Elder Futhark Runes: All 24 in Order, Plus an A–Z Letter Chart

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How We Handle Runes

Fornvegr uses Elder Futhark, the oldest widely attested Germanic runic alphabet, used roughly from the 2nd to 8th centuries CE.

Elder Futhark contains 24 runes. It was not designed for modern Norwegian, English, German, French, Spanish, or other contemporary languages. Many modern letters and sounds did not exist in the same form, so a perfect one-to-one conversion is not always possible.

For personalised name prints, we use a consistent Fornvegr Elder Futhark transliteration system. This preserves the visual and phonetic character of Elder Futhark while making modern names readable and consistent.

Where a modern letter has no direct Elder Futhark equivalent, we use a documented substitute and show that choice openly.

New to this? Read how to write your name in Elder Futhark, step by step.

The 24 Elder Futhark Runes in Order

Rune	Name	Main sound used by Fornvegr
ᚠ	Fehu	F
ᚢ	Uruz	U
ᚦ	Thurisaz	TH
ᚨ	Ansuz	A
ᚱ	Raidho	R
ᚲ	Kenaz	K / hard C
ᚷ	Gebo	G
ᚹ	Wunjo	W / V
ᚺ	Hagalaz	H
ᚾ	Naudiz	N
ᛁ	Isaz	I / Y
ᛃ	Jera	J / soft Y sound
ᛇ	Eihwaz	Æ (a modern convention: the original sound of Eihwaz is uncertain)
ᛈ	Perthro	P
ᛉ	Algiz	Z
ᛊ	Sowilo	S
ᛏ	Tiwaz	T
ᛒ	Berkano	B
ᛖ	Ehwaz	E
ᛗ	Mannaz	M
ᛚ	Laguz	L
ᛜ	Ingwaz	NG
ᛞ	Dagaz	D
ᛟ	Othala	O / Ø

Want to see your name in Elder Futhark? Try the free Name-in-Runes tool.

Order your name as a rune print

Elder Futhark Alphabet A to Z: Letters to Runes

This is the default mapping used for personalised names.

Letter	Rune	Notes
A	ᚨ	Ansuz
B	ᛒ	Berkano
C (K sound)	ᚲ	Before a, o, u, a consonant, or at the end: Clara ᚲᛚᚨᚱᚨ, Eric ᛖᚱᛁᚲ
C (S sound)	ᛊ	Before e, i or y: Lucy ᛚᚢᛊᛁ, Cecilie ᛊᛖᛊᛁᛚᛁᛖ, Grace ᚷᚱᚨᛊᛖ
D	ᛞ	Dagaz
E	ᛖ	Ehwaz
F	ᚠ	Fehu
G	ᚷ	Gebo
H	ᚺ	Hagalaz
I	ᛁ	Isaz
J	ᛃ	Jera, a Y sound, as J still is in Norwegian (Jens ᛃᛖᚾᛊ). English J (James) is also ᛃ by default; ᛞᛃ on request
K	ᚲ	Kenaz
L	ᛚ	Laguz
M	ᛗ	Mannaz
N	ᚾ	Naudiz
O	ᛟ	Othala
P	ᛈ	Perthro
Q	ᚲᚹ	Rendered as KW
R	ᚱ	Raidho
S	ᛊ	Sowilo
T	ᛏ	Tiwaz
U	ᚢ	Uruz
V	ᚹ	Wunjo
W	ᚹ	Wunjo
X	ᚲᛊ	Rendered as KS
Y	ᛁ / ᛃ	ᛁ when it sounds like I (Yngve ᛁᛜᚹᛖ, Ylva ᛁᛚᚹᚨ). ᛃ at the start of a name before a vowel (Yara ᛃᚨᚱᚨ)
Z	ᛉ	Algiz

Names written out: Astrid · Bjørn · Erik · Freja · Ingrid · Sofia

Letter questions: C, V and Y in Elder Futhark

How do you write C in Elder Futhark?

Elder Futhark has no C rune, so we write the sound you hear. A hard C (a K sound) is ᚲ Kenaz: Clara ᚲᛚᚨᚱᚨ, Eric ᛖᚱᛁᚲ. A soft C (an S sound, before e, i or y) is ᛊ Sowilo: Lucy ᛚᚢᛊᛁ, Grace ᚷᚱᚨᛊᛖ. CH also follows the sound, so Christopher starts with ᚲ.

How do you write V in Elder Futhark?

There's no separate V rune. We use ᚹ Wunjo for both V and W, so Vera is ᚹᛖᚱᚨ and Liv is ᛚᛁᚹ. Some modern charts use ᚠ Fehu for V instead. Both are modern choices, so pick one and use it consistently.

How do you write Y in Elder Futhark?

