Runes for beginners: an alphabet you can cast

In this lesson: the Elder Futhark, what Tacitus really said about lots, how modern rune casting began and a simple three-rune reading.

Runes are letters before they are anything else. The Elder Futhark is the oldest runic alphabet, used by Germanic-speaking peoples from around the second century CE, and its 24 signs were carved on weapons, brooches and memorial stones. Learning runes for divination means learning an alphabet with a real history, so it pays to separate what we know from what modern readers have added.

The Elder Futhark

The name comes from the first six runes: Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raidho and Kaunan, F-U-Th-A-R-K. The 24 runes are traditionally set out in three rows of eight. Each rune has a sound and a name, and the names are ordinary words: cattle, aurochs, giant, god, riding, torch. Most of what we know about those names comes from medieval rune poems in Old English, Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic, written centuries after the Elder Futhark had fallen out of use.

What history says about casting

The passage everyone quotes comes from the Roman writer Tacitus, in his Germania of 98 CE, chapter 10. He describes Germanic peoples cutting a branch into strips, marking them with signs, scattering them on a white cloth, and having a priest or the head of the household pick up three and interpret them. He does not say the signs were runes, and the oldest runic inscriptions we have come later than his book. So the link between Tacitus and rune casting is a reasonable guess, not a proven fact. I mark it that way on my rune history page too.

Modern rune divination as most people meet it took shape in the twentieth century. Ralph Blum’s The Book of Runes (1982) made it popular and added a blank rune, which has no basis in any ancient source. You can use one if you like, but know that it is modern.

What the runes were really used for

Historical The Elder Futhark of 24 runes was used from about the second to the eighth century CE across Scandinavia and parts of continental Europe. Most surviving inscriptions are short: names of owners or makers, memorial texts, and some formulas whose meaning is unclear. The famous gold horn of Gallehus from Denmark, made around 400 CE and later stolen and melted down in 1802, carried a maker’s inscription. In the Viking Age, the shorter Younger Futhark of 16 runes replaced it, and thousands of runestones were raised, especially in Sweden, mostly as memorials to the dead.

Historical Did people divine with runes? The evidence is thin. Tacitus describes casting marked slips of wood (Germania 10), but he does not say the signs were runes, and he wrote before the earliest known runic inscriptions. Some inscriptions may be magical, such as repeated runes or the word alu, whose meaning is debated. The sets of rune stones used for divination today come mainly from the twentieth century, especially Ralph Blum’s The Book of Runes (1982), which also introduced a blank rune that has no historical basis.

Learning the rune meanings from the poems

Historical Our best sources for the names and meanings of individual runes are three rune poems: the Old English Rune Poem (manuscript lost in a fire in 1731, but copied earlier), the Old Norwegian Rune Rhyme and the Old Icelandic Rune Poem, written down between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. For example, the Old English poem says of feoh (wealth, the F rune) that “wealth is a comfort to all”, but that everyone must share it freely if they wish to gain honor before the Lord. Reading these short verses gives modern meanings a firm historical root.

A second worked example

Someone draws three runes for the question “How should I approach my new job?” She draws Fehu, Raidho and Isa. Using meanings from the poems and modern guides, she reads Fehu as resources and sharing, Raidho as a journey or right order, and Isa as ice, stillness. Her reflection: “Use what I have generously, move steadily, and accept a slow, frozen start.” The reading did not predict anything, but it gave her a calm frame for her first weeks.

How to read three runes

Draw three runes without looking. Lay them left to right: the first speaks to what led here, the second to where you stand, the third to a next step. Read each rune’s name and keyword first, then let the meanings talk to each other. The three-rune pull echoes the three lots in Tacitus, which I find a nice link even if we cannot prove the ancient practice was runic.

What Tacitus actually wrote

Historical Because so much is claimed about Tacitus, it is worth reading his words for yourself. In a nineteenth-century English translation of Germania chapter 10, he writes that the Germans “cut a twig from a fruit-tree, and divide it into small pieces, which, distinguished by certain marks, are thrown promiscuously upon a white garment.” Here “promiscuously” is an old word for “at random”. The priest, or the head of the family for private questions, then “thrice takes out each piece, and, as they come up, interprets their signification according to the marks fixed upon them.”

