Four features of the parchment

From the text:

This was the appearance of a filthy parchment, which slid out of the book and fell to earth.

It was five inches long and three inches wide, with horizontal lines of mumbo-jumbo-style characters written on it.

The professor examined the series of characters for a few moments. Then he said, lifting up his glasses: "They’re runes—the forms are absolutely identical to those in Snorri Sturluson’s manuscript.