Elder Futhark has no Y letter either. When Y sounds like I, we use ᛁ Isaz (Yngve ᛁᛜᚹᛖ, Ylva ᛁᛚᚹᚨ). When it starts a name before a vowel, as in Yara, we use ᛃ Jera: ᛃᚨᚱᚨ.

Not sure how a name is said? Type it into the free name tool and tell us the pronunciation when you order.

Type any name and see it letter by letter: open the free Name-in-Runes tool.

Norwegian, Nordic, and Accented Letters

Letter or group	Rune rendering	Rule / note
Æ	ᛇ	Eihwaz
Ø	ᛟ	Othala
Å	ᚨ	Ansuz
Ä / Á / À / Â / Ã / Ā / Ă / Ą	ᚨ	Treat as A
Ö / Ó / Ò / Ô / Õ / Ō	ᛟ	Treat as O / Ø
Ü / Ú / Ù / Û / Ū	ᚢ	Treat as U
É / È / Ê / Ë / Ē / Ė / Ę	ᛖ	Treat as E
Í / Ì / Î / Ï / Ī	ᛁ	Treat as I
Ç	ᛊ	S sound (François ᚠᚱᚨᚾᛊᛟᛁᛊ)
Ć / Č	ᚲ	Usually a TCH sound, approved by us before print
Ñ / Ń	ᚾ	Treat as N
Š / Ś	ᛊ	Treat as S
Ž / Ź / Ż	ᛉ	Treat as Z
Ł	ᛚ	Treat as L
ß	ᛊ	Treat as S (one ᛊ)
Þ	ᚦ	Thurisaz
Ð	ᛞ	Treat as D
Œ	ᛟᛖ	Treat as OE

Letter Combinations

Some modern letter groups are handled before individual letters are converted.

Combination	Rune rendering	Rule / note
TH	ᚦ	ᚦ by default. TTH counts as one sound (Matthew ᛗᚨᚦᛖᚹ). Names said with a plain T (Norwegian Thea, Thor, Thomas) can use ᛏ: tell us in the pronunciation field
NG	ᛜ	Use Ingwaz before processing N + G separately
PH	ᚠ	Treat as F
QU	ᚲᚹ	Treat as KW
X	ᚲᛊ	Treat as KS
SH	ᛊᚺ	S + H
CH	ᚲ	K by default (Christopher). SH-sound names (Charlotte, Michelle) and TCH names (Charlie) are written by sound, checked against our rune guide and approved before print
CK	ᚲ	Simplify to K
AA	ᚨ	Treat as A / Å in Nordic names

Tricky Cases

• TH is never written ᛏᚺ. It is ᚦ when it is a real "th" sound. When a name is said with a plain T, as Norwegians say Thea and Thomas, we can use ᛏ instead. Tell us how you say it.
• NG becomes ᛜ when it is a single NG sound.
• Q and QU are rendered as ᚲᚹ, the KW sound.
• X is rendered as ᚲᛊ, the KS sound.
• V and W both use ᚹ Wunjo.
• Y is ᛁ when it sounds like I and ᛃ when it starts a name before a vowel. J uses ᛃ Jera, which stood for a Y sound.
• Double letters are carved once, as the old rune carvers did, so Anna is ᚨᚾᚨ and Olsson is ᛟᛚᛊᛟᚾ.
• Silent letters may be skipped when the intended pronunciation is clear, but printed names normally follow the customer-entered spelling unless a clearer phonetic choice is requested.

Birth Date Digits

Elder Futhark has no historical numerals. For birth dates, Fornvegr uses a symbolic digit cipher. This is a modern Fornvegr convention, not a historical Elder Futhark number system.

Digit	Rune	Name	Meaning anchor
0	ᛟ	Othala	Heritage / origin
1	ᛁ	Isaz	The one, standing alone
2	ᚷ	Gebo	Gift, reciprocity, the pair
3	ᛒ	Berkano	Birth and renewal
4	ᛞ	Dagaz	Day, cycle, breakthrough
5	ᛗ	Mannaz	The human
6	ᚹ	Wunjo	Harmony and joy
7	ᛇ	Eihwaz	World-tree, endurance
8	ᛜ	Ingwaz	Seed, potential, renewal
9	ᛉ	Algiz	Protection; the nine worlds

Example: 21.06.2022 becomes ᚷᛁ · ᛟᚹ · ᚷᛟᚷᚷ. Dates are written digit by digit, so a repeated digit keeps its own rune (2022 is ᚷᛟᚷᚷ). Carving a double letter once applies to names only.

Why Elder Futhark?

Younger Futhark is the Viking-age alphabet, but its 16 runes collapse several modern sounds into the same signs. Elder Futhark gives us a clearer, more readable way to render modern names while staying inside a documented early Germanic runic system.

Our approach is practical and disclosed: the result is a consistent Fornvegr transliteration, not a claim that every modern name has one historically perfect rune spelling.

See a name as an Elder Futhark name print