Want to learn more about Norse Vikings? We provide information and insight for people interested in Viking Age Scandinavia. The present web site is a dynamic resource that treats on current and past issues related to Norse cultural heritage. The Viking Rune offers unique online features: free Rune Converter and Motto Generator. We are committed to greater access to knowledge about the Vikings, which is the only way to dispel the myth about Norse warriors as cruel and bloodthirsty raiders who did nothing but kill, pillage and rape. The Viking Rune is always up-to-date with the latest developments in North Germanic studies, including hot archeological finds in Scandinavia and elsewhere.
Rune Converter
The Rune Converter transforms Roman alphabet, as used in modern English, into five systems of Germanic runic writing: Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (also spelled Futhork), Long Branch Younger Futhark, Short Twig Younger Futhark and staveless runes (note that it does not translate the words themselves, it only converts letters into runes). A possibility to choose between these allows to establish a connection with a certain bloodline, tradition or historical period: for instance, if one wishes to emphasize the Viking connection, why use the Elder Futhark, if Vikings did not use it? One should choose between one of the Younger Futhark options instead.
Important: the present converter works with modern English only. If you incert letters with Old Norse diacritics, they won’t be converted into runes.
What Types of Runes Are Supported?
Elder Futhark is the most ancient Germanic runic alphabet that was in use from the 2nd to 8th centuries by all Germanic tribes. This system of runic writing has a very peculiar and complex inner structure.
Anglo-Saxon Futhorc is the variant of the Elder Futhark that was used by the Anglo-Saxons and Frisians from the 5th to 9th centuries. From 24 it was extended to 26 and later to 33 runes.
Younger Futhark began to develop at the end of the 8th century and was accepted by the 10th century in the whole of Scandinavia. The normal or standard representation of the Younger Futhark is its Long Branch variant, also known as Danish runes. Another variant, called Short Twig, is also known as Norwegian-Swedish or Rök runes. Staveless or Hålsinge runes were used only in a restricted area and may be a good example of minimalism. They also may be interpreted as a secret writing system.
What To Write With Runes?
Perhaps the most obvious idea is to write with runes one’s own name. Runic iscriptions with a name used specific formulae that were characteristic for each period and each system of runic writing. Below are a few examples that may serve as guidelines (just put these runes after the name):
Elder Futhark
fahide, ‘wrote, painted’
tawide, ‘made’
talgide, ‘carved’
Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
mic æh, ‘owns me’
For more creative solutions and complex phrases one may find helpful to read about the magic runes or runic love quotes. Note that Scandinavians had a tradition to write with runes various Latin sentences.
Waiver of Liability
Keep in mind that computer generated texts should be used with caution for any permanent use like tattoos or engravings. This tool is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind.
Photo by henribergius. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence.
{ 123 comments }
Hi,
My sister and I are planning on getting Odin’s ravens as a tattoo. I would like to have Huginn and Muninn in rune, any suggestions?
Hi Tre Jordan. I have already answered that question for Mike above, on previous page.
Im not sure about your S in elder futhark. and the other question is why it uses J for Y letter? for example in my nam. I have looked into a lot of wikipedia and other sites. it seems that there is not an absolute rule for any kind of Futhark or runic letters. I downloaded a bunch of Fonts either but they are different either! where I have to believe? Im lost. I wanna use it for tattoo I cant risk!
Hi Elyar. As for the S, have a look at the pictures of the actual Elder Futhark inscriptions. Phonetically, J in the Elder Futhark represents the same sound as English Y in “yes”. If English Y represents a different sound, like in “Andy”, one should use Elder Futhark I instead.
I want a saying translated into the old anglo saxon language, then after the words are translated I want it in anglo-saxon runes
all online translators just translate phonetically still in modern english but in runes, I hate that
the saying is “follow the moon for the sun has led them astray” don’t anyone steal that I made it up
then I want to do something else in old norse, something akin to dying for the cause is noble, no fear of death, havent figured out how I want that yet
and have that in viking runes
this is for a half sleeve for the english, and scott’s-irish of my blood, the scotts-irish side swain is viking hence the old norse
Hi Mikey. I think, there are three possible ways to do what you want: (1) ask someone who knows both Old English and Old Norse to translate your phrases and write them in runes; (2) pay to a speciaslist and have your phareses translated and written in runes; (3) study Old English and Old Norse, and then take a special course in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian runes. I am sure the third way is the best one.
hi, i’m looking to find out if i would just use the Younger Futhark (Danish) to spell out ‘GIVE’ or is there a symbol or word that i should be using instead? thanks.
