How to get iWord to use hotkeys for runic letters and accents . . . ????

Question

Hi -
Just got my first mac ever (an MBP) last week, and I'm working away on my PhD in medieval literature and loving this new computer!
In MS Word, my PC has flexible hotkey options, which allow me to choose combinations to produce runic letters (the "eth" and "thorn" and "ae" ligature) that are vital to my work, not to mention also simple accents, like those you'd encounter in French and Spanish.
I can paste these items into iWord, but the hotkey functions (after I assign them in iWord just as I would in PC Word) only produce lovely little cubes in the text . . . . ??? Why is this happening?
Please tell me there is a way to make this work that doesn't involve endless pasting or "replace with" practices? Please?!?
cheers,
Leif (aka desperate geeky medieval studies student . . .)

Answer 1

Are the letters you call runic þ, ð and æ? If so use the U.S. Extended keyboard layout. (Apple Menu > System Preferences > International > Input Menu.) alt+t for þ, alt+d for ð and alt+' for æ.
You can get a quick overview of keyboard shortcuts for each keyboard by showing the Keyboard Viewer. (Same list.)
You also have the runic unicode characters, like ᚱᚠᚦ and so on, but I think they only display if you have additional fonts, and you will need a separate keyboard layout to type them. I do not know what is available there. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes#Unicode for more info.
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)