Rune Meanings: A Guide to All 24 Elder Futhark Runes
Each of the 24 Elder Futhark runes carries a rich meaning. Learning them is the heart of rune reading — here's an overview of how they're grouped and what they cover.
The three aettir
The 24 runes fall into three groups of eight (aettir), each loosely themed — from creation and nature, through disruption and challenge, to humanity and completion.
Themes runes cover
Runes speak to wealth, strength, journeys, partnership, protection, change and more. Fehu means prosperity; Raidho a journey; Gebo a gift; Algiz protection.
Upright and reversed
Many runes have a reversed (merkstave) meaning — a blocked or shadow form. Symmetrical runes like Gebo and Isa read the same either way.
Look up any rune
Browse our rune meanings for all 24 symbols, each with its keywords and upright and reversed readings.