What Are Runes? History, Meanings and Reading
What Are Runes: An Alphabet Before a Fortune Tool
Runes are the letters of the oldest Germanic alphabets, carved on wood, bone, metal, and stone long before they were ever used for readings. The question what are runes is often asked as if runes were invented for divination, but the history runs the other way: runes were writing first, a way to record names, makers marks, and memorials, and only much later did they become a tool for reflection and readings. That order matters, because it explains why the oldest inscriptions are short and practical, and why the meanings sold with modern rune sets are largely modern. Runes are one of the older tools people turn to during a period of change, often because an old alphabet feels more honest than a new app. The guide to spiritual awakening signs covers the broader unsettled season in which that interest usually appears.
The name comes from the first six letters of the alphabet, f, u, th, a, r, and k, which together make the word futhark. The Elder Futhark, the oldest complete form, has 24 runes arranged in three groups of eight, called aettir. It was used by Germanic speaking peoples from about 150 CE to about 650 CE, and it was then replaced in Scandinavia by the shorter Younger Futhark of 16 runes, which was in use through the Viking Age. The runes you see in a modern shop set are almost always the Elder Futhark, and this page follows that set throughout.
The Oldest Evidence: Combs, Spearheads, and Stones
The oldest securely dated runic inscription is the word harja, probably a name, carved on a comb from Vimose in Denmark, dated to about 160 CE. A spearhead from Ovre Stabu in Norway, dated to the late 2nd or early 3rd century, carries the word raunijaz, usually read as tester, a fitting name for a spear. A stone from Svingerud in Norway, excavated in 2021 to 2023 from a grave radiocarbon dated to between about 1 and 250 CE, carries the first three runes in order, and it is now described as the oldest datable runestone known.
The first complete row of all 24 runes appears on the Kylver stone, a limestone slab from a grave at Kylver on Gotland in Sweden, dated to about 400 CE and now held in the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm. Gold bracteates from Vadstena and Mariedamm in Sweden, from about 500 CE, divide the 24 runes into three groups of eight with dots, the earliest clear evidence of the three aettir. Those finds are the anchor of rune history: everything else, including the names of the runes, is reconstructed from later sources, above all the three medieval rune poems, written down centuries after the Elder Futhark fell out of use.
The 24 Runes of the Elder Futhark, Group by Group
The first aett, called Freyr's aett, runs fehu, uruz, thurisaz, ansuz, raidho, kenaz, gebo, and wunjo. In the reconstructed tradition, fehu is linked with cattle and wealth, uruz with the wild ox and strength, thurisaz with the thorn and a defensive force, ansuz with a god and with speech, raidho with riding and a journey, kenaz with a torch and knowledge, gebo with a gift and exchange, and wunjo with joy. The second aett, Hagal's aett, runs hagalaz, naudiz, isa, jera, eihwaz, perthro, algiz, and sowilo, covering hail and disruption, need and constraint, ice and stillness, the harvest and the turning year, the yew tree, the dice cup and chance, protection, and the sun.
The third aett, Tyr's aett, runs tiwaz, berkana, ehwaz, mannaz, laguz, ingwaz, dagaz, and othala, covering the god Tyr and justice, the birch and growth, the horse and partnership, humankind and the self, water and flow, the god Ing and new beginnings, the day and breakthrough, and inherited land and home. Those meanings are the ones used in modern rune readings, and they should be read as a modern system built on medieval poems, not as a direct record of what a 3rd century carver meant. The poems themselves are short, allusive, and often ambiguous, and different readers interpret them differently.
How Rune Readings Developed in Modern Times
Rune reading as it is practiced today is largely a 20th century development. The Elder Futhark had been forgotten as a living script, and it was not until 1865 that the Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge managed to decipher it. In the 20th century, writers and practitioners began using the runes as a divination tool, drawing on the rune poems, on Norse mythology, and on the example of tarot, which had already made the move from cards to readings. The most influential modern book, Ralph Blum's The Book of Runes, published in 1982, introduced a 25th blank rune, a modern invention with no historical basis, and that blank rune still appears in many shop sets today.
That modern history is worth knowing because it sets the right expectation. A rune reading is a reflective practice, a way to think about a question through symbols, not a recovered ancient oracle. Practitioners describe the runes as prompts for reflection, and the reading as a conversation between the symbols and the question, rather than as a prediction. The historical runes were letters; the modern rune reading is a new use of old letters, and it is best approached as such.
How to Cast Runes: A Simple Three Rune Reading
A rune reading begins with a clear question, written down in plain words, and a quiet moment to hold it in mind. The runes, usually small stones, pieces of wood, or clay tiles, are held in the hands or in a bag, shaken gently, and then drawn one at a time or cast onto a cloth. The most common layout is three runes in a row, read as past, present, and future, or as situation, challenge, and advice. A single rune drawn each morning is the simplest daily practice, and a five rune cross is used for a deeper question.
