Viking Runes Guide

Viking runes are the letters of the runic alphabets used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples from roughly the 2nd century AD through the end of the Viking Age. Three main systems were used: the 24-rune Elder Futhark, the 16-rune Younger Futhark that Scandinavians wrote through the Viking Age, and the Anglo-Saxon futhorc of up to 33 runes used in early medieval England. Vikings carved them onto stone, wood, bone and metal to record names, mark memorials, and, they believed, to carry protection and magic.

This guide explains where the runes came from, what the three futharks are, what the best-known runes mean, and the famous myth of how Odin won them. Want to see your own name in runes first? Use our free Rune Translator to write any word in the Elder, Younger or Anglo-Saxon alphabets. And remember the distinction: runes are an alphabet; the language they wrote was Old Norse — our Old Norse translator finds the actual words the Vikings used, verified against Zoëga's dictionary, with the runes included.

What are Viking runes?

Viking runes are characters in a writing system called the futhark, named after the sound values of its first six runes: F, U, Þ (th), A, R and K. Before the Latin alphabet reached the North, Germanic peoples wrote in runes across many related languages. The Norse used them for practical records like ownership and trade, for memorial stones raised to the dead, and for inscriptions people believed held power over health, weather, luck and protection.

Norse culture was largely oral, so the sagas and myths were spoken and memorised rather than written at length. Runes were used for shorter inscriptions: a name, a claim, a memorial, a charm. Most surviving runestones stand in Sweden, with more across Norway and Denmark, and runic graffiti left by travelling Norsemen has been found as far away as Orkney and Istanbul (Constantinople) — you can visit both carving sites on our interactive Viking World Map.

Handmade Elder Futhark runes

The three futharks: Elder, Younger and Anglo-Saxon

There are three main runic alphabets. They overlap in shape but differ in the number of runes and the period and place they were used.

• Elder Futhark, 24 runes (c. 150 to 800 AD). The oldest and most complete system, used across the Germanic world before and into the early Viking Age. It is the alphabet most people mean by "Viking runes" today, and the one rune-meaning guides are usually based on.
• Younger Futhark, 16 runes (c. 800 to 1100 AD). A reduced set that Scandinavians actually used through the Viking Age proper. Fewer runes had to cover more sounds, so several letters did double duty.
• Anglo-Saxon futhorc, up to 33 runes (c. 5th to 11th century). Used in early medieval England and Frisia, where the alphabet grew rather than shrank, adding runes for the sounds of Old English.

The name of each alphabet comes from its first six runes, exactly the way "alphabet" comes from alpha and beta. You can switch between all three and compare them side by side in our Rune Translator.

Where the runes came from

The origin of the runic script is still debated. Most scholars think the runes were adapted from an Old Italic (North Italic) alphabet, the family of scripts used in northern Italy and the Alps before Latin took over, and that Germanic people who served with or traded alongside Rome carried the idea north. A minority argue for a more direct Latin origin. What is clear is that the runes were shaped for carving: straight lines and diagonals, with few curves or horizontals that would disappear along the grain of wood.

The Kylver Stone from Gotland, Sweden, dated to around 400 AD, carries one of the earliest near-complete rows of the Elder Futhark. The earliest short inscriptions are older still, reaching back to roughly the 2nd century AD, though their letter shapes were not yet standardised.

What Viking runes mean

Every rune had a name that was also a word, so each carried a plain meaning (Fehu means "cattle," Uruz means "aurochs") long before it was ever used for fortune-telling. The mystical readings below come mainly from modern rune divination rather than the Viking Age itself, so treat them as tradition and interpretation, not history. For the full 24-rune list with sound values, see our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide. Here are ten of the best known Elder Futhark runes.

Fehu (ᚠ), "cattle," wealth

Fehu literally meant cattle, the movable wealth of a Norse household. In divination it stands for prosperity and earned abundance, with a reminder to keep and grow what you have already won rather than waste it.

Uruz (ᚢ), "aurochs," strength

Uruz was named for the aurochs, the wild ox of Europe. It speaks of raw strength and of leaving one stage of life behind for the next, the end of an old chapter and the start of a stronger one.

Ansuz (ᚨ), "a god," wisdom and the spoken word

Ansuz means "a god," and among the Norse it was linked above all to Odin, the god of wisdom and poetry. It is the rune of the spoken word, of messages, insight and sacred knowledge, and it counsels care and patience in what you say.

Nauthiz (ᚾ), need and hardship

Nauthiz means need. It marks constraint and difficulty, and advises anyone who draws it to slow down, rebuild their plans and work patiently through hard times rather than force a way out in anger.

Gebo (ᚷ), a gift

Gebo means gift. It stands for generosity, partnership and the balance between what is given and what is received, whether in friendship, love or trade.

Wunjo (ᚹ), joy

Wunjo means joy. It is the light after a hard stretch, a sign of harmony and confidence once sadness has passed, and of ease between your deeper self and your everyday mind.

