The oldest runic alphabet
Elder Futhark runes and what they meant
The Elder Futhark is the 24-rune alphabet carved in Scandinavia and northern Europe from about the second century. It is named for its first six letters: f, u, th, a, r, k. Each rune is a sound and also a word.
Those words come to us mostly from the medieval rune poems (Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic), written long after the Elder Futhark fell out of use, so some meanings are reconstructed and a few are honestly unknown. Where a meaning is disputed, the table says so. Write your name in runes.
Freyr’s group: Fehu to Wunjo
The three groups of eight are a traditional way of ordering the futhark.
Fehu f
Cattle, and so wealth that walks and can be traded.
Uruz u
The aurochs, the huge wild ox of the European forest.
Thurisaz th
A giant (thurs), and also the thorn.
Ansuz a
A god, specifically one of the Æsir; later tied to speech and Odin.
Raidho r
Riding, and the journey itself.
Kaunan k
A torch, or a sore; the poems disagree, so both readings stand.
Gebo g
A gift, the exchange between giver and receiver.
Wunjo w
Joy.
Hagal’s group: Hagalaz to Sowilo
The three groups of eight are a traditional way of ordering the futhark.
Hagalaz h
Hail, the sudden storm that ruins a field.
Naudiz n
Need, constraint, the hardship that forces a choice.
Isa i
Ice.
Jera j
The year, and the harvest the year brings.
Eihwaz ï
The yew, an evergreen tree; its exact use in the older sources is unclear.
Perthro p
Unknown. No rune poem records it, and the reconstructed name has no agreed meaning.
Algiz z
Elk, or sedge grass. Protection is the modern reading and a later one.
Sowilo s
The sun.
Tyr’s group: Tiwaz to Othala
The three groups of eight are a traditional way of ordering the futhark.
Tiwaz t
The god Tyr. The arrow-shaped rune that Sigrdrífumál tells a warrior to cut on his sword for victory.
Berkanan b
The birch, and the birch twig.
Ehwaz e
The horse.
Mannaz m
Man, in the sense of a human being.
Laguz l
Water or a lake; some read it as the leek.
Ingwaz ng
The god Ing, a name tied to Freyr in the older traditions.
Dagaz d
Day.
Othala o
An inherited estate, land and goods held in a family.
Sources: the Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems; reconstructed Proto-Germanic names as given in standard reference works on runology.