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Elder Futhark Rune Transliterator

Type or paste Latin text to write it in Elder Futhark runes. Choose Pairs as one rune or Letter by letter, select a word separator, and edit the alphabet map under the tool. Unmapped letters stay in the output and are flagged. Copy the result or save it with UTF-8 .txt; Mapping .json also saves the original text and the map used. Nothing is uploaded; only your map and settings are remembered in this browser.

14 letters: 13 mapped, 1 flagged (ö)
kept as typed: 2 spaces and "!"

runes15 code points, 38 bytes UTF-8
ᛒᛃöᚱᚾ ᚦᛖ ᛊᛏᚱᛟᛜ!
The first pieces side by side: typed, written, code point and name
BᛒU+16D2berkanan
jᛃU+16C3jeran
öökeptflagged: no rune in this map
rᚱU+16B1raido
nᚾU+16BEnaudiz
thᚦU+16A6thurisaz, 2 letters, 1 rune
eᛖU+16D6ehwaz

then S t r o ng !

Letters mapped
13 of 14
Flagged
ö, kept as typed
Runes
11
UTF-8
15 code points, 38 bytes
Convention
Between words

Loading the rune font. Until it arrives, this device's own fonts draw the runes, and a font without the Runic block shows empty boxes.

Worked examples

  • a, f, th and ng from the published mapone letter or pair at a time
    ᚨ U+16A8, ᚠ U+16A0, ᚦ U+16A6, ᛜ U+16DC, as the published map declares
  • Björnö is not in the published map
    ᛒᛃöᚱᚾ: ö kept as typed and flagged, 4 of 5 letters mapped
  • Ask, then go.words split by U+16EB
    ᚨᛊᚲ,᛫ᚦᛖᚾ᛫ᚷᛟ. and the mapping file rebuilds Ask, then go. with its comma, spaces and full stop

The map: 29 entries

Every entry the page applies. With Pairs as one rune, entries of two or three letters, such as th, ng and ei, are read before single letters, longest first and left to right; with Letter by letter they are skipped. Capitals use the same runes as small letters. A letter no entry covers is flagged and kept as typed: add it below, such as ö or æ, to give it a rune. The map is kept in this browser.

LatinRunesCode pointsUnicode 17.0.0 nameNoteChange
aᚨU+16A8RUNIC LETTER ANSUZ A
bᛒU+16D2RUNIC LETTER BERKANAN BEORC BJARKAN B
cᚲU+16B2RUNIC LETTER KAUNAstand-in: no c rune, written as k
dᛞU+16DERUNIC LETTER DAGAZ DAEG D
eᛖU+16D6RUNIC LETTER EHWAZ EH E
fᚠU+16A0RUNIC LETTER FEHU FEOH FE F
gᚷU+16B7RUNIC LETTER GEBO GYFU G
hᚺU+16BARUNIC LETTER HAGLAZ H
iᛁU+16C1RUNIC LETTER ISAZ IS ISS I
jᛃU+16C3RUNIC LETTER JERAN J
kᚲU+16B2RUNIC LETTER KAUNA
lᛚU+16DARUNIC LETTER LAUKAZ LAGU LOGR L
mᛗU+16D7RUNIC LETTER MANNAZ MAN M
nᚾU+16BERUNIC LETTER NAUDIZ NYD NAUD N
oᛟU+16DFRUNIC LETTER OTHALAN ETHEL O
pᛈU+16C8RUNIC LETTER PERTHO PEORTH P
qᚲU+16B2RUNIC LETTER KAUNAstand-in: written as k
rᚱU+16B1RUNIC LETTER RAIDO RAD REID R
sᛊU+16CARUNIC LETTER SOWILO S
tᛏU+16CFRUNIC LETTER TIWAZ TIR TYR T
uᚢU+16A2RUNIC LETTER URUZ UR U
vᚹU+16B9RUNIC LETTER WUNJO WYNN Wstand-in: written as w
wᚹU+16B9RUNIC LETTER WUNJO WYNN W
xᚲᛊU+16B2 U+16CARUNIC LETTER KAUNA + RUNIC LETTER SOWILO Sstand-in: written as k and s
yᛃU+16C3RUNIC LETTER JERAN Jstand-in: written as j
zᛉU+16C9RUNIC LETTER ALGIZ EOLHX
thᚦU+16A6RUNIC LETTER THURISAZ THURS THORN2 letters, 1 rune
ngᛜU+16DCRUNIC LETTER INGWAZ2 letters, 1 rune
eiᛇU+16C7RUNIC LETTER IWAZ EOH2 letters, 1 rune

Add or change an entry

Saving letters that are already in the map changes that entry in its place; new letters go at the end. The map holds up to 100 entries, and runes can come from anywhere in the Runic block, U+16A0 to U+16F8.

