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NOTE: Full tables of the Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark are available at the bottom of this article. 

Runes: History and Meaning

In Norse tradition, the god Odin sought knowledge at great personal cost. According to the Hávamál, he pierced himself with his own spear and hung upon the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights, sacrificing himself to himself in order to gain insight into the runes. From this ordeal, Odin perceived the runes rising up from the depths, often poetically linked to the Well of Urðr—the source of fate.

This myth illustrates how the Norse understood runes as far more than simple letters. They were believed to embody deep meaning and power, capable of conveying wisdom, shaping fate, and bridging the worlds of gods and humans. Odin’s sacrifice underscores the idea that true understanding of the runes required suffering, discipline, and divine insight.

Runes as More Than Letters

From this story, we can see that the Norse and other Germanic peoples viewed runes not merely as a writing system, but as symbols imbued with inherent significance. Archaeological evidence shows that runes were used as early as the first century CE. However, they were not employed in the same everyday manner as later alphabetic writing systems.

Early runic inscriptions were typically reserved for matters of importance: commemorating ancestors, marking graves, declaring ownership, or invoking protection. Runes were carved into stone, wood, bone, metal, and other durable materials. Their angular shapes reflect this carving tradition, as straight lines are easier to incise than curves.

Because runes carried meaning beyond phonetic value, they could also be used symbolically. Some inscriptions suggest protective or commemorative intent, and later sources describe runes being used for divination or ritual purposes. Carved onto sticks, bone, or other objects, runes could be cast and interpreted to reflect present circumstances or possible futures.

While evidence suggests that many Vikings possessed at least a basic ability to read runes, deeper knowledge and symbolic interpretation were likely associated with specialists—poets, ritual practitioners, or religious figures. Even so, for those familiar with the Latin alphabet, the relationship between runes and modern letters such as T, O, F, and S is easy to recognize, making runes relatively approachable with a little practice.

Runic Futharks

The word alphabet derives from the Greek letters alpha and beta. In a similar way, scholars refer to runic writing systems as futharks (or futhorks), named after the first six runes of the Elder Futhark: F, U, Þ (Th), A, R, and K.

The Elder Futhark is so named because it is the oldest known complete runic system. It consists of 24 runes and appears in its full sequence on the Kylver Stone from Gotland, Sweden, dated to around the early Migration Period (circa 400 CE).

Update (2023):
An even earlier runestone, known as the Svingerud Stone, was excavated in Norway. The runes on this stone are believed to date to around the time of Christ, potentially pushing the origins of Elder Futhark runic writing back even further.

Runestones

Runestones are large stones—often granite—carved with runic inscriptions and, at times, decorative imagery. Roughly 50 runestones date to the early Migration Period, before the Viking Age. During the Viking Age (circa 793–1066), runestone carving flourished, and thousands of inscriptions were created by skilled specialists.

Today, approximately 3,500 runic inscriptions are known in Scandinavia: about 2,400 in Sweden, 450 in Denmark, and roughly 140 in Norway. Though now weathered and gray, many runestones were originally painted in vivid colors such as red, black, and blue.

Runestones often served as displays of power and remembrance. Some proclaimed family lineage or territorial authority, such as the famous Jelling Stones raised by Harald Bluetooth. Others marked grave sites or commemorated the dead. The earliest raised stones appear in Norway and Sweden in the fourth and fifth centuries, while Denmark adopted the practice somewhat later. Most surviving runestones, however, date to the eleventh century, as the Viking Age drew to a close.

The Kingittorsuaq Runestone below was found in Greenland and is currently located at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Elder Futhark

Elder Futhark, with its 24 runes, was widely used among Germanic peoples across northern Europe. Over time, linguistic changes in Old Norse led to the development of the Younger Futhark, which reduced the number of runes to 16.

This reduction was not due to linguistic simplification. On the contrary, the Norse language was becoming more complex phonetically. As a result, individual runes in Younger Futhark often represented multiple sounds, requiring readers to rely more heavily on context.

Younger Futhark

Younger Futhark developed regional styles, most notably long-branch and short-twig runes. Short-twig runes functioned as a kind of shorthand and became common in Norway and Sweden, while long-branch runes were favored for formal inscriptions, particularly in Denmark.

Other runic systems also existed, including Anglo-Saxon and Gothic runes, which are closely related to Elder Futhark and reflect regional linguistic developments.

The Expanding Use of Runes

The Viking Age brought increased trade, travel, and cultural exchange, creating a greater need for written communication. As a result, archaeologists have uncovered thousands of Younger Futhark inscriptions, compared to the hundreds known from the Elder Futhark period.

Runes were used for a wide range of purposes: marking property, recording legal agreements, identifying ownership, and simply carving personal names. While ritual specialists such as seers and völur may have used runes symbolically, the majority of inscriptions reflect practical, everyday concerns. Viking graffiti has been found from Orkney to Constantinople, attesting to the vast reach of Norse travelers.

Reading and Writing Runes

The tables below provide a basic introduction to the runes used by the Vikings and their ancestors. They are intended to help readers transliterate names, explore historical associations, and understand commonly accepted symbolic meanings.

Much about the runes remains uncertain. In fact, they may be more mysterious today than they were to those who carved them. As expressed in the Hávamál, true understanding requires knowledge, care, and respect:

Runes you will find, and readable staves,
Very strong staves, very stout staves,
Staves that mighty powers made,
Graven by the prophetic god.

Know how to cut them, know how to read them,
Know how to stain them, know how to test them…

(From the Hávamál, “Words of the High One,” translated by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor)

Viking Language Translator
The above tables may be used to translate. Click here to view rune necklaces.

Modern Day Rune Jewelry
While Younger Futhark was the primarily choice during the Viking era (750 - 1050 AD), it is very likely that the Vikings could still use and interpret the Elder version (just as we can still interpret it today a thousand years later). Most of today's Viking rune jewelry uses the Elder version simply because letters translate easier to the English alphabet.

The similarities between many of the original Elder runes and today's English letters is undeniable.

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Sources

1. King, B. ( The Meaning of the Runes. Retrieved from https://www.ragweedforge.com/runemean.html
2. Dickens, B. (1915), Runic and Heroic Poems. Retrieved from https://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html
3. Bray, O. (1908). The Havamal, (The Words of Odin the High One) from the Poetic Edda. Retrieved from https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/havamal.html#spells
4. McCoy, D (2018). Odin’s Discovery of the Runes. Norse Mythology for Smart People. Retrieved from https://norse-mythology.org/tales/odins-discovery-of-the-runes/
5. Short, W. (2018). Stories, Poems, and Literature from the Viking Age. Hurstwic. Retrieved from http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/literature/text/literature.htm
6. Foster, J. (2016). Norse Runes. Retrieved from http://users.on.net/~starbase/galdrastafir/runes.htm
7. Halvorsen, I. The Meaning of the Runes. Retrieved from http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/meanings.html
8. Xander, (2016). The Younger Futhark: An Instructive Guide. Huggin’s Heathen Hof.