Futhark and their traditional meanings, with a single draw for a fast question or a fuller spread for something weightier. If you prefer a slower start, pull a rune of the day each morning, or read how online rune readings work first. The rest of the series lives on the runes in games hub, including The Witcher 3 and Valheim, the one game that uses the real futhark.
We will check this forecast against the finished add-on in 2027. Until then, the runes that say something are already here. , free on iOS, Android, and the web, in English and Russian.
Frequently asked questions
Are the runes in The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past real runes?
Almost certainly not, though this is a prediction: the add-on is due in 2027. Songs of the Past runs on the remastered Witcher 3, so it inherits the same invented runestones, glyphs and runewords. They are sword and armour upgrades named after Slavic gods, not letters. Nothing announced so far points to the real Elder Futhark appearing in Letten.
Will Songs of the Past have runestones and glyphs?
Very likely. The add-on requires The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, which keeps the base game's upgrade system of runestones for swords and glyphs for armour. The developers have said the core gameplay aged well and needed no major overhaul. The new things shown so far are a chain weapon and new mutagens, not a new rune system.
When does The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past come out?
In 2027, with no exact date announced as of September 2026. CD PROJEKT RED announced it on 27 May 2026 and showed it at gamescom in August. It comes to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 as a paid expansion, and it needs the Remastered edition, which launches on 29 September 2026.
Where is Letten in The Witcher?
Letten is a region in northern Redania, on the southern bank of the Nimnar river, and the home of Dandelion's family, the de Lettenhoves. The developers describe it as an idyllic land of harvests and festivals with a dark secret underneath. Its countryside draws on rural Polish landscapes, and the Lettenhove manor on Tudor architecture. It is a region the series has never visited before.
What is a runeword in The Witcher 3?
A runeword is an enchantment added in Hearts of Stone. The Runewright combines three specific runestones into one named effect, filling every slot on a sword with at least three slots. Severance, for example, takes a Zoria, a Veles and a Perun runestone and lengthens the reach of Whirl and Rend. Glyphwords do the same for armour.
Do I need Hearts of Stone to use runewords in Songs of the Past?
You will have it either way. Runewords come from the Runewright, a Hearts of Stone character. The Remastered edition, which Songs of the Past requires, gives every existing owner Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine for free. So anyone who reaches Letten should already have the Runewright's enchantments available on their save.
Who is the Runewright in The Witcher 3?
An Ofieri mage-craftsman camped at Upper Mill in Hearts of Stone, who lost his tools at sea. Geralt pays him 5,000 crowns to restart his work, then 10,000 and 15,000 more to unlock the second and third levels of enchanting: 30,000 crowns in total. His Gwent card line is: From words is our existence shaped.
What is the Dumplings runeword in The Witcher 3?
A joke runeword from Hearts of Stone. It needs two special runestones, Pyerog and Tvarog, which must be crafted from diagrams found in set locations. Once enchanted, food restores 400 percent more Vitality, but everything tastes like pierogies. It is the series showing that its runes are named for flavour, not written to be read.
What runestones are in The Witcher 3?
Ten kinds, each in lesser, standard and greater tiers: Chernobog, Dazhbog, Devana, Morana, Perun, Stribog, Svarog, Triglav, Veles and Zoria. Each adds one combat effect, such as a 2, 3 or 5 percent chance to burn for Dazhbog, or 10, 20 or 30 armour piercing for Svarog. Hearts of Stone adds Pyerog and Tvarog for one runeword.
Will Songs of the Past use the Elder Futhark?
Our prediction is no. The Witcher world is built on Slavic folklore and an invented elven language, and Letten is modelled on rural Poland and Tudor England, not Viking Scandinavia. The Elder Futhark is a real 24-letter Germanic alphabet used from roughly 150 to 800 CE, and no Witcher game has used it as working writing.
Could the Elder Runes appear in Songs of the Past?
Possibly, as decoration. The Elder Runes are the setting's invented alphabet of the Aen Seidhe, the elves, and ancient elven ruins are common across the Witcher world. If Letten's buried secret involves old ruins, carved elven signs would fit. They would still be a fictional script built for the books, not the historical runes carved in Scandinavia.
Who is developing The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past?
CD PROJEKT RED is co-developing it with Fool's Theory, a Polish studio founded in July 2015 by Jakub Rokosz, a former senior quest designer on The Witcher 3. The story is original rather than taken from Andrzej Sapkowski's novels, and it centres on Dandelion, his family and his cousin Lilla.
Is Songs of the Past about Dandelion?
Yes. Geralt comes out of retirement after Blood and Wine to help Dandelion, whose full name is Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove. The bard takes him to his ancestral home in Letten, where Geralt investigates the family's past and a place called the Garden of Thorns. The developers say the friendship itself is at risk.
Where can I try a real rune reading online?
You can cast a free rune reading in your browser with the Way of the Runes rune-reading tool. It uses the genuine 24 Elder Futhark runes and their traditional meanings, with quick single draws for a fast question and fuller spreads for something weightier, and a full description for every rune. It works on any device, in English and Russian.
Which rune are you?
Seven questions, about a minute, and you get one of the 24 Elder Futhark runes. The scoring is shown as you answer. Free, no signup.