Runic (Unicode block)

Runic is a Unicode block containing runic characters. It was introduced in Unicode 3.0 (1999), with eight additional characters introduced in Unicode 7.0 (2014).[3] The original encoding of runes in UCS was based on the recommendations of the "ISO Runes Project" submitted in 1997.[lower-alpha 1]

Runic
RangeU+16A0..U+16FF
(96 code points)
PlaneBMP
ScriptsRunic (86 char.)
Common (3 char.)
Major alphabetsFuthark
Assigned89 code points
Unused7 reserved code points
Unicode version history
3.0 (1999)81 (+81)
7.0 (2014)89 (+8)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1][2]

The block is intended for the representation of text written in Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon runes, Younger Futhark (both in the long-branch and short-twig variants), Scandinavian medieval runes and early modern runic calendars; the additions introduced in version 7.0 in addition allow support of the mode of writing Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes used by J. R. R. Tolkien, and the special vowel signs used in the Franks Casket inscription.[lower-alpha 2]

Background

The distinction made by Unicode between character and glyph variant is somewhat problematic in the case of the runes; the reason is the high degree of variation of letter shapes in historical inscriptions, with many "characters" appearing in highly variant shapes, and many specific shapes taking the role of a number of different characters over the period of runic use (roughly the 3rd to 14th centuries AD). The division between Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon runes are well-established and useful categories, but they are connected by a continuum of gradual development, inscriptions using a mixture of older and newer forms of runes, etc. For this reason, the runic Unicode block is of very limited usefulness in representing of historical inscriptions and is better suited for contemporary runic writing than for palaeographic purposes.

The original publication of the Unicode standard is explicitly aware of these problems, and of the compromises necessary regarding the "character / glyph" dichotomy. The charts published show only "idealized reference glyphs", and explicitly delegates the task of creating useful implementations of the standard to font designers, ideally necessitating a separate font for each historical period.[lower-alpha 3] Glyph shape was taken into consideration explicitly for "unification" of an older rune with one of its descendant characters.[lower-alpha 4] On the other hand, the Younger Futhark era script variants of long-branch, and short-twig, in principle a historical instance of "glyph variants", have been encoded separately, while the further variant form of staveless runes has not.[lower-alpha 5]

The ISO Runes Project treated the runes as essentially glyph variants of the Latin script. Everson argued that the native futhark ordering is well established, and that it is unusual for UCS to order letters not in Latin alphabetical order rather than according to native tradition, and a corresponding sorting order of the runic letter Unicode characters was adopted for ISO/IEC 14651 in 2001.[lower-alpha 6]

Characters

The original 81 characters adopted for Unicode 3.0 included 75 letters, three punctuation marks and three "runic symbols".

The names given to the runic letter characters are "a bit clumsy" in a deliberate compromise between scholarly and amateur requirements. They list simplified (ASCII) representations of the three names of a "unified" rune in the Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon and the Younger Futhark traditions, followed by the letter transliterating the rune (if applicable).[lower-alpha 7] The ordering follows the basic futhark sequence, but with (non-unified) variants inserted after the standard Elder Futhark form of each letter, as follows:

