Viking and Norse Tattoos: Yggdrasil, Mjolnir, Runes and the Symbols' Real History

Runes are an alphabet, not a set of magic pictures. The Elder Futhark (24 runes) was used from roughly the 2nd to the 8th century; the Viking Age used the shorter Younger Futhark (16 runes). Each rune has a sound and a name with a meaning - Fehu, "cattle, wealth"; Uruz, "aurochs"; Algiz, often read as "protection" - but writing an English word in runes is a transliteration, not a translation.

Many rune designs online, including much of this site's image library, mix real runes with invented shapes. Copy runes from a reliable table, decide which Futhark you are using, and do not combine them.

The only direct description is from Ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveller who met Scandinavian traders on the Volga in the 920s and wrote that they were marked from fingertips to neck with dark green trees and figures. No tattooed Viking skin has survived, so the designs themselves are unknown.

Some Norse symbols - certain runes such as Othala with "wings", the Valknut in some contexts, and the black sun - have been adopted by white-supremacist groups. Most people wearing Norse symbols mean nothing of the kind, but it is worth knowing how a design may be read, and a good artist will tell you if a combination carries that baggage.