Learn | Norse Runes, Viking Art & Mythology | Northern Black
Everything we know, written down. Northern Black started with research: years of museum collections, archaeological finds and primary sources behind every design Isar Oakmund draws. These articles are where that research lives.
Learn what the runes actually mean, how Viking Age art developed from style to style, what Norse belief looked like before the modern myths, and which "Viking" symbols are not Viking at all. Pick a subject below to start reading.
Check out all of our blogs
Norse Mythology
The gods, giants and stories of the North, as the sources actually tell them.
Rune Knowledge
The Elder Futhark, bindrunes and sigils, explained properly. What each rune means, where it comes from, and how to use it well.
Viking Art and Tattoos
Viking Age art styles, godmasks and tattoo design, grounded in real artefacts. Plus the Viking tattoos you should think twice about.
Paganism
Norse paganism past and present. Belief, ritual and practice, separated from the myths that grew up around them.
News and More
Share blog posts, products, or promotions with your customers. Use this text to describe products, share details on availability and style, or as a space to display recent reviews or FAQs.
Shop
Put the learning into practice. Books, rune sets, art and apparel, all drawn by hand and grounded in the sources.