Code pointRuneNameElder FutharkAnglo-SaxonYounger Futhark
(long-branch)		Younger Futhark
(short-twig)		MedievalDalecarlian
16A0ᚠFEHU FEOH FE FcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A1ᚡVcheckY
16A2ᚢURUZ UR UcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A3ᚣYRcheckY
16A4ᚤYcheckY
16A5ᚥWcheckY[lower-alpha 8]
16A6ᚦTHURISAZ THURS THORNcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A7ᚧETHcheckY
16A8ᚨANSUZ AcheckYcheckY[lower-alpha 9]
16A9ᚩOS OcheckY
16AAᚪAC AcheckY
16ABᚫAESCcheckY
16ACᚬLONG-BRANCH-OSS OcheckY
16ADᚭSHORT-TWIG-OSS OcheckY
16AEᚮOcheckY
16AFᚯOEcheckYcheckY
16B0ᚰONcheckY[lower-alpha 10]
16B1ᚱRAIDO RAD REID RcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16B2ᚲKAUNAcheckY
16B3ᚳCENcheckY
16B4ᚴKAUN KcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16B5ᚵGcheckY
16B6ᚶENGcheckY[lower-alpha 11]
16B7ᚷGEBO GYFU GcheckYcheckYcheckY[lower-alpha 12]
16B8ᚸGARcheckY
16B9ᚹWUNJO WYNN WcheckYcheckYcheckY
16BAᚺHAGLAZ HcheckY
16BBᚻHAEGL HcheckY
16BCᚼLONG-BRANCH-HAGALL HcheckYcheckY
16BDᚽSHORT-TWIG-HAGALL HcheckY
16BEᚾNAUDIZ NYD NAUD NcheckYcheckYcheckY
16BFᚿSHORT-TWIG-NAUD NcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C0ᛀDOTTED-NcheckY[lower-alpha 13]
16C1ᛁISAZ IS ISS IcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C2ᛂEcheckY
16C3ᛃJERAN JcheckY
16C4ᛄGERcheckY
16C5ᛅLONG-BRANCH-AR AEcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C6ᛆSHORT-TWIG-AR AcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C7ᛇIWAZ EOHcheckYcheckY
16C8ᛈPERTHO PEORTH PcheckYcheckY
16C9ᛉALGIZ EOLHXcheckYcheckY
16CAᛊSOWILO ScheckY
16CBᛋSIGEL LONG-BRANCH-SOL ScheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16CCᛌSHORT-TWIG-SOL ScheckYcheckYcheckY
16CDᛍCcheckY
16CEᛎZcheckY
16CFᛏTIWAZ TIR TYR TcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D0ᛐSHORT-TWIG-TYR TcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D1ᛑDcheckY
16D2ᛒBERKANAN BEORC BJARKAN BcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D3ᛓSHORT-TWIG-BJARKAN BcheckY
16D4ᛔDOTTED-PcheckY
16D5ᛕOPEN-PcheckY
16D6ᛖEHWAZ EH EcheckYcheckY
16D7ᛗMANNAZ MAN McheckYcheckY
16D8ᛘLONG-BRANCH-MADR McheckYcheckYcheckY
16D9ᛙSHORT-TWIG-MADR McheckYcheckY
16DAᛚLAUKAZ LAGU LOGR LcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16DBᛛDOTTED-LcheckY[lower-alpha 14]
16DCᛜINGWAZcheckY
16DDᛝINGcheckY
16DEᛞDAGAZ DAEG DcheckYcheckY
16DFᛟOTHALAN ETHEL OcheckYcheckY
16E0ᛠEARcheckYcheckY
16E1ᛡIORcheckY
16E2ᛢCWEORTHcheckY
16E3ᛣCALCcheckY
16E4ᛤCEALCcheckY
16E5ᛥSTANcheckY
16E6ᛦLONG-BRANCH-YRcheckYcheckYcheckY
16E7ᛧSHORT-TWIG-YRcheckY
16E8ᛨICELANDIC-YRcheckY
16E9ᛩQcheckYcheckY
16EAᛪXcheckY

The three "punctuation marks" are three variant forms of separators found in runic inscriptions, one a single dot, one a double dot and one cross-shaped.

Code pointRuneName
16EB᛫RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION
16EC᛬RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION
16ED᛭RUNIC CROSS PUNCTUATION

The three "runic symbols" are the Arlaug, Tvimadur and Belgthor symbols used exclusively for enumerating years in runic calendars of the early modern period.

Code pointRuneName
16EEᛮRUNIC ARLAUG SYMBOL
16EFᛯRUNIC TVIMADUR SYMBOL
16F0ᛰRUNIC BELGTHOR SYMBOL

The eight additional characters introduced in Unicode 7.0 concern the Anglo-Saxon runes. Three are variant letters used by J. R. R. Tolkien to write Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes, representing the English k, oo and sh graphemes.[lower-alpha 15]

Code pointRuneName
16F1ᛱRUNIC LETTER K
16F2ᛲRUNIC LETTER SH
16F3ᛳRUNIC LETTER OO

The five others are letter variants used in one of the Franks Casket inscriptions, "cryptogrammic" replacements for the standard Anglo-Saxon o, i, e, a and æ vowel runes.

Code pointRuneName
16F4ᛴRUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET OS
16F5ᛵRUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET IS
16F6ᛶRUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET EH
16F7ᛷRUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET AC
16F8ᛸRUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET AESC

Fonts

Numerous Unicode fonts support the Runic block, although most of them are strictly limited to displaying a single glyph per character, often closely modeled on the shape shown in the Unicode block chart.

Free Unicode fonts that support the runic block include: Junicode, GNU FreeFont (in its monospace, bitmap face), Caslon, the serif font Quivira, and Babelstone Runic in its many different formats. Commercial fonts supporting the block include Alphabetum, Code2000, Everson Mono, Aboriginal Serif, Aboriginal Sans, Segoe UI Symbol, and TITUS Cyberbit Basic.

