Younger Futhark
Simplified Norse alphabet
Younger Futhark is the runic alphabet used in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, roughly 800–1100 CE.
It simplified the older Elder Futhark from 24 characters to 16, even as the Old Norse language was becoming more complex—meaning each rune had to represent multiple sounds.
Most surviving runic inscriptions, including those on Viking runestones, use Younger Futhark.
- runeAncient Germanic letter
- alphabetsOrdered letter collections
- VikingMedieval Nordic raider
- inscriptionText permanently marked
- carvingsSculpted decorative shapes
medieval · Nordic · writing system · artifacts · longship · stave · runic · chisel · mead · parchment · Norse · magic · Odin · saga · divination · Viking Age · Norse sagas · skald
- writing systemsalphabet, vowel, alphabets, Cyrillic alphabet, consonant
- ancient scriptsglyphs, cuneiform, hieroglyphs, hieroglyphics, Phoenician
- mystic symbolssigil, pentagram, glyph, rune, sigils
- scriptsalphabet, Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet, Greek alphabet, Hebrew alphabet
- Norse StudiesOld Norse, sagas, Icelandic sagas, kennings, Snorri Sturluson
- Norse SymbolsMjolnir, Thor's hammer, rune, runic alphabet, stave