Notice what Tacitus does not say. He does not say the marks were runes; the earliest runic inscriptions we know of date from the second century CE, some decades after he wrote. So we cannot know what the marks were. But one detail in the passage is wonderfully practical for modern readers: “If the result prove unfavorable, there is no more consultation on the same affair that day.” In other words, no redrawing until you get the answer you want. That is a rule I recommend for every beginner, whatever method you use.

Making your own rune set

Many people find that making their own set deepens their learning. You can paint the 24 runes on flat pebbles, cut slices from a fallen branch, or write them on small squares of card. As you make each one, say its name aloud and write its meaning from the rune poems in your notebook. By the time the set is finished, you will know the shapes far better than if you had bought them.

Use non-toxic paint or a permanent marker, and if you cut wood, use fallen branches rather than living trees. A simple cloth bag keeps the set together.

A one-rune daily practice

For a month, draw one rune each morning and ask, “What is worth noticing today?” Write the rune’s name, its traditional meaning from the poems and one line about how it might apply. In the evening, add one more line: did anything in the day connect with it? After a month you will have met most of the runes at least once, and your notes will be your own small rune dictionary.

Questions beginners ask

Should I make my own runes? Many people enjoy carving or painting their own on wood or stones. It helps you learn the shapes.

Should I use the blank rune? It is a modern addition. Use it if it means something to you, but know its origin.

Are runes linked to far-right groups? Some runes have been misused by Nazi and white supremacist groups. Most rune users reject this firmly. Learn which symbols are associated with hate groups so you can avoid confusion.

Myths to drop: Runes were not invented for divination. There is no ancient “rune casting” manual. And the Elder Futhark was not used by Vikings, who used the Younger Futhark.

A worked example

Imagine you ask, “What do I need to see about my tiredness at work?” You draw Isa (ice), Naudhiz (need) and Sowilo (sun). Ice in the past suggests things have been frozen, maybe a project stuck for months. Need in the present asks what you truly need right now, not what you think you should push through. The sun as a next step points towards light and rest: perhaps a real holiday, or simply lunch outside. You write that down, and the rest is up to you.

Try this

Write out the Elder Futhark in three rows of eight with each rune’s name. Then make a quick set: 24 squares of card with one rune on each will do. Draw three and write one sentence for each, using past, present and next step.

Journal prompts: Which rune shape feels most familiar to me? What did the rune poem add to my understanding? How do I want to use runes respectfully?

A beginner’s worry, answered. “I drew the same rune three days in a row. Does that mean something?” With 24 runes, repeats happen more often than people expect. Note it, read it with fresh eyes each time, and see whether a theme emerges in your life. It is an invitation to look closer, not a warning.

A variation for study. Learn the runes in their three traditional groups of eight, called aettir (families). Spend a week on each group, drawing only from those eight runes, so you get to know them well before adding the rest. After three weeks you will have met the whole Elder Futhark slowly and properly.

Storing your runes. A cloth bag and a quiet shelf are all you need.

Recap

The Elder Futhark has 24 runes, named from its first six letters, and the meanings we use come largely from medieval rune poems. Tacitus described casting marked lots around 98 CE, but he does not say they were runes. Modern rune divination, including the blank rune, is largely twentieth century. A three-rune reading is a simple, honest place to start.

What next

Every rune has its own page on the Elder Futhark list, and how to cast runes walks through more layouts. The rune poems page shows where the meanings come from. If runes catch you, my free Runes for Beginners course teaches all 24 in ten lessons. Next lesson: oracle and Lenormand cards.

Further reading: For a full course, see Runes for Beginners. R. I. Page, Runes (British Museum Press, 1987). The rune poems are translated in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems (Cambridge University Press, 1915, public domain).

Sources

• Tacitus, Germania, chapter 10, trans. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (written 98 CE).
• R. I. Page, Runes (British Museum Press, 1987).
• Ralph Blum, The Book of Runes (St. Martin’s Press, 1982).

Go deeper: the tarot and runes pages on this site

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