Microsoft Windows did not support the Runic block in any of its included fonts during 2000—2008, but with the release of Windows 7 in 2009, the system has been delivered with a font supporting the block, Segoe UI Symbol. In Windows 10 the Runic block was moved into the font Segoe UI Historic.[13]

Chart
Runic[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+16Ax ᚠ ᚡ ᚢ ᚣ ᚤ ᚥ ᚦ ᚧ ᚨ ᚩ ᚪ ᚫ ᚬ ᚭ ᚮ ᚯ
U+16Bx ᚰ ᚱ ᚲ ᚳ ᚴ ᚵ ᚶ ᚷ ᚸ ᚹ ᚺ ᚻ ᚼ ᚽ ᚾ ᚿ
U+16Cx ᛀ ᛁ ᛂ ᛃ ᛄ ᛅ ᛆ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛊ ᛋ ᛌ ᛍ ᛎ ᛏ
U+16Dx ᛐ ᛑ ᛒ ᛓ ᛔ ᛕ ᛖ ᛗ ᛘ ᛙ ᛚ ᛛ ᛜ ᛝ ᛞ ᛟ
U+16Ex ᛠ ᛡ ᛢ ᛣ ᛤ ᛥ ᛦ ᛧ ᛨ ᛩ ᛪ ᛫ ᛬ ᛭ ᛮ ᛯ
U+16Fx ᛰ ᛱ ᛲ ᛳ ᛴ ᛵ ᛶ ᛷ ᛸ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Runic block:

VersionFinal code points[lower-alpha 16]CountUTC IDL2 IDWG2 IDDocument
3.0U+16A0..16F081N1210[14]
X3L2/95-117N1222[15]
UTC/1995-xxx[16]
N1229[17]
N1230[18]
N1239[19]
X3L2/95-090N1253 (doc, txt)[20]
X3L2/95-118N1262[21]
X3L2/96-035N1330[22]
X3L2/96-051N1382[23]
N1353[24]
UTC/1996-027.2[25]
X3L2/96-100N1417 (doc, txt)[26]
X3L2/96-101N1443[27]
N1453[28]
X3L2/96-123[29]
L2/97-048N1542[30]
N1620[31]
L2/97-288N1603[32]
L2/98-077N1695[33]
L2/98-132N1771[34]
L2/98-134N1772[35]
N1763[36]
L2/98-286N1703[37]
L2/01-023[38]
7.0U+16F1..16F88L2/11-096RN4013R[39]
N4103[40]
L2/12-007[41]
N4253 (pdf, doc)[42]

