What is the name of the Viking rune alphabet with 16 characters used in Scandinavia?

Younger Futhark is the Viking-age rune alphabet with 16 characters used across Scandinavia.

It developed from the older 24-character Elder Futhark, probably during the eighth century. The reduction in symbols did not mean that the language had fewer sounds; instead, one rune could represent several related sounds. This makes some inscriptions difficult to interpret without knowledge of Old Norse and context.

Younger Futhark appears in two principal forms: long-branch runes and short-twig runes. Long-branch forms were often used for carefully carved monumental inscriptions, while short-twig forms were more practical for everyday writing. Medieval Scandinavian inscriptions also used later developments of the runic tradition.

The word futhark comes from the first six rune names: f, u, þ, a, r, and k. Younger Futhark should not be confused with Elder Futhark, which predates the Viking Age and contains 24 signs, or with the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, which expanded the system.