I don't know about the website, but the mystical side of the runes is very old. In fact, the story about how the runes came to be is that Oden hung over the Well of Mimer (Mimer was a giant well versed in magic) for nine days and nine nights. In the end, he lost one of his eyes, but received the runes instead. The runes describe the world, so the world can be altered through the runes (the idea goes). Each rune describes an aspect of the world, like the Is-rune being both the sound "i"/"ee" and the concept of "ice".

I may have the details wrong. I read about it in school after all. I love the story though: http://norse-mythology.org/tales/odins-discovery-of-the-rune...

Edit: like I wrote above, this is the STORY, ie the cultural myth about how they came to be. The STORY shows how they were THOUGHT OF as more than a practical language.