Elder Futhark

Twenty-four runes in three groups of eight — the row carved on the Kylver stone around 400 CE, and the order still used today.

Rune of the day

ᛟ

Othala

Inheritance — land, family, tradition and what was handed down. What you belong to rather than what you acquired.

More on today's rune

ᚠ Fehu Cattle, wealth ᚢ Uruz Aurochs, wild strength ᚦ Thurisaz Thorn, giant ᚨ Ansuz A god, Odin, the mouth ᚱ Raidho Ride, journey ᚲ Kenaz Torch, fire ᚷ Gebo Gift, exchange ᚹ Wunjo Joy ᚺ Hagalaz Hail ᚾ Nauthiz Need, necessity ᛁ Isa Ice ᛃ Jera Year, harvest ᛇ Eihwaz Yew tree ᛈ Perthro Dice cup, the unknown ᛉ Algiz Elk, protection ᛊ Sowilo Sun ᛏ Tiwaz Tyr, the sky god ᛒ Berkano Birch, growth ᛖ Ehwaz Horse ᛗ Mannaz Man, humanity ᛚ Laguz Water, lake ᛜ Ingwaz Ing, the fertility god ᛞ Dagaz Day, dawn ᛟ Othala Ancestral property, homeland

Freyr's Aett

The material world — wealth, strength, communication and the basics of survival.

ᚠ Fehu · Cattle, wealth

Movable wealth — what you own and can spend. Prosperity that has arrived and now needs managing rather than chasing.

ᚢ Uruz · Aurochs, wild strength

Raw physical force and health. Untamed vitality — the strength that exists before anyone shapes it.

ᚦ Thurisaz · Thorn, giant

A defensive force, and a warning. Thurisaz is the thorn — it protects and it draws blood, depending which side you stand on.

ᚨ Ansuz · A god, Odin, the mouth

Communication, insight and messages. Words that carry weight — advice worth taking, or a truth arriving through speech.

ᚱ Raidho · Ride, journey

Travel and movement with a destination. The journey undertaken deliberately, and the rhythm of getting there.

ᚲ Kenaz · Torch, fire

Illumination and craft. Knowledge that can be applied — the controlled fire of the forge rather than the wildfire.

ᚷ Gebo · Gift, exchange

A gift, and the obligation that comes with it. Partnership, generosity and the balance of what passes between two people.

ᚹ Wunjo · Joy

Contentment and shared happiness. Not excitement — the quieter satisfaction of things going well among people you like.

Heimdall's Aett

Disruption and necessity — the runes of being tested.

ᚺ Hagalaz · Hail

Disruption from outside, arriving uninvited. Hail destroys the crop and waters the ground — the damage and the clearing are the same event.

ᚾ Nauthiz · Need, necessity

Constraint and hard necessity. Resistance that teaches something — the friction that starts the fire.

ᛁ Isa · Ice

Stillness and suspension. Everything held in place — frustrating if you want movement, useful if you needed to stop.

ᛃ Jera · Year, harvest

The harvest arriving in its own time. Cycles completing, and the reward for work done a season ago.

ᛇ Eihwaz · Yew tree

Endurance through a hard passage. The yew is poisonous and near-immortal — the rune of surviving what should have finished you.

ᛈ Perthro · Dice cup, the unknown

Chance, secrets and what has not been revealed. The dice are still in the cup.

ᛉ Algiz · Elk, protection

Protection and a warning heeded in time. The strongest defensive rune in the row.

ᛊ Sowilo · Sun

Success, vitality and clarity. Wholeness — the rune closest to unambiguously good news.

Tyr's Aett

Society and inheritance — justice, partnership, community and what is handed down.

ᛏ Tiwaz · Tyr, the sky god

Justice, courage and self-sacrifice for a principle. Tyr gave his hand to bind the wolf — the rune of a price paid knowingly.

ᛒ Berkano · Birch, growth

Birth, growth and new beginnings — particularly domestic ones. Fertility in the widest sense.

ᛖ Ehwaz · Horse

Partnership and trusted movement. The horse and rider working as one — progress made with someone rather than alone.

ᛗ Mannaz · Man, humanity

The self in relation to others. Community, shared humanity, and what you are within a group.

ᛚ Laguz · Water, lake

Intuition, flow and the unconscious. What moves beneath the surface, and the sense to follow it.

ᛜ Ingwaz · Ing, the fertility god

Gestation and stored potential. Something complete internally but not yet released — the seed before it breaks the ground.

ᛞ Dagaz · Day, dawn

Breakthrough and transformation. The moment night becomes day — a change of state rather than a change of degree.

ᛟ Othala · Ancestral property, homeland

Inheritance — land, family, tradition and what was handed down. What you belong to rather than what you acquired.

The four runes that cannot be reversed

Gebo, Isa, Jera and Ingwaz are symmetrical. Turn them over and nothing changes — there is no reversed position to read. Any source offering you a reversed Isa is not looking at the shape.

A few more, notably Sowilo, Dagaz and Hagalaz, are conventionally read upright only. That leaves roughly two thirds of the row with a reversed meaning, which is worth knowing before you start laying them out.

Why they are grouped in eights

The row divides into three aettir, each named for a god. Freyr's eight cover the material world; Heimdall's cover disruption and necessity; Tyr's cover society and inheritance. The grouping is old — it appears on the earliest complete rune rows.

Runes were writing first

Before anything else, the futhark was an alphabet. Each rune carries a sound, and surviving inscriptions are largely names, ownership marks and memorials rather than prophecy. Divinatory use is documented — Tacitus describes a Germanic lot-casting practice in the first century — but the elaborate systems sold today were largely reconstructed in the twentieth.