Old Nordic Symbols: Norse Runes & Viking Ornaments (Meanings & Examples)

Old Norse mythology is filled with fascinating symbolism, and the runic alphabets of Germanic Europe have told numerous tales of heroic deeds and tragic deaths over the years. Having worked with graphic design for most of my life, I’m a huge fan of typography and symbolism, and also a huge history nerd. So I’ve spent a lot of time reading about and trying to understand the Viking symbols left behind on runestones, jewelry, weapons, armor, and other items from the Viking Age.

But the world of Nordic symbols is not without its controversies and misconceptions; from extremist groups trying to hijack the symbols to serve their agendas, to magical sigils with questionable historical accuracy spreading like wildfire among millennials (I’m looking at you Vegvisir).

So I decided to clear some things up and to go through the facts and myths surrounding Norse and Nordic symbols, how they look and what we know about their meaning. Hopefully you’ll find this as fascinating as I did!

Scandinavian Runes and Their Meanings (Younger Futhark)

When tales were told of Viking adventures, it was generally written down in Old Norse on runestones using the Younger Futhark runic alphabet (used in Scandinavia during the Viking Age). The Scandinavian runes are a simplified version of the Germanic Elder Futhark runes, with 16 (instead of 19) characters specifically tailored for the Old Norse language.

I’ve listed all the Old Norse runes as well as their Latin letter equivalent below:

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Each rune is a letter in the Old Norse alphabet, and as such they all represent a sound. They also carry names that can sometimes be construed as a meaning associated with the rune. However, each individual rune may not have necessarily carried much meaning on top of the sound it makes and the words it creates.

Rune	Latin Letter & Norse Name	Original Meaning
ᚠ	F – fé	Beast, cattle, wealth
ᚢ	U – úr	Clock, aurochs, primordial power
ᚦ	TH – Thurs	Thurs/Thor (Norse god of thunder, one of the more prominent Æsir, origin of “Thursday”), giant, troll
ᚨ	A – As	A Norse god, an Æsir
ᚱ	R – reið	Ride, journey, wagon
ᚲ	K – kaun	Wound, ulcer, fire
ᚺ	H – hagall	Hail (as in “it’s hailing outside”)
ᚾ	N – nauðr	Need, force, danger
ᛁ	I – ísa	Ice
ᛅ	Æ – ár	Plenty
ᛋ	S – sol	Sun
ᛏ	T – Tyr	Tyr (Norse god of war and justice, origin of “Tuesday”)
ᛒ	B – Björk	Birch
ᛉ	M – maðr	Man, human
ᛚ	L – lögr	Sea
ᛦ	Y – yr	Yew (a tree with an especially long life)

The Younger Futhark runes were divided into two different styles depending on where you were: Long-branch runes primarily used in Denmark, and short-twig runes primarily used in Sweden and Norway.

Germanic Runes and Their Meanings (Elder Futhark)

The Elder Futhark Runic alphabet consists of 24 runes, and was in use across all Germanic cultures during the Scandinavian/Germanic Iron Age (500 BCE–800 AD).

The Elder Futhark runic symbols were usually written as a rune row divided into three ætts (meaning “eights”, with eight runes in each ætt). The first ætt is Frey’s, the second is Hagal’s, and the third is Tyr’s (the first letters of each ætt). Below this is visualized in three rows:

The Meaning Attached to Elder Futhark Runes

The Germanic runes have the same meanings as the Scandinavian runes, but due to differences in the Proto-Germanic and Proto-Norse languages, the names and sounds are slightly different (and there are of course 3 more runes).

Rune	Latin Letter & Germanic Name	Original Meaning
ᚠ	F – Fehu	Beast, cattle, wealth
ᚢ	U – Uruz	Clock, aurochs, primordial power
ᚦ	Þ – þurisaz	Thurs/Thor (Norse god of thunder, one of the more prominent Æsir, origin of “Thursday”), giant, troll
ᚨ	A – Ansuz	A Norse god, an Æsir
ᚱ	R – Raido	Ride, journey, wagon
ᚲ	K – Kaunan	Wound, ulcer, fire
ᚷ	G – Gebö	Gift
ᚹ	W – Wunjo	Joy
ᚺ	H – Hagalaz	Hail (as in “it’s hailing outside”)
ᚾ	N – Naudiz	Need, force
ᛁ	I – Isaz	Ice
ᛃ	J – Jera	Year, good year, harvest
ᛇ	Æ – Ihwaz	Yew-tree, evergreen tree
ᛈ	P – Perþ	Cliff, earth, rock*
ᛉ	Z – Algiz	Elk, protection, defense
ᛋ	S – Sowila, Sol	Sun
ᛏ	T – Tiwaz	Tiwaz, Tyr (Norse god of war and justice, origin of “Tuesday”)
ᛒ	B – Berkana, Bjarka	Birch
ᛖ	E – Ehwaz	Horse
ᛗ	M – Mannaz	Man, human
ᛚ	L – Laguz	Water, lake
ᛝ	Ŋ – Ingwaz	Ingwaz/Ing/Frey (Norse god of fertility, Frey is the origin of “Friday”)
ᛟ	O – Oþilaz, Oþala	Dynasty, heritage, estate, possession
ᛞ	D – Dagaz	Day

