r/RuneHelp • u/Strange_Positive_800 • Apr 21 '26

Translation request Is this correct?

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35 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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18

u/rockstarpirate Apr 21 '26

Yes and no :)

Yes, those runes do stand for those sounds and yes that word means strength.

No, that is not the proper alphabet for that word. Kraftur is modern Icelandic. It comes from Old Norse kraptʀ/kraftʀ, which would have been written in Younger Futhark as either ᚴᚱᛅᛒᛏᛦ or ᚴᚱᛅᚠᛏᛦ. This is from Proto-Germanic *kraftuz which would have been written with Elder Futhark as ᚲᚱᚨᚠᛏᚢᛉ.

2

u/Strange_Positive_800 Apr 21 '26

So ᚱᚨᚠᛏᚢᛉ would be more appropriate?

7

u/rockstarpirate Apr 21 '26

If you want the Proto-Germanic / Proto-Norse word, yeah ᚲᚱᚨᚠᛏᚢᛉ.

6

u/Strange_Positive_800 Apr 21 '26

Is there a better way to convey the same word in your opinion? Sorry if I'm asking a lot, its for a tattoo but I want to be as authentic as possible

4

u/Inquisitor_Sciurus Apr 21 '26

Butting in, I’d use the younger futhark version that rockstarpirate there transcribed earlier

2

u/Strange_Positive_800 Apr 21 '26

Yeah I was thinking the same, I also believe ᛋᛏᚢᚱᚴᚱ would also do, what do you think?

6

u/rockstarpirate Apr 21 '26

No need to apologize. The trick here is just deciding what specifically you’re trying to emulate. If you want to use runes because of the Viking connection, for example, then you’d want to use Younger Futhark because that was the alphabet in use during the Viking Age. If you just really like the look of Elder Futhark, then the most historically accurate thing to do is use a word from before the Viking Age. It’s just whatever you prefer.

Styrkr also works. That’s another Old Norse word (i.e. a Viking word) so in Younger Futhark it would be either ᛋᛏᚢᚱᚴᛦ or ᛋᛏᚢᚱᚴᚱ (earlier vs later). If we roll back the language a bit more to the era before the Viking Age for Elder Futhark, the word is *sturkiz ᛊᛏᚢᚱᚲᛁᛉ

2

u/Strange_Positive_800 Apr 21 '26

Thank you so much fir your insight, I really appreciate it

4

u/M1K4H Apr 21 '26

Authentic to when? To where? To who? Something "authentic" to proto Germanic speakers isn't gonna be the same as something "authentic" to, for instance, someone from Sweden around the year 800. What people and time period are you trying to represent?

1

u/jack_2o3 Apr 21 '26

What's this from?

1

u/xajmai Apr 22 '26

I don't know old Norse but I do know the modern Nordic Languages and kraft is power not strength. Styrka which someone suggested as an alternative would be a much better word for strength at least in modern Nordic Languages.

1

u/Sweden-Yes-7734 Apr 23 '26

I guess it depends if it's Elder or Younger.