Hi DiGUM. Your question is not quite clear for me. What kind of inscription would you like as a result? If you want to spell the English word “give” in runes, then the answer is positive, type it in and press the Convert button. If you want it in Old Norse, you have to translate it first and then write in runes, but not with this converter, since it works with modern English only.
Well, I’m a bit disapointed but i knew it wasn’t gonna be an easy task. The words I’m using are actually extracts from runic interpretations of several rune scripts (not done by me obviously) so I’m actually doing what you suggested, however the blanks are not present in any of the inscriptions I’ve studied.
Thank you for taking the time to answer me, and when I finish, if I finish, translating this text I’ll post it here for future reference.
Thanks again
You are welcome, Gabriel.
Hello. I work with rodents as part of my dissertation. I would like to get a correct Eldar Futhark, or Anglo-Saxon Futhark translation for “singing mouse” (a species of mouse very important in my thesis). I have used the translator for this, but I am unsure of the part for “ng”. Is it a single sound (such that the first word has 5 runes? It’s to be a tatoo, so I want to get it correct. Many thanks!
Hi Jacqueline. Yes, the “ng” sound is represented by a single rune.
hi, ive juust been looking through the site which is great. And yes like most others i am having a tattoo. i want my daughters name which is “kerrie louise” in anglo saxon. i was wondering which is the best way to input it into the converter, as it is spelt now or phonetically??? i.e. ke-ri loo-ees, and is there specific runes tha make the oo sound or ee sound??
also i wanted to put her date of birth ive not read anything about a runic numbers, is there such a thing??
thanks in advance for any help you can give me
Hi Darren. Actually, there is no right or wrong way to write modern names with ancient runes. If you choose to write it phonetically, use “u” for oo sound and “i” for ee sound.
hi, im unsure cause different sites say different things but i think the name watson derivesfrom either anglo saxon or scandinavian. what would be the most apt translation for my surname and also my family motto “fidelity is my glory” and also my surname
cheers
Hi. As far as I was able to find out, Watt, Watts and Wattson (as well as Watson and Wattis) all derive from the personal name Walter. Like stated above, there is no right or wrong way to write someone’s name in runes. You certainly may use modern orthography.
Hi there….I am confused about the different variations of the Norse runes. I am having a tattoo done of Thor’s hammer with my first and middle name in runes underneath. I come from a direct lineage to the Vikings that originated from Norway. So which variation would I use for my name?? Long branch or short twig?? Of course I want to make sure that I get the correct one. My nephew is considering having the same done as well. Your help would be much appreciated:) Thanks much
Hi Julie Marie. You may use any variation you like. During the Viking Age, people from Norway would probably use short twig Younger Futhark runes. It does not mean this is your only option. For example, people may descend from Norwegian Vikings, but use Elder Futhark runes to emphasize the connection with the Common Germanic past.
Hi, I would be grateful if you could help in translating my name; Kasper Hansen Westbrook, into the long branch version of elder futhark, and to confirm if what the translator provides are the correct runes when typed in as spelt above.
Also I am hoping to translate a danish poem into the same rune, can you offer me any advice on how i may go about this?
Any help would be appreciated, great website by the way.
Thanks
Hi Kasper. If I am not mistaken, the pronunciation of the names Kasper and Hansen is very close to the orthography. The name Westbrook is more difficult to represent with runes. The problem is Old Norse did not have “w” sound as in modern English words “west” or “winter”. It only had “v” sound as in “victory”. Therefore, when converted, the letter W is substituted by the rune for “u” (pronounced as oo in “cool”). If you choose to write your name phonetically, you may want to use the form westbruk or vestbruk. Like stated above, there is no right or wrong way to write modern English names with runes, your creativity is the only criterion here. You may well use the modern English orthography.
