Best Books on Runes: 12 Honest Picks for Beginners, History Lovers and Practitioners
The best books on runes depend on what you want: the real history of the alphabet, a way to read runes for questions, or modern rune magic. Below are 12 books I would hand to a student, each labeled clearly as Scholarly (what runes were) or Modern practice (how people use them today), with honest notes on who each one suits and where it falls short.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only list books I would recommend to a student.
In short: For history, start with R. I. Page's Runes (short) or Michael P. Barnes's Runes: A Handbook (thorough). For practice, Diana L. Paxson's Taking Up the Runes is the most complete modern guide. Ralph Blum's The Book of Runes is popular but is a 1980s system, not an ancient one. The best plan is one book of each kind, so you always know which ideas are old and which are new.
The 12 best books on runes at a glance
The whole list in one place. Tap a title to jump to its review; editions change, so check the year on the copy you buy.
Book | Best for | Type | Level |
1. Runes (R. I. Page) | A short, reliable first history | Scholarly | Beginner |
2. Runes: A Handbook (Michael P. Barnes) | The most complete modern overview | Scholarly | Intermediate |
3. Runes (Martin Findell) | Visual learners | Scholarly | Beginner |
4. Norwegian Runes and Runic Inscriptions (Terje Spurkland) | Viking and medieval runes | Scholarly | Intermediate to advanced |
5. Runes: An Introduction (Ralph W. V. Elliott) | Classic background reading | Scholarly | Intermediate |
6. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects (Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees) | Did runes have real magic uses? | Scholarly | Advanced |
7. The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes (Jackson Crawford, tr.) | The original myths behind the runes | Scholarly | All levels |
8. Taking Up the Runes (Diana L. Paxson) | One thorough practice book | Modern practice | Beginner to intermediate |
9. The Book of Runes (Ralph H. Blum) | A gentle oracle for reflection | Modern practice | Beginner |
10. Runes for Beginners (Lisa Chamberlain) | A quick, friendly start | Modern practice | Beginner |
11. Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic (Edred Thorsson) | Rune magic as a system | Modern practice | Intermediate |
12. Northern Mysteries and Magick (Freya Aswynn) | A personal, goddess-centered approach | Modern practice | Intermediate |
Want the 24 runes in one practical place? While you choose a book, the 24 Runes Guide gives you each rune's meaning, its signs and what to do with it, in one PDF. $20.
How to choose the best book to learn runes
A history book will not teach you to read runes, and most practice books are weak on history. Start from your goal:
You want history: read #1 or #3 first, then #2. Add #7 when you want the myths behind the runes.
You want to read runes for questions: start with #10 or #8, keep a short Scholarly book (#1 or #3) beside it, and practice with your first rune casting.
You want rune magic: read #8, then #11 or #12, and set #6 next to them so you can see what real runic charms looked like.
Warning signs that help you judge any rune book:
Claims of an ancient rune divination system with no sources. No old text describes how to read runes as an oracle; modern systems are modern.
The blank rune presented as ancient. It comes from 1982. See the blank rune explained.
Rune meanings with no reference to the rune poems, the main old source for rune names and their sense.
Mixing alphabets without saying so, for example Elder Futhark shapes with Younger Futhark names. Compare with an Elder Futhark chart.
Scholarly books: what runes really were
Written by runologists and philologists, these books will not teach you to cast runes, but they show what runes were: an alphabet carved on stone, wood, bone and metal from the 2nd century AD, used for names, memorials, messages and sometimes charms.
1. Runes
Scholarly · Beginner · R. I. Page · 1987 · British Museum Press (Reading the Past series; US: University of California Press)
Who it's for: Anyone who wants to know what runes really were.
What it does well: Page was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge. In a slim book he covers the Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon and Viking runes and real inscriptions, and he is cautious about any claim he cannot prove. That is exactly why it is a good first book.
Honest limits: It dates from 1987, so it misses recent finds, and it offers nothing for readings.