Footnotes
  1. "At the Third International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions in Valdres, Norway, in August 1990, the need to represent runes by real graphic symbols in text production of various kinds was discussed. Project meetings were held in Oslo in March 1993 and in Stockholm in November 1994 and March 1995. The proposal from the "ISO Runes Project" (cf. Digitala runor, TemaNord 1997:623, København 1997) was accepted with some minor adjustments in 2001, and Unicode now includes runic characters in accordance with the proposal."[4][5]
  2. This is not to be confused with Tolkien's own Cirth script which is "runic" in appearance but has no direct relation to the historical runes. This alphabet has no official Unicode encoding (although there is a proposed ConScript Unicode Registry encoding).[6]
  3. "The known inscriptions can include considerable variations of shape for a given rune, sometimes to the point where the nonspecialist will mistake the shape for a different rune. There is no dominant main form for some runes, particularly for many runes added in the Anglo-Friesian and medieval Nordic systems. When transcribing a Runic inscription into its Unicode-encoded form, one cannot rely on the idealized reference glyph shape in the character charts alone. One must take into account to which of the four Runic systems an inscription belongs, and be knowledgeable about the permitted form variations within each system. The reference glyphs were chosen to provide an image that distinguishes each rune visually from all other runes in the same system. For actual use, it might be advisable to use a separate font for each Runic system."
  4. "When a rune in an earlier writing system evolved into several different runes in a later system, the unification of the earlier rune with one of the later runes was based on similarity in graphic form rather than similarity in sound value."
  5. "Two sharply different graphic forms, the long-branch and the short-twig form, were used for nine of the 16 Viking Age Nordic runes. Although only one form is used in a given inscription, there are runologically important exceptions. In some cases, the two forms were used to convey different meanings in later use in the medieval system. Therefore the two forms have been separated in the Unicode Standard. ... Staveless runes are a third form of the Viking Age Nordic runes, a kind of runic shorthand. The number of known inscriptions is small and the graphic forms of many of the runes show great variability between inscriptions. For this reason, staveless runes have been unified with the corresponding Viking Age Nordic runes."[7]
  6. "On 2000-12-24 Olle Järnefors published on behalf of the ISORUNES Project in Sweden a proposal for ordering the Runes in the Common Tailorable Template (CTT) of ISO/IEC 14651. In my view this ordering is unsuitable for the CTT for a number of reasons."[8][9] "Due to the summer holidays, one of our experts was unable to report back to us by the due date of 2001-09-01. While we voted positively on 2001-08-30, Ireland would like to change our vote to DISAPPROVAL, with the following technical comment:
    In the tailorable template, the Runic script is ordered according to Latin transliteration order. This produces ordering which does not fully satisfy any user community. The Runes should be reordered to the Futhark order in the tailorable template.
    Note that the SC22/WG20 minutes are ambiguous as to what should have been sent out for ballot:
    'Runes were added after 14651 cut-off. Order of the Runes in N833 are according to the preference of the ISO Runes project (Sweden). Other people, such as Everson and Ken, disagree with the ISO project and prefer the current usage on the web. Reason: academic work is done in transliterations and the order is for the transliterated characters. Everson's proposal is very close to the binary order in 10646 (Futhark) for all extensions in various countries. Transliterated order would have to be a tailoring. Current draft table shows the ISO Runes order.... Discussion about the merits of either ordering. Decision that the order stays as in the table which is the Futhark order.' [...]
    We believe that ambiguities in transliteration ordering will mean that researchers in the Nordic countries and Britain and Ireland will have to tailor ANYWAY to get a correct transliteration ordering. Therefore the not-quite-perfect transliteration order in the tailorable template serves little purpose. On the other hand, the many non-researcher users of the Runes (who far outnumber the researchers), universally prefer the Futhark order, and require no tailoring for it. Since MOST users will not need to tailor, it seems only logical that the Futhark order should be the order used in the template."[9]
  7. "The names given to the Runes in the UCS may be a bit clumsy, but they are intended to serve the needs of scholars and amateurs alike; not everyone is familiar with Runic transliteration practices, and not everyone is conversant with the traditional names in Germanic, English, and Scandinavian usage. So the names concatenate those three together with the scholarly transliteration letter."[10]
  8. Modern innovation, intended as representing the Latin letter W in the context of medieval runic inscriptions.
  9. The Anglo-Saxon æsc rune with the same shape is encoded separately, as 16AB.
  10. nasal o, translitterated with ǫ
  11. The 1997 ISORUNES proposed name for this was "RUNIC LETTER YOUNGER K WITH DOT", intended as representing the /ŋ/ phoneme in medieval runic inscriptions (Elder Futhark already had a separate ng-rune, sometimes shown in ligature with the i-rune (the so-called "lantern rune"[11])
  12. ᚷ is an alternative stylistic representation of ᛅ in Dalecarlian use.
  13. The 1997 ISORUNES proposed name for this was "RUNIC LETTER YOUNGER N WITH DOT", transliterated as N.
  14. The 1997 ISO Runes proposed name for this was "RUNIC LETTER YOUNGER L WITH DOT", transliterated as L.
  15. The k rune was published with The Hobbit (1937), e.g. for writing Tolkien's own name, as ᛁ ᚱ ᚱ ᛏᚩᛚᛱᛁᛖᚾ. His oo and sh runes are known from a postcard written to Katherine Farrer (sic, the name is mistakenly given as Ferrer by Everson and West) on 30 November 1947, published as no. 112 in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) ("A postcard, apparently written on 30 November 1947, using the system of runes employed in The Hobbit [...] Mrs Farrer, a writer of detective stories, was married to the theologian Austin Farrer, then Chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford.").[12]
  16. Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names.

