My Younger Futhark Font (repost) (Patreon)

I posted this too long ago for a lot of people to want to dig it up, so once again here's the font ( .ttf file attached to this post; you probably have to view the full post on Patreon to see it), and below are the instructions I wrote for how to use it. Of course, this video explains in much more detail how Old Norse was written in Younger Futhark.

Younger Futhark (Long-Branch) Font: Instructions

1. This font assumes that you are using Icelandic as the input language on your keyboard in order to write Old Norse. 

a. On a PC, you can add Icelandic as your input language by visiting Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region> Change keyboards or other input methods > Keyboards and Languages > Change keyboards > Add, Icelandic (keyboard > Icelandic default), and clicking "OK," then "OK" again (or "Apply") in the "Text Services and Input Languages" dialog that you see.

b. On a Mac, you can add Icelandic by visiting System Preferences > International > Input Menu, and selecting Icelandic. 

2. This font will guide your fingers automatically to making most of the substitutions that the Younger Futhark makes. For instance, by typing "dverg" you will get the same result as typing "tuirk," since d/t are one rune, u/v are one rune, e/i are one rune, g/k are one rune, etc.

3. What this font cannot do is split characters that the Younger Futhark splits but later Icelandic orthography (with the Roman alphabet) doesn't. These are as follows:

a. The letter /r/ may come from either original Germanic /r/ or from earlier Germanic /z/. The rune Reið ᚱ (i.e. original Germanic /r/) is the automatic output for typing /r/; however, hold down /shift/+/r/ and you will get the rune Ýr ᛦ (i.e. /r/ from Germanic /z/, often written with a capital R in transcriptions of futhark inscriptions). Generally these are not that hard to keep apart: original Germanic /r/ is the only one that can appear at the beginning of a word, and usually equals /r/ in English cognates (e.g. Old Norse  "akr" = English "acre", Old Norse "sumar" = English "summer"). The /r/ from Germanic /z/ occurs mostly in inflectional endings like plural nouns and third person singular verbs, and usually equals /s/ in English cognates (e.g. Old Norse "hrafnar" = English "ravens," Old Norse "skýtr" = English "shoots").

b. The letters /a/ and /æ/ (including short /e/ from I-umlaut of /i/) are written the same, with the rune Ár ᛅ, and /ǫ/ is not distinguished from /a/ (just type it with /a/). However, if /a/, /æ/ or /ǫ/ are next to an /n/ or /m/ (or was in a previous stage of the language), there is a special nasalized rune for them, Áss ᚬ. To type this rune, just hold down /shift/ + /a/ or /æ/. As reviewed in my recent remake of the video about this, most inscriptions just use Áss for long nasal vowels and not for short vowels, though some old Younger Futhark inscriptions do use Áss for long and short. I would recommend watching the video if this is still unclear, otherwise feel free to ask me a question through Patreon messages.

c. All rounded vowels, except /ǫ/, including those written in the Roman alphabet as /u/, /o/, /y/, /ø/, /ǿ/, /œ/, are written with the rune Úr ᚢ.

d. /m/ is not usually written before /b/ or /p/, /n/ is not usually written before /d/, /t/, /g/, or /k/.

e. Geminate (double) letters are written single - /tt/ as /t/, /gg/ as /g/,etc.

f. The letter /e/ may come either from original Germanic /e/ or from I-umlaut of earlier /a/. Original Germanic /e/ is written with the same rune as for /i/, Íss ᛁ, and this is the automatic output for /e/. However, /e/ from I-umlaut of /a/ is often written with Ár ᛅ (or Áss ᚬ if nasalized), especially in earlier inscriptions. If you are into that kind of specificity, type /æ/ for/e/ from I-umlaut.

g. As to diphthongs: /au/ is written as expected, but /ei/ is written in runes as if it were /ai/, and /ey/ is written as if it were /au/.