Younger Futhark: The 16 Viking Age Runes Explained
The Younger Futhark is the 16-rune alphabet used in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, roughly from the 9th century onward. It developed from the older 24-rune Elder Futhark during the 7th and 8th centuries, when the rune row was cut down to 16 signs even as the spoken language gained more sounds.
These are the runes on most Viking Age runestones in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the alphabet behind the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems. If you have seen a runestone in a museum or a photo from Scandinavia, it was most likely written in the Younger Futhark.
This guide covers how the Younger Futhark came about, its two main forms, the famous Rök runestone, all 16 runes with their names and meanings as the rune poems describe them, how it differs from the Elder Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, and how it is used in divination today.
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How 24 runes became 16
The Elder Futhark, with 24 runes, was used from about the 2nd to the 8th century. Between roughly 650 and 800 there was a transitional period in which inscriptions mix older and newer forms. By the late 8th century the reduction to 16 runes was complete.
The change happened at the same time as the language itself changed, from Proto-Norse to Old Norse. Curiously, the number of runes went down while the number of sounds went up. Instead of adding new signs, rune carvers let each rune cover several sounds.
For example, the Younger Futhark no longer distinguished in writing between voiced and voiceless consonants. The same rune served for t and d, another for k and g, another for b and p. One rune, úr, could stand for u, o, v, w and more. Readers relied on context, much as we read abbreviations today.
The Younger Futhark lasted throughout the Viking Age. In the Middle Ages it was expanded again with dotted runes and extra vowel signs, so that each sound once more had its own rune, and these medieval runes stayed in use alongside the Latin alphabet in parts of Scandinavia into the 15th century.
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Long-branch and short-twig runes
The Younger Futhark came in two main variants, and you will often see both in books and online.
Long-branch runes, sometimes called Danish runes, have full, clear strokes. They are the forms most often used on runestones.
Short-twig runes, sometimes called Swedish-Norwegian or Rök runes, are simplified versions with shorter strokes. Nine of the sixteen runes differ from their long-branch forms; the other seven look the same.
The common explanation is that long-branch runes suited formal inscriptions in stone, while short-twig runes were quicker to cut into wood for everyday messages. Scholars still debate this, and the two forms were not strictly separated by region or use.
A third, even more reduced form, the staveless or Hälsinge runes, appeared in the 10th century and was used until the 12th. These runes leave out the main vertical stroke altogether. They are named after Hälsingland in Sweden, where they were first noticed.
The Rök runestone
The most famous Younger Futhark monument is the Rök runestone in Östergötland, Sweden. It was probably carved in the early 9th century and carries about 760 runes, making it the longest known runic inscription from pre-Christian times.
The stone was raised by a man named Varin in memory of his dead son, Vémóðr. Its text is famously difficult: it is full of riddles and allusions, mentions the god Thor, and refers to the Ostrogothic king Theodoric. It is often described as the first known work of Swedish literature.
What makes Rök especially interesting for rune history is its mix of scripts. The main text uses short-twig Younger Futhark runes, but some sections switch to the older 24-rune row and to cipher runes, as if the carver wanted to show his full skill. Scholars still disagree about what the inscription means as a whole, and some suggest its obscurity was intentional.
The 16 runes of the Younger Futhark
Below are the 16 runes in their usual order, with long-branch forms, Old Norse names, main sound values and what the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems say about them. The Norwegian poem survives in a 17th-century copy of a 13th-century manuscript, and the Icelandic poem in manuscripts from around 1500 onward. The summaries below are my own short paraphrases.
The row is divided into three groups, sometimes called ættir: six runes, then five, then five.
First group: fé to kaun
ᚠ Fé (f): wealth, cattle. Both poems warn that wealth causes strife among kinsmen; the Icelandic poem adds the poetic images of the fire of the sea and the serpent's path.
ᚢ Úr (u, o, v, w): the Norwegian poem speaks of slag from bad iron and a reindeer running over snow; the Icelandic poem calls úr drizzle, the weeping of clouds and ruin of the hay harvest.
ᚦ Þurs (th): giant. The poems describe it as a source of torment and suffering, and a dweller among cliffs.
ᚬ Óss / Áss (nasal a, later o): in the Norwegian poem, the river mouth through which most journeys go; in the Icelandic poem, a god, the lord of Asgard.
ᚱ Reið (r): riding. The Icelandic poem calls it a joy to the rider and a swift journey, but hard work for the horse.
ᚴ Kaun (k, g): ulcer, sore. Both poems describe a painful wound, deadly to children.
Second group: hagall to sól
ᚼ Hagall (h): hail, the coldest of grain, a shower of icy pellets.
ᚾ Nauðr (n): need, constraint. The poems speak of hardship, few choices and toilsome work, with the image of a naked man chilled by frost.
ᛁ Íss (i, e): ice, the broad bridge, the roof of the waves.
ᛅ Ár (a): plenty, a good year. The poems call it a blessing to people and a good summer with ripened crops.
ᛋ Sól (s): sun, the light of the world in the Norwegian poem and the destroyer of ice in the Icelandic one.
Third group: Týr to ýr
ᛏ Týr (t, d): the one-handed god. The Icelandic poem calls him the one left over by the wolf, recalling the myth in which Týr loses his hand to Fenrir.
