Behold: a handy chart of rune symbols and meanings for use in magic and divination. This table of rune meanings will help you incorporate runes into your spellwork and interpret the runes in your readings.
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The truth is that each rune individually holds enough mystery and meaning to fill its own book. No simple keyword chart could ever possibly encompass the possibilities for rune interpretations in divination or for the applications of runes to magical workings. However, there are times when a simple table of rune symbols and meanings can be helpful. For those times, I give you the table below.
It is my intention to create individual posts exploring each Elder Futhark rune in depth. In those posts, I will share with you the historical and modern meanings behind each of the 24 Elder Futhark runes, as well as questions for reflection when you draw each rune in a reading, and suggestions for spellwork involving each of the runes. As I complete these posts, I will link to them from this page.
| ᚠ Fehu | ᚢ Uruz | ᚦ Thurisaz | ᚨ Ansuz | ᚱ Raido | ᚲ Kenaz | ᚷ Gebo | ᚹ Wunjo |
| ᚺ Hagalaz | ᚾ Nauthiz | ᛁ Isa | ᛃ Jera | ᛇ Eihwaz | ᛈ Perthro | ᛉ Elhaz | ᛋ Sowulo |
| ᛏ Tiwaz | ᛒ Berkana | ᛖ Ehwaz | ᛗ Mannaz | ᛚ Laguz | ᛜ Ingwaz | ᛞ Dagaz | ᛟ Othala |
Until this undertaking is complete, if you would like to explore the runes in greater depth than what is offered in this table, I suggest you take a look at my first book, Modern Runes: Discover the Magic of Casting and Divination for Everyday Life.
Elder Futhark Rune Meanings & Symbols Chart
| Rune Name & Runic Symbol | Rune Meanings/Keywords/Key Concepts |
|---|---|
| Fehu ᚠ | wealth, growth, investment, money, material, matter, resources, gold, trade, branching, expansion, cattle, capital |
| Uruz ᚢ | vitality, strength, shaping power, formation, pattern, wild energy, virility, something out of nothing, the beginning of the universe |
| Thurisaz ᚦ | thorn, destruction, defense, protection (by threat of destruction), destructive forces of nature (giants), piercing, masculine energy |
| Ansuz ᚨ | magic, inspiration, breath, song, poetry, words, incantation, breath of life, artistry, divine, divination, speaking with god, channeling |
| Raido ᚱ | journey, right path, forward motion, progress, routine, ritual, order, wheel of the year, wheel of the sun chariot, passage of time, everything in divine timing |
| Kenaz ᚲ | creative fire, creative spark, fire of the forge, illumination, torch, spark of inspiration, knowledge, creativity, understanding, wisdom, skill, to know, that which is known |
| Gebo ᚷ | gift, exchange, hospitality, gifting cycle, sacrifice, sex, relationships |
| Wunjo ᚹ | joy, wish, bliss, that which brings us together, community, three of cups vibes |
| Hagalaz ᚺ | hail, crystallization, sudden change, destructive and uncontrollable interruption that eventually turns out to be for the best, storms, apparent obstacles/challenges |
| Nauthiz ᚾ | need, need-fire, necessity, hunger, desperation, struggle, hardship, sacrifice, cost, inevitability, emergency, urgency |
| Isa ᛁ | ice, stillness, stagnation, solidity, unchanging-ness, fidelity, ego, individuality, frozen, difficulty, challenge, obstacle |
| Jera ᛃ | year, harvest, good harvest, wheel of the year, summer, reaping what you sowed, farming/gardening, that which nature gives, the consequences of previous actions/events |
| Eihwaz ᛇ | yew, bow (as a bow and arrow), ascension, transcendence, trunk of the world tree, vertical travel between worlds, astral travel, higher consciousness, underworld, higher planes, sagittarius vibes |
| Perthro ᛈ | mystery, womb, grave, that which is unseen and unknown, dice cup/lot cup (as in gambling), luck, chance, gamble, games, play, the darkness from which we all come and to which we all return |
| Elhaz ᛉ | protection, boundaries, hedge, defense, shelter, horizontal travel between worlds, travel, valkyrie, hamsa, ancestral protection |
| Sowulo ᛋ | success, sun, sunlight, light, illumination, clarity, guidance, strength |
| Tiwaz ᛏ | victory, justice, righteousness, god the judge, judgment, trial, leadership, authority, sovereignty, order, structure, uprightness, truth, guidance |
| Berkana ᛒ | nourishment, nurture, motherhood, breasts of the earth mother, provision, health, healing, fertility, earth mother |
| Ehwaz ᛖ | harmony, divine twins, partnership, marriage, collaboration, horse and rider, channeling (in the sense that you become the horse & spirit is the rider) |
| Mannaz ᛗ | man, humanity, human fallibility, personhood, relationship to self, interpersonal relationships, reflection |
