The Elder Futhark is the oldest runic alphabet, consisting of 24 symbols used by Germanic peoples from roughly the 2nd to 8th centuries CE. Each rune is simultaneously a letter, a sound, a concept, and a divinatory symbol — making it one of the most compact symbolic systems ever developed.
Structure
The 24 runes divide into three groups of eight called Aettir (families):
- Freya's Aett (Fehu through Wunjo) — Material world, primal forces
- Heimdall's Aett (Hagalaz through Sowilo) — Challenges, transformation
- Tyr's Aett (Tiwaz through Othala) — Social order, self-realization
As Divination
Runes were historically cast onto cloth and read based on which symbols landed face-up and their relative positions. Modern rune reading draws individual runes from a bag or casts them in spreads. Unlike tarot's 78-card granularity, runes work with 24 dense symbols — each one carrying multiple layered meanings. Fehu alone covers wealth, cattle, mobile property, earned reward, and the responsibilities that come with abundance.
In Chaos Tarot, each rune is procedurally rendered with unique geometric treatments. The system supports single-rune draws, three-rune spreads (Norns), and full Aettir-based layouts.