Search for Viking symbols of protection and you will be shown half a dozen striking designs, usually with confident claims about what each one meant to a Norse warrior. The truth is more interesting. Some of these symbols were certainly worn by Vikings, some were drawn in Iceland many centuries later, and for a few we have the shape but can only guess at the meaning.
Thor's hammer, Mjolnir
If you want one protective symbol that a real Viking would recognise, this is it. Thor was the god who defended both gods and people against the giants, and his hammer Mjolnir was the weapon he did it with. Hundreds of small hammer pendants in iron, silver and amber have been found in graves and buried hoards from Scandinavia to England, most of them from the ninth and tenth centuries.
They seem to have been worn round the neck in much the same way that Christians wore a cross, and the two may have been in open competition. A soapstone mould found in Denmark was cut to cast both crosses and hammers, so one craftsman was clearly happy to serve both sets of customers.
The Tyr rune
The only protective use of a symbol that an Old Norse poem spells out involves a rune. In the poem Sigrdrifumal, a valkyrie tells the hero Sigurd to carve victory runes on the hilt and blade of his sword and to call twice on the god Tyr. The rune named after Tyr is shaped like an upward arrow, and it turns up on weapons and amulets from the centuries leading up to the Viking age.
The Helm of Awe, Aegishjalmur
The name is old. In the poems about the dragon Fafnir, the Helm of Awe is something he wore that filled every living thing with terror, although the poems do not describe it as a drawn symbol. The design known by that name today, with eight spiked arms radiating from a centre, appears in Icelandic books of magic from the seventeenth century onwards. Icelandic folk magic held that pressing the sign between the eyebrows would bring victory over an enemy.
So the idea reaches back to the Viking age, while the familiar drawing is several hundred years younger.
The Vegvisir
Often called the Viking compass, the Vegvisir is probably the most tattooed symbol on this list and has the weakest claim to being Viking. It first appears in the Huld manuscript, compiled in Iceland in 1860, with a note saying that whoever carries the sign will never lose their way in storms or bad weather, even on an unfamiliar road. That is around eight hundred years after the last Viking raid, and no example has been found from the Viking age itself.
None of this makes it a bad symbol. It is a real piece of Icelandic folk tradition with a lovely meaning. It is simply not something Leif Erikson would have known.
The valknut
The valknut is made of three interlocked triangles, and unlike the Vegvisir it is truly from the Viking age. It is carved on picture stones on the Swedish island of Gotland and on objects from the Oseberg ship burial in Norway, usually close to scenes involving Odin, warriors and the dead. The name is a modern one, built from words meaning the slain and a knot.
Nobody wrote down what it meant. The best guess is that it marked a link with Odin and with warriors who died in battle, which makes it more a symbol of fate than of safety.
Yggdrasil, the world tree
Yggdrasil is the great ash tree that holds together the nine worlds of Norse myth. It is described at length in the Eddas, and it stands for shelter and for the order of the world. As a drawn emblem, with branches and roots forming a circle, it is mostly a modern design, though one based on a very old idea.
Which rune means protection
Most modern guides name Algiz, the rune shaped like a figure with raised arms. Its old name probably meant elk, and the protective meaning comes from twentieth century writers on rune magic, not from Viking sources. You can read more in our guide to rune meanings.
A quick way to tell old from new
As a rule of thumb, symbols found on Viking age stones, jewellery and weapons are simple: hammers, knots, animals and single runes. The intricate circular staves with many arms almost always come from Icelandic manuscripts written long after the Vikings had become Christian farmers. Both are worth knowing about, as long as you know which is which. Our overview of Viking symbols and their meanings sorts sixteen of them by age. For more of the first kind, see our guide to Viking symbols of strength.
Common questions
What is the Viking symbol for protection?
Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, is the best evidenced protective symbol from the Viking age. Hundreds of small hammer pendants have been found in graves and hoards across Scandinavia and Britain, and they appear to have been worn as charms.
Is the Vegvisir a real Viking symbol?
Not as far as the evidence goes. The Vegvisir first appears in the Huld manuscript, which was compiled in Iceland in 1860, around eight hundred years after the Viking age ended. It is a piece of later Icelandic folk magic.
What is the Helm of Awe?
The Helm of Awe, or Aegishjalmur, is named in Old Norse poetry as something the dragon Fafnir wore to terrify his enemies. The spiked, eight armed symbol that carries the name today comes from Icelandic books of magic written from the seventeenth century onwards.
Which rune means protection?
Modern rune guides usually give Algiz as the rune of protection. That reading is recent. The one protective use of a rune described in Old Norse poetry is carving the Tyr rune on a sword for victory.
Last reviewed 12 November 2026