Three same stave bindrunes. The first is a Loki Bindrune / Bindrune for Loki. The Second is an Odin Bindrune / Bindrune for Odin. The third is a Thor Bindrune / Bindrune for Thor.

What Are Bindrunes?

Bindrunes are combinations of ancient runic symbols, crafted by merging two or more runes into a single design. These symbolic amalgamations hold deep spiritual significance and are often used for various purposes. 

Historically they were used to save time, effort and canvas space when carving runes into stone. In modern times – and no doubt thanks to technology – Bindrunes have become far more decorative and stylistically explored. 

the basics

FAQs – Runes & Bindrunes

What Is The Purpose Of A Bindrune?

Bindrunes serve multiple purposes, including invoking protection, enhancing personal attributes, or focusing intentions for specific outcomes. They are believed to harness the individual powers of each rune within the combined symbol.

Are Bindrunes Historical?

Yes, bindrunes have a rich historical legacy rooted in Norse and Germanic cultures. They were commonly used in inscriptions on artifacts, weapons, and amulets, showcasing their cultural significance.

Why Are Bindrunes So Popular?

Bindrunes have gained popularity due to their intriguing blend of ancient mysticism and contemporary spirituality. Many people find them visually appealing and believe in their efficacy for personal empowerment and spiritual connection.

Are Bindrunes Legit?

While opinions vary, bindrunes hold significance for many individuals who integrate them into their spiritual practices. The efficacy of bindrunes often depends on personal belief and the intentions behind their creation and use.

Which Runes Are Viking?

'Viking,' is essentially just a key word that is often used to describe anything of Viking age origin. It's also wildly overused in our modern times as it's a good marketing term, given that people love the romanticised idea of the Vikings. 

The Younger Futhark are the runes that were used throughout the Viking age. 'The runes used throughout the Viking age,' is a more accurate description of what they are, but the 16 Younger Futhark runes is the answer that you're looking for. 

ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚬ ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛅ ᛦ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ

READ MORE ABOUT THOSE HERE

Are Bindrunes Viking?

Not really, but they can be. There are a few examples of Bindrunes carved into Viking-age runestones using the Younger Futhark runes, but those are few and far between. 

Primarily, Bindrunes are created using the Elder Futhark runes , which were used before the Viking-age. 

Are The Vegvísir And Helm Of Awe Bindrunes?

No. Those are Icelandic magic staves, known as galdrastafir. They appear runic in nature, but these symbols combine stave elements to convey specific meanings, such as protection, guidance, and courage alongside many others. 

They're also a lot more modern, and the galdrabók, containing many of them, has been dated to the 1600s. 

Can I write words or names as Bindrunes?

You certainly can – Just not always perfectly. The runes represent sounds as opposed to letters, and while some runes (Jera in the elder futhark for example) may show a certain letter, the sound could be entirely different. 

Jera is the best example for this – ᛃ – as it's written as a J, but the sound is more of a y. It's pronounced 'Yee-ra' in the same say that Jormungandr is pronounced 'Yor-mun-gandr' 

And this is something I have to explain whenever I get asked to create a bindrune for someones name that starts with a J. If you write James as ᛃᚨᛗᛖᛊ – you've written Yames. Same for Yohnathan, Yacob, Yoel, Yessica, Yanette & Yulie. 

Personally, I have no issue making them if you as the client are okay with that mistake, so long as you understand that beforehand. But outside of this example, names and words can be written as bindrunes if you can sound them out. 

I actually have an eBook with over 250 Norse mythology themed name bindrunes. I wrote the Old Norse names of various gods, beasts and mythological beings  as bindrunes, all of which can be used and tattooed. You'll see some of those under the Same Stave Bindrunes section further down, and if you want to check out the eBook, Click HERE. 

Where Can I Get A Bindrune For Tattoo?

There are many tattoo artists who specialise in creating custom bindrune designs tailored to your individual preferences and intentions. I am one of them, and you'll see many examples of my work as you scroll through this article. 

If my work isn't for you, I can recommend many other artists who would love to help. check out my community page - EINARR'S MEAD HALL →

Where Can I Learn About Runes & Bindrunes?

I have a few resources that I think will help you out. 

1. EBOOK • THE RUNES 

An eBook I created to explore the meanings of the runes and give my thoughts about how I use them in my work. Currently it just focusses on the Elder Futhark Runes, but a future update will contain a large section on the Younger Futhark Runes, alongside a much more expanded version of this page with a guide on how to create your own Bindrunes. 

That eBook update, and the book that will follow will both contain many Bindrunes that I've created, all of which you can take and have tattooed. 

All updates for my eBooks are free once you've purchased a copy

2. EBOOK • THE NORSE MYTHOLOGY ENCYCLOPEDIA

An eBook I created to compartmentalise and organise all of Norse Mythology. You'll find 150+ pages of Information and 250+ Bindrunes, created by translating the Old Norse name for each featured figure into younger Futhark Runes, and then writing it along the same stave. 

A future update will include another 200+ Bindrunes 

key info

Types of Bindrunes

Stacked Bindrunes

Very simply, a stacked Bindrune consists of one or more runes stacked on the same axis. The Bluetooth logo is the most recognisable stacked Bindrune, created using the Younger Futhark H & B Runes • ᚼ ᛒ • The H is for Harald, and the B is for Bluetooth. 

Historically, many examples of stacked Bindrunes have been found on both Elder and Younger Futhark Runestones, and their existence would have been born through efficiency. 

