Runes

“Runes” refer to the futhark alphabets and enchantments made using them. Runes have been used for magic for hundreds of years—Eddic poetry associates them with Odin. Originally, only the elite knew how to read and write runic scripts, which gave the runes a reputation of power, authority, and secrecy. Runic writing became more commonplace as time went on and was used for runestones, weapons, and graffiti. Even after the Latin alphabet became the dominant writing system in Scandinavia, the runes were used to write enchantments and create runic calendars as late as the 19th century.

Runic scripts have evolved over time and are therefore broken up into different alphabets, called futharks. The name futhark—or rather, fuþark—is a reference to the runic alphabets’ first six letters: ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲ. The three futharks often used in Heathenry today are the Elder Futhark, the Younger Futhark, and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.