ᛒ Bjarkan (b, p): birch, a tree with fresh green leaves, a young shoot.
ᛘ Maðr (m): man, human being. The Icelandic poem calls man the joy of man and an increase of the earth.
ᛚ Lǫgr (l): water, a waterfall from a mountainside, a wide lake, the land of fish.
ᛦ Ýr (final r): yew, the greenest tree in winter and a bent bow.
These rune poems are medieval, written down centuries after the Viking Age began, and some stanzas contain Christian references. They are the best evidence we have for how people understood the rune names, but they are poetic and full of wordplay rather than a manual of meanings.
How the Younger Futhark differs from the Elder Futhark and the Futhorc
The three main rune rows share a common origin but went in different directions.
Elder Futhark: 24 runes, used from about the 2nd to the 8th century across Germanic-speaking areas. It is the row most often used in modern divination. Several Younger Futhark runes keep its shapes (fé, úr, þurs, reið, íss, Týr, bjarkan, lǫgr), while others changed form.
Younger Futhark: 16 runes, used in Scandinavia in the Viking Age. Fewer signs, each with several sounds, and with long-branch and short-twig forms. Some Elder runes disappeared entirely, such as Gebo, Wunjo, Eihwaz, Perthro, Ehwaz, Ingwaz, Dagaz and Othala.
Anglo-Saxon Futhorc: developed in England and Frisia and went the opposite way, growing from 26 to around 33 runes to cover the sounds of Old English. You can read about it in the guide to Anglo-Saxon runes.
Some rune names also shifted in meaning. The Elder Futhark rune usually reconstructed as Algiz has no equivalent name in the Younger Futhark, but its upside-down shape became ᛦ ýr, the yew rune. Meanwhile the Younger m rune, ᛘ maðr, looks like the Elder Algiz, even though it stands for a different sound. This is one reason why it matters to know which row a symbol comes from.
For the earliest phase of runic writing, see the article on the Svingerud runestone, one of the oldest dated runestones, and the general introduction to what runes are.
Younger Futhark in modern divination
Most modern rune sets and divination books use the Elder Futhark, because its 24 runes give more symbols and because 20th-century writers built detailed divinatory systems around it. The Younger Futhark has no historical evidence of use for fortune-telling either; like the Elder row, it was mainly a writing system.
Still, some practitioners prefer the Younger Futhark precisely because it is the alphabet of the Viking Age and of the rune poems. They draw meanings directly from the Norwegian and Icelandic stanzas. A reading with 16 runes is starker: there is no specific rune for joy, gifts or day, so the meanings rest on the remaining images of wealth, hardship, travel, nature and the gods.
If you want to try it, work with the poem paraphrases above as your starting point and keep a journal of what each rune comes to mean for you. Draw one rune a day for a few weeks, as you would with the Elder row; the one-rune layout in our guide to rune spreads uses the Elder Futhark, but the habit is the same. Remember that any divinatory meanings you develop are modern practice, not recovered Viking tradition.
Seeing the Younger Futhark today
Thousands of Younger Futhark inscriptions survive, especially in Sweden, which has the largest number of runestones of any country. Many stand where they were raised, by roads, bridges and churches, and often commemorate family members, journeys or acts of building.
If you visit Scandinavia, you can see the Rök stone itself beside the church at Rök, as well as many runestones around Uppland in Sweden and the famous Jelling stones in Denmark. Reading a few real inscriptions, even in translation, is one of the best ways to feel how this alphabet worked as everyday writing.
For a modern tattoo or design using Younger Futhark runes, check that you are not mixing rows and that your shapes match one form consistently; the rune tattoo guide covers the practical details.
If you would like to explore what the runes say about your own situation, a personal reading can bring these old symbols into a modern, practical conversation.
Want this read for your own situation? In a Personal Rune Reading I lay out a spread for your exact question and send a detailed written interpretation within 48 hours. $125.
FAQ
How many runes are in the Younger Futhark?
The Younger Futhark has 16 runes. It developed from the 24-rune Elder Futhark during the 7th and 8th centuries, and the reduction was complete by the late 8th century.
Did the Vikings use the Younger Futhark or the Elder Futhark?
The Vikings used the Younger Futhark. By the start of the Viking Age, the Elder Futhark was no longer in regular use in Scandinavia, although a few carvers, like the maker of the Rök stone, still knew the older runes.
What is the difference between long-branch and short-twig runes?
They are two forms of the same 16-rune row. Long-branch runes have full strokes and are common on runestones, while short-twig runes are simplified forms that were quicker to carve, often into wood. Nine runes differ between the two forms.
Why did the Younger Futhark have fewer runes when Old Norse had more sounds?
Scholars still discuss the reasons. In practice, each rune came to stand for several related sounds, such as t and d, or k and g, and readers relied on context. Later medieval rune rows added dotted runes to separate these sounds again.
Can I use the Younger Futhark for divination?
Yes, some practitioners do, drawing meanings from the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems. Keep in mind that there is no historical evidence for Younger Futhark divination, so any system you use is a modern practice.
What is the Rök runestone?
The Rök runestone in Östergötland, Sweden, was probably carved in the early 9th century. With about 760 runes it is the longest known runic inscription from pre-Christian times, and it mixes short-twig Younger Futhark runes with older runes and cipher runes.
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