It takes a long time to carve stone, so it makes sense to cut corners where possible. same stave Bindrunes, such as ᛖᚱ being written with the ᚱ rune joined to the right line of the ᛖ rune. 

Same-Stave Bindrunes

Same stave Bindrunes are a series of runes arranged on one singular line. These can range from simple to complex, with some spelling out words or names, and the more complex being used to create personal and meaningful designs. 

The three in the image are from my Norse Mythology encyclopedia eBook, where I categorised and organised as many Norse mythology entities as I could find, translating their names to Old Norse and making over 250+ Bindrunes with each name. 

Radial / Sigil-Style Bindrunes

Radial Bindrunes are a lot more modern, and as the name suggests, they're more circular and Sigil-esque in their presentation. These particular Bindrunes are favoured by modern artists for their malleability, especially when incorporating other shapes alongside galdrastafir elements. 

This is something I've been experimenting a lot with recently – bringing Icelandic stave motifs into my bindrunes to give them a more mystical 'sigil' like feel. Slavic art too – recently I had a commission from someone in Croatia who asked me to create a design with Sicanje art. I was honoured to be a part of that, and instantly fell in love with the style when I started drawing. Alongside the runes, these 2 have had a huge impact on my runic art style. 

Modern Bindrunes

Modern Bindrunes have taken the runic art form in an entirely new direction, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Some people don't really like how runes & bindrunes are used in modern times, while that's fair enough to have your own views on the subject – art evolves with time. Viking & Germanic Art being a good example – with well over 10 styles that slowly evolved before and during the viking age. 

Modern bindrunes often come with a more ornate and decorative appearance – with inspiration drawn in from Icelandic Staves & other similar art forms that have come about in the past 1000 years. 

And this is where my work lies – in the creation of deeply personal and meaningful Bindrunes. Runic art has come a long way since the Viking age, and as an art form is has seen an absolute explosion in popularity over the last 10 years. I've been drawing bindrunes for around 5 years now, and I really don't remember seeing a lot of art in this style (at least with the level of complexity that we're seeing today) around back then. 

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Tiwaz & Nauthiz [ᛏᚾ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Ansuz & Hagalaz [ᚺᚨ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Mannaz & Fehu [ᛗᚠ]

  • Younger Futhark Runes – Hagal & Bjarkan [ᚼᛒ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Gebo & Wunjo [ᚷᚹ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Pertho & Eihwaz [ᛈᛇ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Gebo & Algiz [ᚷᚨ]

  • Elder Futhark Runes – Wunjo & Uruz [ᚹᚢ]

  • Odin Bindrune

    ON: Óðinn → ᚢᚦᛁᚾ

  • Thor Bindrune

    Þórr → ᚦᚢᚱ

  • Loki Bindrune

    ON: Loki → ᛚᚢᚴᛁ

  • Geri Bindrune

    ON: Geri → ᚴᛁᚱᛁ

  • Freki Bindrune

    ON: Freki → ᚠᚱᛁᚴᛁ

  • Huginn Bindrune

    ON: Huginn → ᚼᚢᚴᛁᚾ

  • Muninn Bindrune

    ON: Muninn → ᛘᚢᚾᛁᚾ

  • Fenrir Bindrune

    ON: Fenrir → ᚠᛅᚾᚱᛁᛦ

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  • Skadi Bindrune – a 'Snowflake' variant of Radial Bindrunes

  • Odin Hangs From Yggdrasil Bindrune

  • Odin Sacrifices his Eye to Minir Bindrune

  • Sacrifice – A Combination of the last two 

  • A decorative & aesthetic Bindrune

  • Sif Bindrune 

  • Surtr Bindrune

  • Warrior Bindrune – Themed on Havamal Stanza 16

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  • Commissioned 

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  • Commissioned 

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  • Commissioned 

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Example of 5 bindrunes that are commonly used by others without realising that they contain mistakes. Used to illustrate what to avoid when searching for Bindrunes

If you don't know what it is, don't use it. 

You might have seen those Bindrunes in the image before, or maybe you haven't. Regardless, they show up very frequently for those looking into Bindrunes. I made them maybe 3 years prior to writing this, and what's depressing but also hilarious to me is that they've been tattooed many times, but they're wrong. Thor is written as ᚦᛟᚱ when it should be ᚦᚢᚱ, and I have no idea what the hell I was doing with the Tyr one. 

They were taken from my page, uploaded to Pinterest, and have been repeatedly regurgitated (and tattooed by people) since. Recently I made another post declaring them the property of the internet. My point here is that if you haven't spoken to the person who made the Bindrune, you have no idea if It means what you're being told it does. And most of the time it doesn't. 

Coming Soon

Runic Art by Einarr's Journey

I'm making an entire book on Runic art & Bindrunes. If you want a good idea of how the physical version will look, it's being modelled on my existing Hávamál book. But where the Havamal is a 60,000 word illustrated novel, Runic Art will be a book focussed on the art. 

Preorder

the codex

250 Same Stave Bindrunes – Ready to Use

And so much more. This eBook is part of a much larger project, with the first version barely even scratching the surface. All future updates are free when you purchase the eBook, and I think you'll be surprised at just how stacked it is with content & useful information

Download the eBook
Services • Commissions - Einarr's Journey

commissions

Custom Bindrunes to Honour Your Story

Commission work is the foundation of everything I do with this business – and whatever your story, I would love to be a part of it. The link below will take you to my commissions page, but the easiest way to contact me is to simply send me DM on Instagram @einarrs_journey

Commissions