hi, ive been battling with athsma for my entire life, and spent countless weeks in the hospital over it for years and years. i see it more of an evil that has possesed my body and my soul. its not something i wish to give into, but it gives me a reason to fight it. i was looking into getting “fight until the evil is destroyed” and “for if evil prevails then all is lost” as runic tattoos, and was wondering the best way to go about it, i am not well versed on runes, so if you could keep it simple, that would be much appreciated, or even just simply explain it, as i learn quickly, i have been amazed by this culture, and beliefs that surround it since i was a small child. any help would be much appreciated, thanks
Hi Jordan. This converter is for modern English words only (like names or sentences in English). It substitutes letters for runes, but it does not translate the words into Old Norse or Old English. You may type in your phrases and convert them (if you want them to be in English, but spelt with runes). If you want them in Old Norse, you will have to translate them first and then write in runes (but not with this converter).
Hello,
I was wondering how i would type in my middle name as i am looking to get it as a tatto,
it is Albech, i dont know how the “ch” would go.
thank you for your help.
Hi Nick. If you want to write it phonetically and not use the modern orthography, you should use the letter, which is the closest to the actual pronunciation. Probably, K?
Hi,
I am looking at getting my name tattoed on my back in Anglo Saxon. I have simply placed it into the converter and got the direct translation written down on paper. My surname is Whelband, but have used the old english waella banke to go into the converter.
Would this provide a correct translation????
P.S What is the difference between these saxon runes and old englisc????
Many thanks
Hi James. This application converts letters to runes according to an algo. It does not translate from English to other languages.
Anglo-Saxon is the same as Old English.
Hello,
I’m making a piece of jewelry as a gift for a new mother who grew up in Tromso, Norway, and came to the US some years ago. Her new baby is named Olav and I would love to engrave runes in the pendant for his name. Would it work to just put in the name OLAV in the converter? Would the Short Twig be the most closely associated with Norway? Your help is so much appreciated!
Hi John R. Yes, it will work. Short Twig runes are associated with Norway and Sweden. However, the Long Branch variant is the standard version of the Younger Futhark, and was in use throughout Scandinavia.
Hej,
I am looking to make a tattoo in Danish runes. I have made some research about Viking mythology and I have literally fell in love with the Viking’s vision about destiny.
I have found several translation of destiny, Wyrd and Urür.
I would like to know which one is the most closely associated to the Danish Viking culture.
Also do I just have to put one of those 2 word in the translator so to have the runic translation? Or is there a translation in phonetics to do first?
Thanks for your help!
By the way your website is amazing! I’ve been going through the pages for 2 hours now. So much interesting informations!!
Hi David. Wyrd is an Anglo-Saxon word. Old Norse is urðr. As stated above, the present converter works with modern English only, so ð will not be converted. However, it’ll work if you type in urthr, since both ð and þ were transcribed the same way: as the rune þurs. Since urðr is an Old Norse word, use one of the versions of the Younger Futhark.
Hi! I’m hoping to get a tattoo of the word “vaeringjar” in Elder Futhark. Some of the characters don’t seem to transfer well, though… like the V is not a rune unto itself in most reference tables and the the a-e digraph character isn’t always there either. What are your thoughts? A simplified version of the word would be fine too, as long as it’s accurate.
Hi Emily. The word væringjar is Old Norse, the language that never been transcribed through Elder Futhark. You’d better use Younger Futhark instead. As I repeatedly emphasize, the present converter works with the standard letters of modern English only, it was not created to conver Old Norse words. However, you may use a trick to get the result you want: use a instead of æ, since the same rune was used for both. Note that only one rune will be used for ng.
just confirming, if i wanted viking era runes for Christiansen, i would use long branch? im about half norwegian and half swedish
Hi Mike. Any variant of the Younger Futhark would do.
Hi, I love this site!!! I’m interested in getting ‘family’ in runes as a tattoo… My family is Irish and Swedish and I looked up the shirt twig runes and I like the way it looks, but I was wondering if there is an old Swedish word for family? Or if theres a rune that means family? Thanks!
Hi Kerry. Old Norse for family is fjölskylda or ættingjar. Remember that ö and æ will not be converted. You may use u instead of ö and a instead of æ, since for these two pairs of sounds the same two runes were used (see Younger Futhark). Use either Short Twig or Long Branch variant.
