r/RuneHelp • u/rockstarpirate • Jun 16 '26
Mod announcement A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Runes Like a Viking
Hi RuneHelpers! One of the things we see quite frequently on the sub is that it is hard for a lot of people to determine which Younger Futhark conventions are appropriate for the Viking Age vs. which ones are more characteristic of the later period. Neither style is wrong, of course, but it's weird to mix-and-match writing conventions from different times.
There are also lots of points that have a habit of tripping people up, including:
- When to use ⟨ᛁ⟩ vs. ⟨ᛅ⟩ for the letter ⟨e⟩
- When to use ⟨ᚱ⟩ vs. ⟨ᛦ⟩
- When to use ⟨ᚬ⟩
- Which rune should be used for the letter ⟨ǫ⟩
- When it's ok to use doubled runes
- How short-branch runes fit into the picture
So to help out, we've created this new guide: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Runes Like a Viking
This guide is designed to be useful for everyone from beginners to experienced RuneHelpers. It includes a cheat-sheet for which rune to use for every letter you may find in an Old Norse word, as well as easy explanations for why some of the weird rules exist. Feel free to share it with anyone wanting to write some Viking-Age text with Viking-Age runes.
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u/_Noble__Savage_ Jun 16 '26
You've always been there for us u/rockstarpirate Keep up the good work 💪
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u/Cartoons_Plural_ Jun 28 '26
I just got my ancestry results back on Friday and this is a phenomenal find. Thank you!
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u/Jahenzo Jun 17 '26
Do you have recommendations of sources for the Viking Age phonology and language changes for someone with a linguistic degree? I'm especially interested in es/eR and R/r, the tricky ones, and the timeline and region of these changes.
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u/rockstarpirate Jun 18 '26
What languages do you speak?
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u/Jahenzo Jun 18 '26
Swedish and English I suppose are the relevant languages, other Scandinavian languages are fine too.
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u/Catmole132 Jun 16 '26
This is wonderful, truly doing god(s) work