Rune translator
Write any text in five different runic systems, and see exactly what the tool decided for every single letter, and why it decided it.
This is transliteration, not translation
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Before you use this: what the Elder Futhark can and cannot do
- The Elder Futhark was used centuries before the Viking Age. If you want runes a Viking would have recognised, choose the Younger Futhark.
- This alphabet was designed for Proto-Norse, a language with a different sound system from English. Some English sounds have no runic equivalent at all.
The five systems
Each was used in a different place and century. Picking the right one matters more than most converters admit.
The 24-rune alphabet. The most complete set of sounds, and the one modern rune practice is built on, but centuries older than the Vikings.
The 16-rune alphabet actually used in the Viking Age, in its full monumental form. Historically accurate, and heavily lossy.
The same sixteen runes in their simplified, quicker-to-carve forms. Common in Norway and Sweden and on everyday objects rather than monuments.
The English branch, expanded to 29+ runes. The best fit for English text, because it was built for an ancestor of English.
The dotted, Latin-influenced system of medieval Scandinavia. Each sound has its own rune again, which makes it the most faithful match for modern spelling.
Questions about this tool
- Is this a rune translator or a rune transliterator?
- A transliterator. It re-spells your text using runic characters, letter by letter. It does not translate English into Old Norse; that is a different operation requiring an actual dictionary and grammar. If you write "love" in runes you get the English word "love" spelled in runes, not the Old Norse word for love.
- Which runic alphabet should I choose?
- If you want runes the Vikings actually used, choose Younger Futhark. If you want the 24-rune system modern rune practice is built on, choose Elder Futhark. If you are writing English and want the least lossy result, choose the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, which was designed for an ancestor of English.
- Why do different alphabets give completely different results?
- Because they have different numbers of runes and different sound values. The Younger Futhark has only 16 characters and no separate runes for d, p, g, o, e, y or w, so several English letters collapse onto one rune. The Elder Futhark has 24 and the futhorc has 29 or more.
- Why is there no rune for my letter?
- Runic alphabets were built for early Germanic languages, not for modern English. Sounds like "sh" and "ch", and letters like q, x and z, either did not exist or were written differently. Where no equivalent exists, this tool says so rather than inventing one.
- Did Vikings write with spaces between words?
- No. Runic inscriptions typically separated words with a divider mark (one or more dots, or a cross) rather than a blank space. The divider control above lets you choose a historically used mark.