In using runic inscriptions as evidence for sound change, we tend to focus on the interpretation of individual texts, rather than examining the dataSet as a whole. This study aims at the phonological analysis of a corpus of 90 runic inscriptions on the Continent to test claims that the phonological processes which characterise Old High German and Old Saxon are at work in the 5th-7th centuries. The study presents significant challenges to existing models of these sound changes.