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Viking Age Symbols: Separating Fact From Fiction

The Old Norse culture was rich in symbolism, and there were many inscriptions, ornaments, pendants, pins, and other accessories left behind for us to get an insight into the popular symbols of the Viking Age.

But there is also a lot of misconceptions floating around on the interwebs, so I wanted to separate fact from fiction by grouping the symbols we know are from the Viking Age separately from the ones we have not been able to link to Viking Age Scandinavia (yet?).

Authentic Viking symbols dating back to the Viking Age

Here are some of the more famous symbols that have actually been found on objects dating back to the Viking Age in or around Scandinavia (meaning they are as authentic as can be):

Meaning & Significance

Mjölnir

Thor’s hammer

Meaning & Significance

Mjölnir means “the crusher”, and was Thor’s weapon by choice as he rode the skies and caused thunder and lightning to crash down on earth. It has been found on countless runestones, pendants, and other types of jewelry dated back to the VIking Age.

Yggdrasil

The Tree of Life

Meaning & Significance

Yggdrasil is an ash tree that connects and contains all four worlds (Midgard, Asgard, Jotunheim, and Nifelheim) of Old Norse mythology. It can be translated to “the horrible thundergod’s horse” and is also known as “Mimer’s tree”. It is the largest tree in the Norse world.

Hrafnsmerki

The Raven Banner

Meaning & Significance

The Raven banner was flown by numerous Viking armies and the raven played an important in Norse symbolism (with Odin’s two ravens Hugin & Munin telling him everything there is to know).

Meaning & Significance

Dragon’s head

Meaning & Significance

It was common for Vikings to create lavish and intimidating ornaments on their ships, so placing a dragon’s or snake’s head in the front was common practice.

Valknut

Odin’s knot

Meaning & Significance

Valr means warrior, and knut means knot – so the literal meaning would be “the warrior’s knot”. It is currently used as part of Swedish paper company SCA’s logo, as well as the German Football Association (the badge on the national team’s jerseys).

Triskele

Horns of Odin

Meaning & Significance

Found on the Snoldelev Stone from Ramsø, Denmark. Dated to the 9th century CE.

Meaning & Significance

Trikvetra

A variant of the Valknut

Meaning & Significance

This symbol has been found on one of the Funbo Runestones (from the 11th century), located in Uppsala, Sweden as well as numerous coins from 11th century Norway. It is likely connected to and based on the Valknut.

Sleipner

Odin’s Horse

Meaning & Significance

Odin’s eight-legged horse, capable of running faster than any other horse, even faster than the wind. Sleipner is not limited to running on land either, as he can fly in the air and thunder over the water to get where he needs to go.

The Longship

The Viking Warships

Meaning & Significance

The Viking Longship was a very significant factor behind the influence of the Vikings, so it’s no wonder it has been depicted on numerous runestones and other ornaments from the Viking Age. It is thought to symbolize the Viking spirit, and the sagas mention many ships used by the gods as shuttles between realms, and used during Ragnarök to transport Loki and his army of giants to slay the Æsir and bring forth the end of the world.

Meaning & Significance

Jörmungandr

The Midgard Serpent

Meaning & Significance

A giant serpent that is nothing but trouble for Thor and the other Æsir. ends up being killed by Thor during Ragnarök, but not before it poisons Thor who also dies as a result of this.

Kraken / Hafgufa

Legendary Sea Monster

Meaning & Significance

The Kraken is a mythological beast that is supposed to lure on seafarers on the bottom of the ocean, only to lunge up and swallow boats whole when it feels like it. The Kraken sea monster that has been described by various authors since the 1800s, is thought to be the same as the Old Norse Hafgufa which supposedly lived in the depths of the Greelandic and Icelandic seas according to mid-13th century Norwegian tract Konungs skuggsjá.

