The Younger Futhark of the Viking Age has only 16 characters – several sounds share a single rune. The images follow the Old Norse rune poems (public domain).
The Younger Futhark is the script of the Viking Age (roughly 800–1100). A paradox of writing history: while the number of speech sounds grew, the runic row shrank from 24 to 16 signs – one rune now had to carry several sounds, and context supplied the sense. Only in the High Middle Ages were dots added (the „stungnar rúnir") to resolve ambiguities.
There are two main variants: the long-twig runes (rather Danish, „full") and the simplified short-twig runes (Swedish-Norwegian). The great majority of the thousands of surviving runestones are carved in this row. The rune names and their mnemonic verses come from the Norwegian and Icelandic Rune Poems (13th–15th c.) – the source of the images on this page.
In the Rune Poem. Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen; the wolf lives in the forest.
Proto-Germanic *fehu „cattle, wealth". The Norse poem stresses the downside: money sows discord among kin (cf. Fáfnir’s cursed gold). → Fehu in detail
In the Rune Poem. Dross comes from bad iron; the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.
In the North NOT „aurochs" as in the south, but úr „slag/drizzle" – a textbook case of the drift of rune names. → Uruz in detail
In the Rune Poem. The giant causes anguish to women; misfortune makes few men cheerful.
Keeps the heathen name *þurisaz „giant" (softened to „thorn" in the south): „torture of women, dweller of the cliffs". → Thurisaz in detail
In the Rune Poem. The estuary is the way of most journeys; but a scabbard is of swords.
Norse áss „god/Odin" – or óss „river-mouth"; reinterpreted as „mouth" in the south. The god-name openly survived only in Iceland. → Ansuz in detail
In the Rune Poem. Riding is said to be the worst thing for horses; Reginn forged the finest sword.
Proto-Germanic *raidō „ride, journey". The „path/journey" reading is constant across all three rune rows. → Raidho in detail
In the Rune Poem. The ulcer is fatal to children; grief makes a man pale.
In the North „ulcer" – not „torch" as in Old English Cen. The light becomes a festering wound. → Kenaz in detail
In the Rune Poem. Hail is the coldest of grain; Christ created the world of old.
Proto-Germanic *haglaz „hail". The Norwegian poem openly Christianises: „Christ created the world of old". → Hagalaz in detail
In the Rune Poem. Constraint gives scant choice; a naked man is chilled by the frost.
Proto-Germanic *naudiz „need, constraint": „grief of the bond-maid and a hard lot" – the need on which the will grows. → Nauthiz in detail
In the Rune Poem. Ice we call the broad bridge; the blind man must be led.
Proto-Germanic *īsaz „ice" – the simplest rune, a single vertical stroke: „the broad bridge; the blind must be led". → Isa in detail
In the Rune Poem. A good harvest is a boon to men; generous was the bountiful Fróði.
Carries the sense of the Elder rune Jera „good year, harvest"; the reshaped rune took the sound value /a/ in the North. → Jera in detail
In the Rune Poem. The sun is the light of the lands; I bow to the holy decree.
Proto-Germanic *sōwilō „sun": „shield of the clouds and shining ray and destroyer of ice". → Sowilo in detail
In the Rune Poem. Tyr is the one-handed among the Æsir; often must the smith blow the bellows.
The one-handed war god – Týr laid his hand in Fenrir’s jaws. One carves victory-runes and „names Týr twice". → Tiwaz in detail
In the Rune Poem. The birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub; Loki had the luck of his deceit.
Proto-Germanic *berkanan „birch", the pioneer tree – an image of new beginnings and growth. → Berkano in detail
In the Rune Poem. Man is an augmentation of the earth; great is the talon-span of the hawk.
Proto-Germanic *mannaz „human": „delight of man and augmentation of the dust". In the North it uses the old Algiz form. → Mannaz in detail
In the Rune Poem. Water is that which falls from the mountain as a torrent; but gold ornaments are costly things.
Proto-Germanic *laguz „water, lake" – close to the blessing word laukaʀ „leek" (growth). → Laguz in detail
In the Rune Poem. The yew is the greenest of trees in winter; it is wont to crackle when it burns.
The reversed old Algiz form, reused in the North as the ʀ/y sign and named after the yew (ýr = yew & bow). → Eihwaz in detail
Rune-poem texts in the public domain after Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems (Cambridge 1915), and the Norwegian and Icelandic Rune Poems. Interpretation, dating and etymology after R. I. Page (Runes), Michael Barnes (Runes – A Handbook), Klaus Düwel (Runenkunde) and Tineke Looijenga; on the Svingerud/Hole stone: Antiquity (2025). Where name or meaning is disputed, it is noted. In depth: runology overview & the 24 individual rune pages.
Freely after the Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic rune poems (public domain). © Glanz & Gravur.