The Elder Futhark

The simplest way to use runes is to ask a direct question.  Runes can be used to gain wisdom. Everything is perpetually revealing information not seen on the surface. Runes are no exception. The symbolgh communication. To obtain guidance from the Runes, ask a question silently. Placing all your runes in a pouch, a box or other vessel which you will not peer into, reach inside with your hand and take out a Rune. Find the meaning of the rune and think about how it relates to your question. Look for ways that the answer you have recived appears during the next 24 hours. Pay attention to your dreams and what they may tell you about the answer you got.

Why and How this Works

The Elder Futhark, used for writing Old Norse, consists of 24 runes that are often arranged in three groups of eight, each group referred to as an Ætt.  Each Ætt represents an aspect of existence. Freyers Ætt are about the life cycle, Hagalaz Ætt are about nature and natural laws and Tyr's Ætt draw attention to mankinds ability to adapt and survive through life cycles in the natural world.

The earliest known use of Runic symbols is found in the Raetic Alphabet dating back to CE 1-5 in Bolzano, Northern Italy. The Raetic alphabet, an italic writing form, contained 5 of the elder Futhark and was dissemintaed throughout the European continent during the next 400 years. The symbols evolved and changed as they met differing cultures, Icelandic, Norse, Anglo Saxon, and Celtic.  The first sequential listing of a full set of 24 runes dates to approximately CE 400 and is found on the Kylver Stone in Gotland, Sweden. 

The most extensive early use of runes dates to the CE 13 Poetic Eddas written in Icelandic with Runic inscriptions that communicate ideas about how humanity exists in a cosmos that also has fate and Gods.

Meaning is assigned to Runes through their use.  The Eddas are attributed to Snorri Sturloson, 1279-1330. He was educated in the Oddi school in Iceland, a center of learning in the middle ages.  From wisdom oral tradition he developed the idea that the Gods were once men and that they advanced to becoming deities through battles within and without finding ways to overcome lifes challenges.

The word "edda" may have an origin by analogy with "kredda" from Latin credo, "creed".  There is also suggestion from local Icelandic scholars that Edda has the same Norse root as the Sanskrit 'Vedas' meaning 'knowledge'.  In this way the Runes impart knowledge that is real and useful in overcoming life challenges.  Though Runes were used to denote ownership or record an event or communicate an idea, they are associated with existence itself and ideas about how to meet life challenges.

Also, in the Hávamál "sayings of the high one" which is a single poem in the Codex Regius, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age, the idea the poem, itself a combination of different poems, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom.

The 24 Elder Futhark Runes are divided in"Ætt" or groups of eight. Each  Ætt takes the name or meaning of the first rune in the Ætt. Each Rune has a name which has a meaning or a lesson:
                           

Freyrs Aett

ᚠ   F          Fehu            "Freyr, wealth, cattle"
 

ᚢ    U         Uruz             "water"
 

ᚦ    Th       Thurisaz       "Thor"
 

ᚨ     A         Ansuz             "Æsir, Gods"
 

ᚱ     R        Raidō               "journey"
 

ᚲ   K        Kanu               "illumination"
 

ᚷ    G       Gebō                "gift

ᚹ    W       Wunjō              "Frey, joy"

Hagalaz Aett

ᚻ      H        Hagalaz             "hailstone"
 

ᚾ    N        Naudiz               "need"
 

ᛁ        I         Isaz                      "ice"

ᛃ   J       Jēra                     "year, harvest"
 

ᛇ      Ei       Eihwaz               "tree, Yggdrasil"

ᛈ       P        Perth                   "fate"
 

ᛉ      Z       Algiz                     "protection"
 

ᛋ       S       Sōwilo                  "Sun, energy"

Tyrs Aett

ᛏ       T       Teiwaz                    "Tyr, justice"

ᛒ      B       Berkana                 "birch, renewal"

ᛖ        E       Ehwaz                     "horse, trust"
 

ᛗ        M      Mannaz                  "mankind"
 

ᛚ          L      Laguz                       "Lake, water"
 

ᛝ         Ng     Ingwaz                    "peace"
 

ᛟ        O      Othila                      "inheritance"
 

ᛞ        D      Dagaz                       "day, time"