Viking runes
Scandinavian alphabet carvings
Viking runes were the alphabetic characters used by Norse peoples during the Viking Age, roughly 800–1100 CE.
The runic alphabet, called the futhark after its first six letters, consisted of angular symbols suited for carving into wood, stone, and metal.
Vikings used runes for practical inscriptions, memorials, and magical purposes.
Today "Viking runes" often refers to these symbols in popular culture—tattooed, cast for divination, or appearing in fantasy media: She got Viking runes tattooed on her forearm.
- Elder FutharkFirst Germanic runic alphabet
- stone carvingsDesigns cut into rock
- carved in stoneFixed beyond alteration
- Norse mythologyScandinavian pagan religion
- Norse godsViking-era Scandinavian deities
graphemes · talismans · neopaganism · Bluetooth symbol · memorial stones · divination · transliteration · Younger Futhark · runic alphabet · Old Norse · fantasy literature · Odin · oral tradition · museum exhibits · blood eagle · ancient writing · historical reenactments · Younger Futhark
- antiquitiesancient coins, ancient relics, ancient artifacts, ancient pottery, ancient seals
- runesElder Futhark, Younger Futhark, runic alphabet, runic, runestones
- runestonesrunestones, Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark, runic alphabet
- European Symbolsfleur-de-lis, Celtic cross, double-headed eagle, imperial eagle, EU flag
Viking runesLatin alphabet
Standard Western letter system
Roman letters · Greek alphabet · Arabic script · Chinese characters · cuneiform
Viking runesilluminated manuscripts
Hand-adorned medieval book pages
Christian scripture · Christian symbols · ecclesiastical Latin · Torah scrolls