Old Norse Tattoo Checker

Version 1.0 — Last updated: 7 September 2026

Before committing to a permanent rune tattoo, paste your finished design below. This tool checks for one specific, common, and avoidable mistake: mixing runes from two different historical alphabets (Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark) in the same design. It does not verify historical accuracy, spelling conventions, or meaning — for that, see the manual checklist further down this page.

Check your rune design

What this checker does and doesn’t catch

It catches alphabet-mixing (Elder Futhark characters combined with Younger Futhark characters in one design) and flags any character outside those two reference sets. It cannot verify whether your intended word or phrase is grammatically correct in Old Norse, whether the rune conversion itself is historically accurate for the period you’re going for, or whether a symbol carries a meaning you’d want on your skin — those all need a manual check.

Manual checklist before you commit

• Pick one alphabet on purpose. Decide whether you want Elder Futhark (pre-800 AD) or Younger Futhark (Viking Age, 800–1200 AD) — see our comparison guide — and stick with it.
• Remember rune conversion isn’t language translation. Converting “LOVE” letter-by-letter into runes doesn’t give you the Old Norse word for love — it spells the English word using rune shapes. If you want an actual Old Norse word, look it up in our Dictionary first, then convert that.
• Get a second opinion from an independent source — a museum resource, a university Old Norse course page, or a specialist forum — before anything permanent. Our own Reviewers page discloses that this site’s review is not done by a credentialed linguist.
• See the design at actual size from a tattoo artist experienced with runic lettering; some runes become hard to distinguish from each other at small sizes.

Related tools

Use our Rune Tattoo Generator to design and download your runes, our Rune Keyboard for manual letter-by-letter control, and this checker once your design is finished.