References
  1. "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  2. "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. Everson, Michael; West, Andrew (10 May 2011). "Proposal to encode additional Runic characters in the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4013R.
  4. Gustavson, Helmer (2004) [2002]. "Nytt om runer". pp. 45–46. 17.
  5. Digitala runor. Nordisk ministerråd (Nordic Council of Ministers. 1997. pp. see especially 29ff for the list of proposed characters. ISBN 9789289301404.
  6. "Cirth: U+E080 - U+E0FF". ConScript Unicode Registry encoding.
  7. "The Unicode Standard" (PDF) (3.0 ed.). January 2000. chapter 7.6, pp. 174–175.
  8. Everson, Michael (2001). "Ordering the runic script" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 N809. Everson's proposal was accepted and the character sort order was changed in 2001.
  9. LaBonté, Alain, ed. (10 February 2001). "Final disposition of comments of ballot results on PDAM-1 to ISO/IEC 14651:2001". Project editor. ISO/IEC 14651:2001. SC22/WG20. SC22/WG20 N882R.
  10. Everson, "Ordering the runic script" (2001) p. 1.
  11. Morris, Richard Lee (1988). Runic and Mediterranean Epigraphy. p. 130. ISBN 8774926837.
  12. Everson, Michael; West, Andrew (10 May 2011). "Proposal to encode additional Runic characters in the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4013R.
  13. "Script and Font Support in Windows". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  14. Proposal Concerning Inclusion of the Runic Characters (Report). 28 April 1995.
  15. Everson, Michael (20 May 1995). Names and ordering of the Fuþark (Runic) characters: comment on N1210 [UTC/1995-028] (Report).
  16. Meeting #65 Minutes (Report). Runic Proposal. Unicode Technical Committee. 2 June 1995.
  17. Response to Michael Everson comments (N 1230) on Runic (Report). 16 June 1995.
  18. Everson, Michael (21 June 1995). Feedback on Runic (Report).
  19. Ólafsson, Þorvaður Kári (23 June 1995). Icelandic position on Runic (Report).
  20. Umamaheswaran, V.S.; Ksar, Mike (2–27 June 1995). WG 2, Meeting #28 Minutes (Report) (Unconfirmed ed.). Helsinki, Finland (published 9 September 1995). §6.4.8.
  21. Everson, Michael (19 September 1995). Consensus Name and ordering proposal for the Fuþark (Report).
  22. Lundström, Wera (13 March 1996). Revised Proposal Concerning Inclusion into ISO/IEC 10646 of the Repertoire of Runic Characters (Report).
  23. Runic Script: Description and Proposed Character Name Table (Report). 18 April 1996.
  24. Umamaheswaran, V.S.; Ksar, Mike (25 June 1996). WG2 Meeting #30 Minutes (Report) (Draft ed.). Copenhagen. §8.6.
  25. Greenfield, Steve (1 July 1996). UTC #69 Minutes (Report). Part 2, §E. Runic.
  26. Second Revised Proposal for Runic Character Names (Report). 23 July 1996.
  27. Everson, Michael; Jarnefors, Olle (4 August 1996). Allocating Ogham and Runes to the BMP: a strategy for making the BMP maximally useful (Report).
  28. Ksar, Mike; Umamaheswaran, V.S. (6 December 1996). WG 2 Meeting 31 Minutes (Report). Quebec. §8.6.
  29. Aliprand, Joan; Winkler, Arnold (5–6 December 1996). UTC #71 & X3L2 #168 ad hoc meeting Minutes (Report) (Preliminary ed.). San Diego (published 18 December 1996). §4.5 Runic.
  30. Everson, Michael (27 March 1997). Proposed pDAM text for Runic (Report).
  31. Everson, Michael (3 July 1997). Runic Proposal Update (Report).
  32. Umamaheswaran, V.S. (20 June – 4 July 1997). WG 2 Meeting #33 Minutes (Report) (Unconfirmed ed.). Heraklion, Crete, Greece (published 24 October 1997). §8.5.
  33. Paterson, Bruce (22 February 1998). Proposed Disposition of Comments on SC2 letter ballot on FPDAMs 16, 19, & 20 (Braille patterns, Runic, Ogham) (Report).
  34. Paterson, Bruce (6 April 1998). Revised Text of ISO 10646 Amendment 19 - Runic (Report).
  35. Paterson, Bruce (6 April 1998). Revised Text of ISO 10646 Amendment 20 - Ogham (Report).
  36. Paterson, Bruce (6 April 1998). Disposition of Comments Report on SC 2 N2970: Amendment 19 - Runic (Report).
  37. Umamaheswaran, V.S.; Ksar, Mike (16–20 March 1998). WG 2 Meeting #34 Minutes (Report) (Unconfirmed ed.). Redmond, WA, USA (published 2 July 1998). §6.2.3 FPDAM-19 on Runic and FPDAM-20 on Ogham.
  38. Everson, Michael (9 January 2001). Ordering the Runic script (Report).
  39. Everson, Michael; West, Andrew (10 May 2011). Proposal to encode additional Runic characters in the UCS (Report).
  40. WG 2 meeting #58 minutes (Report) (Unconfirmed ed.). 3 January 2012. §11.9 Additional Runic characters.
  41. Moore, Lisa (14 February 2012). UTC #130 / L2 #227 Minutes (Report). §C.5.
  42. WG 2 meeting #59 minutes (Report) (Unconfirmed ed.). 12 September 2012. §M59.16l.
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