Runes online – Elder Futhark translator

Elder Futhark rune translator online: render a name in 24 runes or decode runes back into letters. Approximate phonetic transliteration.

24 signs cut for wood and stone

Where does the name “Futhark” come from?

Old alphabets often took their name from their own opening — the way “alphabet” comes from alpha and beta. The same principle applies here: futhark is the first six runes in their traditional order, f-u-th-a-r-k. The Elder Futhark is the earliest widely attested runic alphabet, and each of its runes had a name of its own: Fehu is cattle, Uruz an aurochs, Ansuz a god.

How are letters turned into runes?

The generator matches every letter phonetically to the nearest rune and recognises the digraphs TH and NG before single letters, because they have signs of their own: ᚦ and ᛜ. Sounds without an equivalent take the closest one — C, K and Q all give ᚲ, V and W give ᚹ, and X is written with two runes.

Example: the word REBUS

The word “REBUS” gives ᚱᛖᛒᚢᛊ and the name “MARIA” gives ᛗᚨᚱᛁᚨ. This is the one script here where both examples return exactly as they started, because every rune used has an unambiguous reading. You can check that with the working tool above.

Rune mapping used by the generator

The top row shows the letter and the bottom row the rune that replaces it. The digraphs TH and NG close the table — sounds that need two letters in the Latin alphabet but have a single sign each in the futhark.

Letters and their runes
LetterABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZTHNG
Runeᚨᛒᚲᛞᛖᚠᚷᚺᛁᛃᚲᛚᛗᚾᛟᛈᚲᚱᛊᛏᚢᚹᚹᚲᛊᛃᛉᚦᛜ
How do you read the runes back?

Reading back gives each rune one default letter, so ᚲ returns as K rather than C or Q. Simple words come back unchanged, but letters that shared a rune are levelled out along the way. The futhark itself never made the distinctions that the Latin alphabet introduces.

Why are runes so angular?

Angular signs made from uprights and diagonals were practical to carve in wood, bone, stone and metal. Their form is often explained by avoiding curves and strokes that follow the wood grain, although this is not a certain historical rule. The script’s exact origin is also debated; it is most often connected with Mediterranean alphabets, especially North Italic ones.

See also: Phoenician alphabet

History and interesting facts

The Elder Futhark, named after its first six runes, contained 24 signs and is the earliest widely attested runic alphabet. It was used before the Viking Age across several Germanic communities, especially for short inscriptions on objects, stone and metal. The later Scandinavian Younger Futhark had only 16 signs, so the two sets should not be confused. Runes functioned as letters for sounds, although inscriptions could also serve memorial, ownership or magical purposes.

What this tool does not do

The output is not a text in Proto-Germanic, nor a divination — it renders modern letters as runes. The tool applies no historical spelling, adds none of the word dividers used in inscriptions and carries none of the esoteric meanings attached to runes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

History of the futhark

Runes are attested from roughly the second century CE in Germanic Europe. The full row of 24 signs survives on the Kylver stone from Gotland, carved around 400. In the Viking Age Scandinavia moved to the Younger Futhark of just 16 runes, while in Britain the futhorc grew to nearly thirty signs.