2. Runes: A Handbook
Scholarly · Intermediate · Michael P. Barnes · 2012 · Boydell Press (paperback 2022)
Who it's for: Readers who know the 24 runes and want the full scholarly picture.
What it does well: Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Scandinavian Studies at UCL, treats runes as an alphabet and covers origins, rune names, encoded runes, how inscriptions were made and read, the history of research, modern uses and where to see inscriptions.
Honest limits: It reads like a university textbook, because it is one. Nothing on divination, by design.
3. Runes
Scholarly · Beginner · Martin Findell · 2014 · British Museum Press · 112 pages
Who it's for: Beginners who learn by seeing.
What it does well: Illustrated with real jewelry, tools and weapons carrying runes, it traces the script from its uncertain origins through memorials, charms, curses and prayers.
Honest limits: At 112 pages it is an overview; you will outgrow it if history hooks you.
4. Norwegian Runes and Runic Inscriptions
Scholarly · Intermediate to advanced · Terje Spurkland, translated by Betsy van der Hoek · 2005 · Boydell Press (paperback 2009)
Who it's for: Viking Age and Younger Futhark fans who want to read real inscriptions.
What it does well: Spurkland taught Nordic medieval studies at the University of Oslo. He reads Norwegian inscriptions from about AD 200 to the late 1300s, from owner's marks and memorial stones to everyday notes on wood, as historical evidence.
Honest limits: It focuses on Norway, and the language notes can feel heavy.
5. Runes: An Introduction
Scholarly · Intermediate · Ralph W. V. Elliott · 1959, 2nd edition 1989 · Manchester University Press
Who it's for: Readers who enjoy seeing how runic scholarship developed.
What it does well: A compact, readable classic that generations of students started with.
Honest limits: Even the second edition is from 1989, so treat it as a classic, not the latest word. Used copies are the easiest to find.
6. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
Scholarly · Advanced · Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees · 2006 · Boydell Press
Who it's for: The reader who asks, honestly, whether people in the past used runes for magic.
What it does well: The authors re-examine runic amulets and charms for luck, protection or love, many invoking pagan or Christian powers, and argue that early scholars either overstated runic magic or denied it entirely.
Honest limits: Academic, and the hardcover is priced for libraries. Evidence, not a how-to.
7. The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
Scholarly · All levels · Translated by Jackson Crawford · 2015 · Hackett Publishing
Who it's for: Everyone. This is the source, not a book about it.
What it does well: Crawford holds a PhD in Scandinavian studies and has taught at UCLA, UC Berkeley and CU Boulder. His plain modern English, with a headnote for each poem, makes it readable, and it includes the Hávamál, where Odin takes up the runes.
Honest limits: It is poetry and myth and will not explain rune meanings.
Modern practice books: reading and rune magic today
These books teach how people read and use runes today. They build on the old rune names and poems, but the systems themselves are 20th-century creations, so read them as modern practice. Our guide to rune meanings notes where each meaning comes from.
8. Taking Up the Runes
Modern practice · Beginner to intermediate · Diana L. Paxson · 2005 · Weiser Books (Weiser Classics reissue 2021)
Who it's for: The practitioner who wants one complete course in modern rune work.
What it does well: It moves through the runes in pairs, with historical and modern meanings, rituals and exercises, then covers divination, meditation, rune song and making your own set. Of the practice books here, it is the most careful about where a meaning comes from.
Honest limits: Over 400 pages and written from a Heathen religious viewpoint. In 2024 The Troth, a Heathen organization she once led, removed her from its positions, citing poor judgment around reported abuse in her community; she was not accused of abuse herself.
9. The Book of Runes
Modern practice · Beginner · Ralph H. Blum · 1982 · St. Martin's Press (revised editions since)
Who it's for: Someone who wants a calm, self-reflective oracle and is not worried about history.
What it does well: In print since 1982 and sold with a bag of rune tiles, it is how many people first met runes. The readings are short, warm and easy to use.