I am using the converter to convert the world ‘wilcuma’ into Anglo-Saxon runes. Why does the rune representing ‘u’ appear at the beginning?
Kind regards,
Mike
Hi Michael. It is because this converter is for modern English only. Old English w corresponds to modern v, not w.
To transcribe Old English words correctly, visit the article on the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
I want to get my son’s name tattooed in runes on my arm. We are of Scots decent and though I know that ‘celtic’ runes don’t technically exist I was hoping for a hand as to which rune alphabet to use and the spelling. His name is Shea pronounced ‘SHAY’ ,
Hi Kingedhorn. Any attempt to transcribe a word of one language using the writing system of another language is a problem. We should realize that there is no “correct” or “incorrect” way to do that. If you type in Shea into the converter (Long Branch or Short Twig, since these runes were in use when Vikings came to Scotland) you will get a version of how this name could be written with runes. How the Vikings themselves would carve this name, we do not know. You may well choose the modern orthography. This seems logical to me, since Old Norse did not have the “sh” sound and it is not possible to write it phonetically with a desired degree of accuracy. Please consult someone more experienced in the field of Viking contacts with Scotland before getting a tattoo.
Hey, I was looking to get a tat of my last name Truelsen but am not sure how the pronounciation would affect it at all. My father came from Denmark so I would it to be in Danish runes. Thanks :)
Hi Andrew. To emphasize the connection with Denmark, you would probably like to use the Long Branch Younger Futhark, also called Danish runes. I would not be able to say how exactly your last name might be written during the Viking Age (we know that last names were developed a bit later). I think you may use the present orthography, but please consider it carefully before getting a tattoo.
I was looking into getting the phrase “í ást er dýrð” (from your old norse motto generator) converted into the runes commonly used in Viking Iceland, for a tattoo. I was wondering if you could help me out with that?
Hi Brian. Unfortunately, the converter will not work with specific Old Norse letters like á, ý and ð.
First off, great job on the site. Now to my question. I used the runescript translator to translate the meaning of my name (Daniel) which is “God is my judge”. I wanted to know if the runescript is accurate? Is that exactlly how it would be spelled if converted into runescript? I just want to make sure becasue I want to get a stag tattoo (kind of like the jagermeister logo, haha) with the meaning of my name in runescript below. It came to mind when I was looking for the meaning of the stag, which brought to an anglo – saxon page. Another question, do you know the anglo-saxon meaning of the stag? Thanks so much.
– Daniel
Hi Daniel. If you use English letters to write down Chinese or Arabic, you won’t be able to do it properly, since modern English writing system is not fit for this task. Same applies to runes and modern English words. There are ways to adapt the runic system for modern languages, one of which I used in this converter. There is no “accurate” way to write modern English words with runes, as there is no “accurate” way to write down Chinese words with the letters of the Roman alphabet. Others may always state they know a better or more correct way.
mate getting another tattoo and i want “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” which translates too. Sieze the day, putting as little trust as possible in tommorrow. just wondering how correct your ruins are?
Hi Tristan. To write Latin phrases in runes, use Medieval Runes.
My middle name is “Thor” and I was looking for his symbol to use for the translation. THanks.
Hi Scott. Runic writing system, unlike hyeroglyphs, cannot represent a whole word with only one symbol, it is an alphabet in which one sign usually corresponds to one sound.
If i wanted to spell convert words like Irish and Norse would they come out converted properly using this converter?
Hi Michael. No, this converter works with modern English only.
Greetings!
I would like to humbly request if i may acquire your rune converter script for our website. Of course all credits given to your author(s) and any accompanying text you may require for use. I would even be happy to have a link to the Viking Rune. Please let me know if it is possible to use your script and link to the Viking Rune, or if you would allow a link only. I will then take the information to the elder council. Thank You for your time. BE well and Safe Journey~
Hi Kjarden. Unfortunately, I would not be able to grant the right to use the script of this converter outside The Viking Rune site. To be sure, anyone may publish a link to it.
To all: thank you so much for your questions. However, comments to this page will be closed. I hope the answers given above will help in case you need advice.
Comments on this entry are closed.