Valknut

We all often see the ancient symbol which Valknut is but not many people know the meaning of it so let’s clear it up. I also have this symbol tattooed on my forearm and often my friends ask what does it mean but there is never enough time to explain it all to them so I just brush them off with a very vague explanation. For those who don’t even know what it looks like here is a picture which happens to be my tattoo which I got in Rome. Three triangles interlocked together.

It is an ancient Nordic symbol which Vikings used to have always with them either on a pendant , a shield or a sword. Valknut comes from old Norse, Varl meaning slain or dead and Knut meaning knot. It is thought that Vikings believed that this symbol will bind them with fellow warriors who have died as well as Odin the All Father of nordic mythology.

Lets get deeper into the mythology and explain the 9 points of the triangles and maybe one day I’ll go deeper into explanations. Each point stands for a world or realm which are unified by the Tree of Yggdrasil. Lets start from the bottom and go in order hopefully.

9. Helheim – World of dishonored dead ruled by goddess Hel.

8. Muspelheim – World of fire and flames filled with lava ruled by fire giant Surtr.

7. Niflheim – Mist world filled with snow and ice protected by dragon Nidhug.

6. Vanaheim – World of Vanir which were the old gods.

5. Jotunheim – World of the giants, it’s believed the whole world was created from the copse of the first ever giant Ymir which was killed by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve.

4. Midgard – World of the humans, Earth below world of Asgard. Supposedly Odin and his brothers created humans from Ash and Elm tree logs.

3. Savartalfaheim – Home of Dwarfs, Gungir (Odin’s spear) and Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) were created there.

2. Alfheim – World of Light Elfs which are minor gods or guardian angels and it’s ruled by the god Freyr.

1. Asgard – Home of the Gods ruled by Odin and his wife Frigg. At the gate to Asgard is Hell of Valhalla where many slain Vikings go to in afterlife.

That’s already 10 meanings from one symbol but there is more, It is also believed for Valknut to represent 9 noble virtues. I am not sure if they were intended when creating the symbol are adapted in more modern times nonetheless it is those virtues I like to assign to my tattoo and they are as follows: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Self Reliance, Industriousness, Perseverance. That brings it together to 19 meanings in one symbol so now you see why it’s not easy to explain in one sentence like everyone expects me to. In modern days the symbol is only used by companies as their logo and most often in tattoos. Side-fact German Football Association uses Valknut as their logo.

Leaning to the side of tattoos I am planing to add more Nordic/Viking symbols or rather runes. You might have seen this design online yet I had to design my own order of it as I did not want all the runes in it as some are negative and while they are embedded in your skin for the rest of your life they might subconsciously influence it. And I will go over them in another post.

That is the stuff I know and if you see I made a mistake anywhere please point it out and if you would like me to go in-depth into anything above let me know in the comment and give me something to write about.