Fé
f · /f/
wealth, cattle
Younger Futhark Alphabet
Younger Futhark is the runic alphabet used across Scandinavia through most of the Viking Age. Its 16 long-branch runes are a simplified, later form of the Elder Futhark.
16 runes · c. 8th–12th centuries CE
Úr
u · /u(ː)/
rain
Þurs
þ · /θ/
giant
Óss
o · /o(ː)/
god, one of the Æsir
Reið
r · /r/
ride, journey
Kaun
k · /k/
ulcer, boil
Hagall
h · /h/
hail
Nauðr
n · /n/
need, distress
Íss
i · /i(ː)/
ice
Ár
a · /a(ː)/
year, harvest, plenty
Sól
s · /s/
sun
Týr
t · /t/
the god Týr
Bjarkan
b · /b/
birch
Maðr
m · /m/
man, human
Lögr
l · /l/
water, lake
Ýr
ʀ · possibly /ʀ/
yew
History
Younger Futhark evolved from the Elder Futhark around the 8th century CE, reducing 24 runes to 16. The long-branch forms were used for most runic inscriptions in Viking Age Scandinavia.
The rune row was adapted again into the medieval runes after the Viking Age, and later into the Dalecarlian runes used in parts of Sweden into the early 20th century.
Sources
Character order and forms follow Unicode; names and sounds are reconstructed from runological sources.
- The Unicode Consortium, Runic (U+16A0-U+16FF)
- Michael P. Barnes, Runes: A Handbook (2012)