RUNES: NAMES AND MEANINGS
Runes were the alphabet of the Germanic and Norse peoples, used both for everyday messages and for carving memorials in stone. The Elder Futhark, with 24 runes, is the oldest (2nd to 8th centuries); in the Viking Age it was simplified into the 16-rune Younger Futhark. Each rune has a name with its own meaning: this table lists the 24 of the Elder Futhark.
| ᚠ Fehu | Cattle, mobile wealth: prosperity earned and shared. |
| ᚢ Uruz | The aurochs, the wild ox: brute strength, health and vital energy. |
| ᚦ Thurisaz | The giant or the thorn: reactive force, defense and conflict that teaches. |
| ᚨ Ansuz | The god (Odin): the word, wisdom and inspiration. |
| ᚱ Raidho | The ride, the journey: movement, rhythm and the right road. |
| ᚲ Kenaz | The torch: knowledge, clarity and illuminating creativity. |
| ᚷ Gebo | The gift: exchange, generosity and balance between giving and receiving. |
| ᚹ Wunjo | Joy: harmony, wellbeing and shared triumph. |
| ᚺ Hagalaz | Hail: natural disruption, crisis beyond human control. |
| ᚾ Nauthiz | Need: endurance, patience and strength in deprivation. |
| ᛁ Isa | Ice: stillness, pause and waiting; that which stands still. |
| ᛃ Jera | Harvest: cycles, reward of effort and results in due time. |
| ᛇ Eihwaz | The yew: flexible endurance, continuity between life and death. |
| ᛈ Perthro | The dice cup: luck, fate and the hidden revealed. |
| ᛉ Algiz | The elk: protection, defense and connection with the divine. |
| ᛊ Sowilo | The sun: victory, energy and success that dispels darkness. |
| ᛏ Tiwaz | The god Tyr: honor, justice and sacrifice for others. |
| ᛒ Berkana | The birch: rebirth, growth and new beginnings. |
| ᛖ Ehwaz | The horse: mutual trust, loyalty and progress as a team. |
| ᛗ Mannaz | Man: community, cooperation and the human condition. |
| ᛚ Laguz | Water: flow, intuition and adapting to what comes. |
| ᛜ Ingwaz | The god Ing: seed, guarded potential and inner gestation. |
| ᛞ Dagaz | Day: clarity, awakening and the decisive turn toward light. |
| ᛟ Othala | Heritage: home, lineage and what is received from ancestors. |
In the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries) the alphabet in use was the Younger Futhark, reduced to 16 runes: Fe, Ur, Thurs, Ass, Reid, Kaun, Hagall, Naud, Iss, Ar, Sol, Tyr, Bjarkan, Madr, Logr and Yr. Thousands of rune stones carved with it still survive across Scandinavia.