Runic Tattoo Designs

Runes are early, typically straight lined, forms of lettering used primarily by northern European tribes. It is said that Odin hung himself from Yggdrasil, pierced with his own spear for 9 nights to be granted the knowledge of the runes. It is said that his blood fell into a pool of water and he saw them there.

Elder Futhark is the most commonly observed set of runes, but it is also the one that we honestly know the least about. It is an old form in use from approximately the second to eighth century A.D. Many of the meanings of the Elder Futhark are assumed to be the same as those of the Younger Futhark.

Anglo Saxon Futhorc runes seem to not be acknowledged among the general population quite as much. These were in use from the forth to eleventh century.

While we do know a decent amount about the Younger Futhark and it's usage during the eighth to eleventh century AD. it's later form of the the Medieval Runes seems to better fit more of the modern phonetics and were used from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries.

While there other rune sets such as Dalecarlian, Gothic, Marcomannic, short-twig, and staveless, we will primarily be focusing on the Futharks and Medieval Runes in this category.

The individual rune meanings have been changing over time as more research and understanding of the northern European countries occurs, as well as political climates surrounding some of the runes escalate. Some rune sets have also become almost purely phonetic as the individual rune meanings have fallen away.

Please view our current collection of drawings below.