The form of these letters was somewhat unsystematic, unlike later rearrangements and extensions that made them more featural. The "cirth" and were used for and , but varied as to which was which. Many of the runes consisted of a single vertical line (or "stem") with an appendage (or "branch") attached to one or both sides. If the attachment was made on one side only, it was usually to the right, but "the reverse was not infrequent" and didn't change the value of the letter. (For example, the variants or specifically mentioned for "h" or "s", also or for "t", etc.)