This name was chosen as the Valknut appears to be associated with the dead, and with Odin, the god of war and the dead.Įxamples of the Valknut mainly survive on a number of Viking runestones, and in association with burials. It combines the words for slain warrior, “valr”, and knot “knut”, to mean “knot of slain warriors”. The name Valknut is not a traditional Viking name, but a modern Norwegian title given to the symbol. It is generally though that these are variations of the same symbol, as archaeologically, they appear in the same contexts. The Borromean form is three interlocking but separate triangles, while the unicursal form is drawn using a single line. It is known from the Viking world in two forms.

The Valknut symbol involves three interlocking triangles.

So, what is the likely meaning of the Valknut symbol? This means that we have to infer its meaning from what we know about the Vikings in general. It appears in association with death and burials throughout the Viking world, but none of the surviving literary sources makes mention of it. One of the most common but enigmatic symbols that the Vikings used was the Valknut. As well as expressing the world, the Vikings believed that symbols, when made by the right hands, had the power to shape the world. Not only were they a powerful way to express ideas, but the Vikings also thought that symbols had power.

Odins valknut