Accuracy. A modern letter-for-rune approximation in the Elder Futhark, written with Unicode's Runic characters: it is not a translation into Old Norse and not a historically certain spelling of any name. Each letter or pair follows the map shown on this page, which you can edit, and letters the map does not cover, such as ö, are kept as typed and flagged. How the runes look depends on the font drawing them; the copied text and the UTF-8 file hold the same code points either way.

Common questions

Does this translate English into Old Norse runes?
No. It changes English spelling into runic characters; it does not translate the words into Old Norse. With the supplied map, the becomes ᚦᛖ from the th and e entries, regardless of the word's meaning. Names follow the same letter map.
How are c, q, v, x and y written in Elder Futhark?
The supplied map uses c and q as ᚲ (k), v as ᚹ (w), x as ᚲᛊ (k and s), and y as ᛃ (j). These are modern stand-ins, shown in the map. To change y, type y under Add or change an entry, pick ᛁ with the rune buttons and press Save entry. Then y is written as ᛁ.
How are th, ng and ei handled?
With the supplied map and Pairs as one rune, th is ᚦ thurisaz, ng is ᛜ ingwaz, and ei is ᛇ, U+16C7, named RUNIC LETTER IWAZ EOH by Unicode. The longest matching entry is read first from left to right: thing becomes ᚦᛁᛜ and being becomes ᛒᛇᛜ. A pair never joins across a space or punctuation. Letter by letter ignores pair entries, so thing becomes ᛏᚺᛁᚾᚷ.
What happens to letters like ö, é or ß?
They are kept exactly as typed and flagged: marked in the runes, and listed under the text and in the Flagged cell, the first eight by name and the rest counted. To give one a rune, add it to the map, for example ö as ᛟ. Capitals use the same entry as small letters, and a letter typed as a base letter and a combining mark, such as o followed by U+0308, matches the same entry as ö.
Why do I see empty boxes instead of runes?
The runes are drawn with Noto Sans Runic, a font this page serves, and the page checks whether it loaded and says so under the tool. Where it has not loaded, your device's own fonts draw the runes, and a device with no font for the Runic block shows empty boxes. The text is still the right Unicode characters: Copy and the .txt file carry the same code points, which show as runes wherever a font with the Runic block is installed, though the shapes differ from font to font.
What goes between words in runic text?
Choose it under Between words: Space keeps each space as typed, ᛫ writes U+16EB RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION in place of each space, and ᛬ writes U+16EC RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION. Tabs, line breaks, digits and punctuation such as commas and full stops are always kept as typed, so with ᛫ chosen, Ask, then go. becomes ᚨᛊᚲ,᛫ᚦᛖᚾ᛫ᚷᛟ.
What is in the Mapping .json file?
The convention, the separator, every map entry applied with its code points, the text as typed, the runes, and every piece in order: the text it came from, what it became, and whether it was mapped, flagged, kept as typed, a space, or an unpaired surrogate written as U+FFFD. Joining the from of every piece gives back your text exactly, spaces, line breaks and punctuation included.
Which rune alphabet does this use?
The supplied map uses the 24 Elder Futhark runes. There are no supplied Younger Futhark, Anglo-Saxon or fictional-alphabet presets. Editing individual entries changes your character map; it does not add a language translator or historical spelling rules.
Can I translate runes back into English?
No. Pasted runes are kept as typed; there is no reverse-reading mode. The map also loses spelling distinctions: c, q and k all become ᚲ in the supplied map. Mapping .json retains your original text, but the page does not import or decode that file.
How do I copy and paste or download the runes?
Press Copy to put the result on the clipboard, then paste it into a text field. If clipboard access is blocked, select the runes and use your device's copy control. UTF-8 .txt downloads runes.txt, and Mapping .json downloads runes-mapping.json. These save your output; they do not install an app. A destination font needs Runic characters to display the runes.

A modern letter-for-rune approximation in the Elder Futhark, written with Unicode's Runic characters: it is not a translation into Old Norse and not a historically certain spelling of any name. Each letter or pair follows the map shown on this page, which you can edit, and letters the map does not cover, such as ö, are kept as typed and flagged. How the runes look depends on the font drawing them; the copied text and the UTF-8 file hold the same code points either way.