Domain 37 · Old Norse Language
The Runes
Veit ek, at ek hekk · vindga meiði á
nætr allar níu
I know that I hung on a windswept tree
nine full nights,
wounded with a spear and given to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
— Hávamál, stanza 138
Poetic Edda, c. 13th century. Codex Regius.
The Origin
How Odin Received the Runes
Hávamál, stanzas 138–145 · Poetic Edda
According to Norse mythology, the runes were not invented. They were discovered — by Odin, the Allfather, through an act of self-sacrifice. He hung himself from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine nights, pierced by his own spear Gungnir, without food or water. On the ninth night, he looked down into the void beneath the tree and saw the runes. He screamed as he seized them, then fell from the tree.
The word rún in Old Norse means “secret” or “mystery.” The runes were never merely an alphabet. Each symbol carried a name, a sound, and a concept — a compressed package of meaning that connected language to the structure of the cosmos. To know a rune was to hold a piece of the world’s architecture.
The runes exist in three historical forms: the Elder Futhark (24 runes, c. 2nd–8th century CE), the Younger Futhark (16 runes, c. 8th–12th century, the Viking Age alphabet), and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (33 runes, used in England). This page teaches all three, starting with the Elder Futhark — the oldest and most complete.
The Elder Futhark
24 Runes · Three Ættir
c. 2nd–8th century CE · The oldest runic alphabet · Kylver Stone, c. 400 CE
Essential Words
Old Norse Vocabulary
30 words every student of Norse should know
Test Your Knowledge
Rune Identification
Name the rune. Spell it in English.
Sources
Primary Texts
Hávamál (Sayings of the High One) — Poetic Edda, Codex Regius, c. 1270 CE. Stanzas 138–145 describe Odin’s discovery of the runes.
Kylver Stone — Gotland, Sweden, c. 400 CE. The earliest known complete Elder Futhark inscription in sequential order.
Norwegian Rune Poem (Norðrœna rúnakvæði) — c. 13th century. Preserved in a 17th-century copy (the original was destroyed in the 1728 Copenhagen fire). Provides a verse for each of the 16 Younger Futhark runes.
Icelandic Rune Poem (Rúnakvæði) — c. 15th century. Another verse tradition for the 16 runes.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem — c. 8th–9th century. Preserved in a 10th-century manuscript. Provides verses for 29 runes of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, many of which correspond to Elder Futhark runes.
Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda — c. 1220. Provides mythological context for the runic tradition.
Sophus Bugge — Norwegian scholar who deciphered the Elder Futhark in 1865, restoring knowledge that had been lost since the script fell out of use in the 8th century.
Deyr fé, deyja frændr — en orðstírr deyr aldregi
“Cattle die, kinsmen die — but the fame of the dead never dies.”
Hávamál, stanza 77
Glory to God
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