Fenrir

World-eating Wolf

Meaning & Significance

The Fenrir Wolf is destined to swallow and destroy the world when the predetermined Ragnarök, or the end of the world, comes along. Has been depicted on runestones, drinking vessels, jewelry, and many more items dated back to the Viking Age.

Meaning & Significance

Gyllenborste

Frey’s Golden Hog

Meaning & Significance

A golden hog that Frey rode around on and that has been depicted on quite a few runestones and inscriptions dated back to the Viking Age.

Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr

Thor’s legendary goats

Meaning & Significance

The two goats that pull Thor around as he wreacs havoc in the skies with his hammer Mjölnir.

Bear’s Head

Berserker style

Meaning & Significance

Elite Norse warriors have been documented to wear animal skins and heads, specifically bear (Berserkers) and wolf heads (Ulfhednars). Wearing the skin and head is supposed to have transferred the strength of the animals and raise the warriors above mere humans.

Symbols commonly (but perhaps mistakenly) linked to Norse mythology

Meaning & Significance

Vegvisir

A pathfinder sigil

Meaning & Significance

First documented in 1860 in the Huld manuscript by Geir Vigfusson, and may not stretch much further back than that according to historians such as Jackson Crawford. Geir described the meaning of the symbol like this: “Let a man carry these staves on himself, and the man will not get lost in storms nor bad weather, though he is unaquanted”.

Ægishjalmr

“The Helm of Awe”

Meaning & Significance

Is mentioned by name in the Poetic Edda as a helmet that is supposed to bring the wearer more courage and cause others to look upon him in awe. But we do not see the actual symbol pictured above until it shows up in an Icelandic manuscript dating back to the 1600s (now in the national library of Iceland). In this manuscript, the symbol is supposed to be “printed on ones forehand when meeting ones enemy, who shall then be overcome”.

Meaning & Significance

Herðslustafir

Meaning & Significance

First documented in 1860 in the Huld manuscript by Geir Vigfusson, and may not stretch much further back than that according to historians such as Jackson Crawford. Geir described the meaning of the symbol like this: “Strengthening symbols. Carry these symbols on your left chest, in order to strengthen up the mind”.

Svefnthorn

The Sleep Thorn

Meaning & Significance

The Svefnthorn is mentioned numerous times in many of the sagas so there is no doubt that the word and tool that is described in the sagas is connected to the Old Norse world (Where it is described as a magical tool that puts adversaries to sleep). However, we do not know if there is a symbol attached to this tool, or indeed how the symbol looks; as we have not found the actual symbol drawn on any object from the Viking Age (only mentioned in text). The actual symbol depicted above is first documented in the Huld manuscript from 1860.

If you want to learn more about why these symbols may not date back to or be linked to the Viking Age, here’s Jackson Crawford’s (Old Norse specialist with a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies) very informative takes on the Ægishjalmur and Vegvísir respectively:

Dr. Crawford taught courses in Norse language, myth, and sagas at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and University of Colorado over the years 2011-2020, and is currently on a mission to teach fulltime via YouTube & Patreon subscriptions.

His videos are always informative, based on actual evidence, very thorough, and well worth a watch if you’re interested in the Old Norse world.

Rudolphs Koch’s Nordic & Germanic symbols in The Book of Signs

German typographer Rudolph Koch published a book with 493 classified and documented illustrations, collected, drawn, and explained by himself.

Koch doesn’t really provide any sources for the symbols he draws, but he does include most of the Younger Futhark runes, and attributes some other symbols to either Nordic, Pagan, or Germanic origins:

Meaning & Significance

Triceps

Divine Power

Meaning & Significance

The Triceps is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is described as “an old Nordic sign” and “a symbol of heavenly power”. Famously used by the Japanese car manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors.

Sunwheel / The Cross of Wotan

Meaning & Significance

The Sunwheel or Cross of Wotan is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is either linked to the sun or Odin (Wotan). It is also described as “from the early Germanic peoples, and nothing further is known of it”.

The Dragon’s Eye

Meaning & Significance

The Dragon’s Eye is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is described as “from the early Germanic peoples, and nothing further is known of it”.

Meaning & Significance

Eight-angled figure

Divine Power

Meaning & Significance

The Eight-angled figure or the sign of the DEhmic Courts is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is described as “from the early Germanic peoples, and nothing further is known of it”.

The Eye of Fire

Meaning & Significance

The Eye of Fire is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is described as “from the early Germanic peoples, and nothing further is known of it”.

The Eight-spoked Wheel

Meaning & Significance

The Eight-spoked wheel is included in Rudolph Kuch’s “The Book of Signs”, and is described as “from the early Germanic peoples, and nothing further is known of it”.