The Vikings cherished storytelling, sharing tales of epic battles, perilous voyages, and heroic deeds through sagas—long oral narratives and poems that entertained while preserving their culture, values, and history for future generations.
Since most Vikings were illiterate, sagas were passed down orally by specialized poets known as skalds, who memorized and recited them. Sagas also served practical purposes, such as recording family histories and genealogies across generations, which helped determine inheritance of land, wealth, and rights.
Later, many sagas were written down, often in Iceland during the medieval period.
When Vikings did write, they used runes—a distinct symbolic alphabet unlike the Latin one we use today. Each rune represented a sound and often had a name tied to it (e.g., related to its phonetic value).
The oldest system, known as the Elder Futhark, featured 24 runes.
Runes were typically reserved for important matters—such as memorials on runestones, inscriptions on objects, or significant messages—because literacy was rare. Over time, their use expanded to more everyday purposes, including casual graffiti.