Anglo-Saxon Runes Translator (Futhorc)
This Anglo-Saxon runes translator writes modern English or Old English words in the Futhorc, the rune row used in England from about the 5th to the 11th century. It handles æ, þ, ng and ea the way Anglo-Saxon carvers did.
How to use the Anglo-Saxon runes translator
- Type a name or a short phrase. Modern English works, and so does Old English spelling with æ, þ and ð.
- Keep “By sound” selected unless you need one rune per letter. It writes th as ᚦ, ng as ᛝ and æ as ᚫ, as Anglo-Saxon carvers did.
- Pick a separator and press Convert.
- Check the table under the result. It names every rune you used and the sound it carried.
- Going the other way? Choose “Runes → Latin letters” and paste runes from an inscription or a book.
How the Futhorc spelling works
The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc grew out of the Elder Futhark as the sounds of Old English changed. The rune for a became ᚩ (ōs) and took the value o, so new runes were added for a (ᚪ āc), æ (ᚫ æsc) and y (ᚣ ȳr). Manuscript lists give 28 runes, and Northumbrian carvers added a few more. That is where the name comes from: the first six runes spell f-u-þ-o-r-c.
The tool spells your text with these rules:
- th, þ, ð → ᚦ; ng → ᛝ; æ or ae → ᚫ; ea → ᛠ; œ or oe → ᛟ.
- c → ᚳ (cēn) for the hard c, while k → ᛣ (calc), the Northumbrian rune for a k sound.
- q → ᛢ (cweorþ) and x → ᛉ (eolhx). These rare runes mostly appear in manuscript lists, where scribes matched them to Latin letters.
- v → ᚠ, because Old English used the letter f for both the f and v sounds.
- y → ᚣ as a vowel and ᛄ (gēr) before another vowel, as in “York”.
Æthelflæd → æ + th + e + l + f + l + æ + d → ᚫᚦᛖᛚᚠᛚᚫᛞ
Anglo-Saxon Futhorc chart
| Rune | Old English name (meaning) | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ᚠ | feoh (wealth) | f |
| ᚢ | ūr (aurochs) | u |
| ᚦ | þorn (thorn) | þ, ð |
| ᚩ | ōs (god or mouth) | o |
| ᚱ | rād (riding) | r |
| ᚳ | cēn (torch) | c (k, ch) |
| ᚷ | gyfu (gift) | g |
| ᚹ | wynn (joy) | w |
| ᚻ | hægl (hail) | h |
| ᚾ | nȳd (need) | n |
| ᛁ | īs (ice) | i |
| ᛄ | gēr (year) | j, y |
| ᛇ | ēoh (yew) | eo |
| ᛈ | peorð (unknown) | p |
| ᛉ | eolhx (elk-sedge) | x |
| ᛋ | sigel (sun) | s |
| ᛏ | Tīw / tīr | t |
| ᛒ | beorc (birch) | b |
| ᛖ | eh (horse) | e |
| ᛗ | mann (person) | m |
| ᛚ | lagu (sea) | l |
| ᛝ | Ing (a hero) | ng |
| ᛟ | ēþel (homeland) | œ |
| ᛞ | dæg (day) | d |
| ᚪ | āc (oak) | a |
| ᚫ | æsc (ash tree) | æ |
| ᚣ | ȳr (bow?) | y |
| ᛡ | īor (a creature, meaning unclear) | io, ia |
| ᛠ | ēar (earth, grave) | ea |
| ᛣ | calc (chalk or cup) | k |
| ᛢ | cweorþ (unknown) | q |
The names and meanings come mainly from the Old English Rune Poem, which survives only through a 1705 printed copy because the manuscript burned in the Cotton Library fire of 1731. A few meanings, such as peorð and īor, are still uncertain.
Examples
Anglo-Saxon kings and queens
Alfred becomes ᚪᛚᚠᚱᛖᛞ. Æthelflæd, the “Lady of the Mercians”, becomes ᚫᚦᛖᛚᚠᛚᚫᛞ. Hild, the 7th-century abbess of Whitby, becomes ᚻᛁᛚᛞ.
Beowulf
The tool’s default example, Beowulf, becomes ᛒᛖᚩᚹᚢᛚᚠ. In Old English the “eo” was a diphthong, and some carvers would have used ᛇ (ēoh) for it. If you prefer that, edit the result by hand: the chart above shows the rune.
Real inscriptions to compare
The Franks Casket, a whalebone box carved in Northumbria in the early 8th century, has a runic poem about the whale it was made from. The Ruthwell Cross in Scotland carries lines from the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood in runes. The Ruthwell Cross also uses extra Northumbrian runes, including calc (ᛣ) and gār (ᚸ).
Futhorc or Elder Futhark?
Choose the Futhorc for anything connected to England, Old English or Anglo-Saxon history. It is the alphabet carved in England between roughly the 5th and 11th centuries. For anything earlier or Scandinavian, use the Runic Translator or the Younger Futhark Translator. To find Old English words before writing them in runes, try our Old English Translator.