| Laguz ᛚ | flow, water, lake, leek, lifeblood, blood, vital essence, life, moon |
| Ingwaz ᛜ | seed, potential, virility, beginnings, initial investment, child, childhood |
| Dagaz ᛞ | dawn, dusk, door, transition, in-between, liminal spaces and times, transformation, when things are not black-and-white/binary |
| Othala ᛟ | inheritance, family, tradition, homeland, in-group, belonging, genetic inheritance, cultural inheritance, generational curses/blessings/trauma/etc, generation |
Elder Futhark Rune Meanings in Divination
The keywords in the table above should help you interpret the runes of the Elder Futhark in divinatory readings. While some of the keywords are specific nouns (such as yew bow for Eihwaz or need-fire for Nauthiz), these specific things are merely keys to understanding the forces and relationships that the runes truly represent. Try not to get hung up on the specifics, and think more in terms of abstract concepts and relationships when interpreting runes.
For example, if I asked the runes “Am I on the right path for xyz?” and I drew Eihwaz, I would think about how the abstract concept represented by the yew bow is the act of aiming at a target, firing, and hitting accurately, which would seem to indicate that I am on the right path to achieve my goals. I would also think about how the trunk of the world tree (sometimes thought to be yew) is the means by which we ascend or level up (vertical travel between worlds), also indicating that I am on a path which allows me to make progress towards my goals.
For a complete guide to practicing divination with runes, including a selection of spreads for rune reading, check out my first book, Modern Runes: Discover the Magic of Casting and Divination for Everyday Life.
To explore rune spreads for use in divination (which can also be used as tarot spreads or oracle spreads), click here.
Elder Futhark Rune Meanings in Magic
The table of Elder Futhark rune meanings and symbols found above should help you craft your own bindrunes, rune scripts, and rune spells for your personalized magical practice. Just as with divination, try to look past the literal meanings of some of the runes (such as “breasts of the earth mother” for Berkana) and think instead about the abstract concepts and relationships those literal meanings represent (although I have tried to include those abstract meanings in the keyword chart as well).
For example, you might not need to literally invoke the breasts of the Earth Mother (if you can even wrap your head around what exactly that might mean in a spell), but you might invoke Berkana to awaken the nurturing qualities and mothering capabilities of mother earth in yourself, or to manifest healing for yourself or a loved one.
Runes can be woven into magical practice in all sorts of ways. Carving runes, bindrunes, and rune scripts into food, personal items, amulets, or talismans is the most traditional and probably the most popular, but runes can also be sewn into clothes, carved into candles (my favorite), painted into art journal grimoires, tattooed, worn as jewelry, and more. The rune magic you make is really only limited by your imagination!
Simplified Guide to Elder Futhark Rune Meanings & Symbols
Save this handy graphic of the Elder Futhark rune meanings and symbols to refer back to on the fly.
When you need a little more information, you can head right back to this blog post! Consider saving this page to your favorites or to a relevant Pinterest board so you can refer back to it whenever you need.
The runes of the Elder Futhark may seem confusing at first, but once you get to know them, not only will you start to understand how to utilize them in your spells and interpret them in your divinatory readings, you’ll also begin to see the patterns, concepts, and relationships they represent (or perhaps are?) in the world all around you every day. Until then, I hope this chart of rune meanings and symbols can help you piece together the messages they have for you. May the runes fall ever in your favor, and may you always have the wisdom to understand and apply the secrets they speak.
I’m sure you’ll hear from me again soon with more detailed rune profiles, rune spreads for divination, and guides to rune magic the way I practice it in my daily life. I try to share witchy wisdom, simple rituals, and handmade magic here once or twice a week to inform and inspire your magical practice and help make your everyday life more magical.
Until we meet again – be well, seek beauty, and leave a little magic wherever you go.
Blessings,