Read each rune by its name, its symbol, and its place in the layout, and notice whether it falls upright or reversed, because many readers give reversed runes a different or blocked meaning. Write down the runes, their positions, and your first thoughts before looking up meanings in a book, because the first impression is often the most honest. That first impression is a small act of intuition, and the guide on how to trust your intuition explains how to tell it from a passing worry. Then read the book meanings, compare them with your notes, and ask what the combination suggests about the question. The reading is finished when you can state one clear thought to carry away, not when every symbol has been explained.
Runes, Tarot, and Other Symbol Systems
Runes and tarot are often sold side by side, and they share a method, drawing symbols at random and reading them against a question, but they differ in history and in feel. Tarot has 78 cards with pictures, and its meanings are carried by the images; runes have 24 angular letters with no pictures, and their meanings are carried by names, poems, and association. A tarot reading tends to tell a story, while a rune reading tends to give a word, and many readers use both, choosing runes for a short, direct question and tarot for a longer, more detailed one.
Runes also differ from the pendulum and from affirmations, and the guide to what are affirmations sets out that sentence practice in full. A pendulum gives a yes or no movement, an affirmation gives a sentence to repeat, and a rune gives a symbol to think with. That difference is the reason to learn runes: not because they are older or stronger, but because a single angular letter, held in the hand and turned over in the mind, asks a different kind of attention than a picture or a sentence. A picture held in the mind is a practice of its own, and the guide to what is visualization covers it step by step. The guide to what is a pendulum and the guide to what is a spell set out those neighboring tools.
An Illustrative Example: Emma and the Three Runes
This example is illustrative, not a real person's story.
Emma, a 31 year old librarian, drew three runes about a job decision: raidho, isa, and jera. Raidho, the journey rune, sat in the past position, and she read it as the long commute she had endured for two years. Isa, the ice rune, sat in the present position, and she read it as the stillness she felt, waiting for a decision that would not come. Jera, the harvest rune, sat in the future position, and she read it as a slow reward for patience, a harvest that comes in its own season rather than on demand.
Emma did not treat the reading as a prediction. She wrote the three runes in her journal, noted that the pattern matched what she already knew, and decided to wait one more month before deciding, using the time to save money and to apply for one other post. The example shows how rune readings are most usefully used: as a mirror for a question, not as an answer handed down from the symbols.
Buying, Caring For, and Respecting a Rune Set
A rune set can be bought, made, or received as a gift, and each route is described as valid by practitioners. Shop sets are usually stone, wood, or resin, and they vary in quality, so check that all 24 runes are present, that the carving is clear, and that no extra blank rune is included unless you want one. A handmade set, carved on wood or painted on pebbles, is often valued more, because the maker has handled each rune, and the act of making is itself part of the practice.
Care for the set simply: keep it in a bag or a box, keep it dry, and clean the pieces with a soft cloth. Some practitioners keep a journal beside the set, recording each reading with the date and the question, which turns the set into a record of how the symbols have been used. Respect the history too: remember that runes were a writing system before they were a reading tool, and that the symbols have also been misused, including by extremist groups in the 20th century, a history that makes careful, respectful use all the more important. If you would like to talk through a reading with a reader, you can do that here in a calm first conversation. First 3 minutes FREE — every time, for every reading, with all advisors.
For a simple next step, try a One-Card Tarot reading and reflect on what the card suggests about the symbol you most need to sit with.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are runes, in one sentence?
Runes are the letters of the oldest Germanic alphabets, used for writing from about 150 CE, and in modern times also used as symbols in readings. The Elder Futhark, the set most people use today, has 24 runes in three groups of eight.
How old are runes?
The oldest securely dated runic inscription, the word harja on a comb from Vimose in Denmark, dates to about 160 CE. The first complete row of all 24 runes appears on the Kylver stone from Gotland, dated to about 400 CE.
Do runes predict the future?
No, rune readings are best used as a reflective practice, a way to think about a question through symbols. Practitioners describe the runes as prompts for reflection, not as predictions, and no outcome is guaranteed.
What is the blank rune?
The blank rune is a modern invention, introduced by Ralph Blum in The Book of Runes in 1982. It has no historical basis in the Elder Futhark, and many readers leave it out of the set entirely.
How do I do a simple rune reading?
Write a clear question, draw three runes, and read them as past, present, and future, or as situation, challenge, and advice. Write down your first thoughts before looking up book meanings, and finish with one clear thought to carry away.
Last updated: November 12, 2026