Algiz (ᛉ), protection

Algiz is the rune of protection and steady nerves. It counsels controlling your emotions through change, so that even a battle you cannot win leaves you wiser rather than broken.

Perthro (ᛈ), mystery and fate

Perthro is one of the most debated runes, often linked to a lot-cup used for casting lots. It stands for mystery, chance and hidden gains, the forces at work in a life that are not easy to name.

Ingwaz (ᛜ), fertility and new life

Ingwaz is named for Ing (Yngvi), a fertility god. It represents new life and completion, the sowing that must happen before any harvest, and the right of anyone to begin a fresh chapter.

Othala (ᛟ), heritage and home

Othala means ancestral property and inheritance. It speaks of home, family and what is passed down, and of the wisdom to shed the old when it is time so something new can grow.

Runes, magic and the Norns

Because runes could fix words in stone and metal, people believed they could fix intentions too. Inscriptions were carved to bless health, love, harvests and safe travel, and darker charms were carved to curse. This is why the Norse thought of runes as more than letters, and why they connected them to fate itself.

In the myths, fate is carved. Beneath the world tree Yggdrasil, at the Well of Urd, sit the three Norns who shape the destiny of all Nine Realms by cutting runes into the tree. To the Norse mind, to know the runes was to touch the machinery of fate.

Viking runestones

How Odin won the runes

The most famous rune myth is Odin's own. In the poem Hávamál in the Poetic Edda, Odin, ever hungry for wisdom, hangs himself on Yggdrasil for nine nights, wounded by a spear and refusing all help, food and water. Watching the Norns and their runes the whole time, he offers himself to himself, a god sacrificed to a god. On the ninth night the runes finally reveal themselves to him, and he seizes them.

With the runes Odin gained the chants and charms the myths credit him with: to heal body and mind, to blunt an enemy's weapons, to calm fire and sea, and to protect his warriors in battle. It is the ultimate sacrifice in Norse myth, and it frames the runes as knowledge worth suffering for. (Hávamál is also the Viking Age's own book of wisdom — its most famous verses, with sources and runes, are in our collection of real Viking quotes in Old Norse.)

The blank rune

You will sometimes see a blank rune, called Wyrd, sold in divination sets. It is worth being clear: the blank rune is a modern addition from 20th-century fortune-telling kits, not part of any historical futhark. In readings it is taken to mean the unknowable or fate itself, a prompt to look inward, but no Viking ever carved it.

Viking runes today

Runes never fully disappeared. Runology, the study of runic inscriptions, still reconstructs Norse trade, law and daily life from carved stones. The Kjula Runestone in Södermanland, Sweden, for example, remembers a warrior named Spjót who fought and fell abroad, celebrating the old values of bravery and honour.

Runes also live on in modern culture. J.R.R. Tolkien used Anglo-Saxon runes on the map in The Hobbit before inventing his own Cirth script for later books, and runes appear across fantasy novels and video games. Even the Bluetooth logo is a bind rune: it combines the Younger Futhark runes for H and B, the initials of the Viking-age king Harald "Bluetooth" Blåtand.

The Bluetooth logo, a bind rune of Harald Bluetooth's initials

Write your name in runes

The easiest way to get a feel for the runes is to use them. Our free Rune Translator turns any name, word or oath into Elder, Younger or Anglo-Saxon runes, and lets you download it as a poster; to find real Old Norse words to write, use the Old Norse translator. Many of the same symbols are cast into our Viking rings and Viking necklaces, and you can read the wider symbol set in our guide to Norse mythology symbols and their meanings.

Viking runes, FAQ

What are Viking runes?

Viking runes are the letters of the runic alphabets used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples from about the 2nd century AD. They were carved into stone, wood, bone and metal to record names, raise memorials, and, people believed, to carry protection and magic.

What are the three types of runes?

The three main runic alphabets are the Elder Futhark (24 runes, c. 150 to 800 AD), the Younger Futhark (16 runes, used through the Viking Age, c. 800 to 1100 AD), and the Anglo-Saxon futhorc (up to 33 runes, used in early medieval England).

How many runes are in the Elder Futhark?

The Elder Futhark has 24 runes. Its name comes from the sound values of its first six: F, U, Þ (th), A, R and K. It is the alphabet most rune-meaning guides are based on.

What do Viking runes mean?

Each rune had a name that was also a word, such as Fehu ("cattle," wealth) or Algiz ("protection"). Those plain meanings are historical; the fortune-telling meanings attached to each rune come mainly from modern rune divination. See our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide for the full list.

Did Vikings use runes for magic?

The Norse believed runes could carry intent, so inscriptions were carved to bless health, love and safe travel, and sometimes to curse. In myth, the Norns cut runes of fate into Yggdrasil, and Odin sacrificed himself to win the runes' power.

How do I write my name in runes?

Use our free Rune Translator. Type your name and it renders it in Elder, Younger or Anglo-Saxon runes, which you can copy or download as a poster. Runes are phonetic, so it maps the sounds of your name rather than the Latin letters one to one.