Honest limits: It is not historical. Blum's interpretations drew heavily on books about the Chinese I Ching, and he added a blank rune no ancient source knows.
10. Runes for Beginners
Modern practice · Beginner · Lisa Chamberlain · 2018 · Chamberlain Publications · 142 pages
Who it's for: Complete beginners who want the basics in a weekend.
What it does well: Short and clear: the Elder Futhark, modern meanings, making a set, casting methods, simple spreads and basic rune magic, for readers of any spiritual path.
Honest limits: Light on sources, and it blends Norse material with general modern magic.
11. Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic
Modern practice · Intermediate · Edred Thorsson (Stephen E. Flowers) · 1984 · Samuel Weiser
Who it's for: Readers who want to understand the system behind much of modern English-language rune magic.
What it does well: Compact and very influential. Under his real name, Stephen Flowers, the author wrote a doctoral dissertation on runes and magic at the University of Texas at Austin.
Honest limits: Its practice is a modern blend of early-20th-century German rune yoga, Hindu mantras, ceremonial magic and Theosophy. Scholars such as Amy Hale and Damon T. Berry have also documented his links to far-right New Right circles and his folkish Heathen views.
12. Northern Mysteries and Magick
Modern practice · Intermediate · Freya Aswynn · 1998 · Llewellyn (revised edition of Leaves of Yggdrasil, 1990)
Who it's for: Readers drawn to a devotional, intuitive approach and the goddesses of the North.
What it does well: Its first edition was widely influential in modern Heathenry. It covers divination, rune magic and runes in counseling, with a focus on feminine powers.
Honest limits: Personal and mystical rather than historical. In the 1980s Aswynn held that only people of Germanic ancestry could practice runic divination, a view she retracted in 1990; in 2018 The Troth removed her as an elder over social media posts it called Islamophobic.
What the old sources actually say
Every book above rests on a small set of old sources:
Runic inscriptions: thousands of carvings that show runes as writing, with an occasional charm. See the Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon futhorc for the later alphabets.
The rune poems: Old English, Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic poems that give each rune's name with a short verse. They are the main source for rune meanings, but they were written down long after the Elder Futhark period and describe later rune rows.
The Poetic Edda: in the Hávamál, Odin hangs on the tree and takes up the runes. It is myth, not a manual.
Tacitus's Germania (around AD 98): describes casting lots with marked strips of wood, but it does not say the marks were runes.
A good bookshelf has both sides: the old alphabet and its myths, and the modern practice built on them.
Prefer a reading to a reading list? If you have a real question in front of you, I can read the runes for it personally and send a written answer within 48 hours. $125.
FAQ about books on runes
What is the best book to learn runes?
For reading runes, Diana L. Paxson's Taking Up the Runes is the most complete guide and Lisa Chamberlain's Runes for Beginners the quickest start. For history, R. I. Page's Runes is the best short introduction.
Are Ralph Blum's runes historical?
No. The Book of Runes (1982) uses the old rune shapes, but its meanings drew heavily on books about the Chinese I Ching, and its blank rune is Blum's addition. It can be a pleasant tool for reflection; just treat it as a modern system.
What is the most accurate book on runes?
For accuracy, choose a scholarly book: Michael P. Barnes's Runes: A Handbook is the most complete current overview, and R. I. Page's Runes is the most reliable short one.
Why is Edred Thorsson controversial?
Edred Thorsson is the pen name of Stephen Flowers. Scholars have documented his ties to far-right New Right circles and his folkish Heathen views, which link the religion to ancestry. His Futhark is still widely read, so many readers simply read it with that knowledge.
Did the Vikings use runes for divination?
There is no clear evidence. Inscriptions show runes as writing, with some charms; Tacitus mentions lots cast with marked wood but does not call the marks runes.
Do I need to read the Poetic Edda to understand runes?
Not to start, but it helps. The Hávamál, where Odin takes up the runes, is behind much of modern rune practice. Jackson Crawford's translation is the most readable place to meet it.
Read next
Written by Julia, rune reader since 2020. More about me →
