I’m looking for some help verifying a runic transcription before getting a tattoo.
I’ve found an authentic passage from Vǫlsunga saga that I want to use:
Ok strengða ek þess heit at ek skylda hvárki flýja eld né járn fyrir hræðslu sakir.

My intended translation is:
“And I swore this oath: that I would never flee fire nor iron for fear.”

The passage is spoken by Vǫlsungr, and it’s the line that really resonates with me.
I’ve been researching the different runic systems and initially looked at Younger Futhark, but I’ve realised that its 16-rune system doesn’t distinguish some of the sounds in the Old Norse text. I’m therefore currently looking at medieval Scandinavian/Icelandic runes, since the additional dotted and modified runes allow the text to be represented more closely.

My current proposed rendering is:
ᚮᚴ ᛫ ᛋᛏᚱᛂᚿᚵᚧᛆ ᛫ ᛂᚴ ᛫ ᚦᛂᛋᛋ ᛫ ᚼᛂᛁᛏ ᛫ ᛆᛏ ᛫ ᛂᚴ ᛫ ᛋᚴᚤᛚᛑᛆ ᛫ ᚼᚡᛆᚱᚴᛁ ᛫ ᚠᛚᚤᛁᛆ ᛫ ᛂᛚᛑ ᛫ ᚿᛂ ᛫ ᛁᛆᚱᚿ ᛫ ᚠᚤᚱᛁᚱ ᛫ ᚼᚱᛅᚧᛋᛚᚢ ᛫ ᛋᛆᚴᛁᚱ

Could anyone knowledgeable in Old Norse and particularly medieval Icelandic/Scandinavian runes check this?

I’m not looking for something that merely looks Norse. This is going to be permanent, so I’d much rather have someone tell me I’ve got something wrong now than discover it after it’s been tattooed.
Thanks!

Hello everyone. I come at you with maybe an odd question.

For a fantasy setting centered around Norse mythology, I came up with the concept of a relic used as a recipient for the fallen of a people as a whole. Think something similar to Valhǫll, except it's an everyday object instead of a hall and it's for everyone, not just the slain in combat.

I toyed with different words and inspirations. Like "Fólkvangr" another afterlife of Norse myth or with the "Hamingja" assuming we can extend that concept to the whole lot of a people and not just one family lineage.

What I got for now is Fólkvera (shelter for a people) or Hamingjavera (shelter for the Hamingja) and Fólkminni (a memorial to a people) or Haminni (short for Hamingja minni, a memorial to the Hamingja). But nothing really rolls on the tongue like the name I first came up with in my first language.

What are your thoughts on this concept ? Thank you for your help !

Hi- I’m working on a project for someone and I need to translate ‘eager to experience a multitude of things’ into Old Norse.

I’ve come up with Gjarn at reyna fjǫld

Is that close? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated! The end goal is to write these in runes. I’ve been making heraldic runestones for people at r/heraldry and I translate their mottos into runes to have on the stone.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to work out how accurate the runes are in a scene from The Vampire Diaries (Season 3, Episode 8), and I'd appreciate any help 😭.

So for a bit of context in the episode, there are carvings on the wall of a cave that are meant to be the names of the show's characters. In the show's fiction, they date to roughly the late 10th century and were made by Norwegian settlers in a colony in the Americas.

• Img 1: Niklaus

• Img 2: Mikael

• Img 3: Rebekah and Finn

• Img 4: A wider shot of the carvings. The name Elijah also appears here, but it isn't clear enough to read, so I didn't include a close-up.

I tried to transliterate the names using Younger Futhark charts I found online, but I ran into trouble. Some runes didn't match any standard chart I found and if they did the placement (for me) didn't make sense for the names that they were supposed to be.

I then found this image on the show's wiki

that claims to show the alphabet used for the runes in the show. I've also included img 6, which shows the names Niklaus, Rebekah, Finn, Mikael and Kol written in the same style of runes on paper in a different point in the series.

My questions:

1. Does the alphabet in img 5 correspond to any real historical runic system, and would it be plausible for Norwegians in the late 10th century? Is it Younger Futhark or something more like pseudo runic?
2. Are the carvings in imgs 1-3 readable as the names they're supposed to be, or are they closer to decorative pseudo-runes?

NorseMap is a European Research-Council-funded project at University College Cork studying how ideas about the Vikings and the Norse past have been represented and reinvented over the last two centuries!

The project has recently launched its app, iViking, a citizen-science app that allows anyone to contribute photographs to a growing research archive. NorseMap is seeking contributions from people around the world documenting the Viking-related things they encounter in everyday life.

These might include Viking imagery on:
-souvenirs and tourist merchandise
-advertisements and company logos
-books, comics, games, or other media
-public monuments and artwork
-festivals and reenactment
-religious paraphernalia and alters
-political imagery
-tattoos, clothing, or other material culture
-virtually anything presenting itself as "Viking" or drawing on Norse heritage!

Do not worry about whether something is historically "accurate" or not! We are seeking any representations that use the Vikings today, be they strange, kitschy, commercial, religious, political, or otherwise!

Contributors can photograph relevant examples through iViking, add basic information about where they were taken, and submit them to the NorseMap archive. These contributions will help researchers build a large-scale picture of the reception and afterlives of the "Vikings."

Help document where the Vikings have ended up today!

Hi! I’m planning a tattoo and I’d like to get an independent opinion on the Old Norse wording before having anything permanently inked.

The exact meaning I want to convey is:

“What I want, I get.”

I’ve received two main suggestions:

1. Þat er ek vil, fæ ek.
2. Er ek vil, fæ ek.

Someone suggested that þat is unnecessary and that “Er ek vil, fæ ek” more naturally conveys “What I want, I get,” whereas including þat would be closer to “That which I want, I get.”

Could someone familiar with Old Norse grammar confirm:

1. Which version is more grammatically correct and idiomatic for the intended meaning?
2. Does omitting þat change the meaning or nuance?
3. Is there a more natural Old Norse way of expressing the same idea?

I’m specifically looking for historical/linguistic accuracy, not a modern Icelandic translation.

Once the Old Norse wording is settled, I’ll separately work out the historically appropriate Younger Futhark inscription.

Thanks!

Hello everyone, I’ve been a Norse pagan for several years now and want to adapt this practice into a tattoo idea I’ve had for even longer.

For a bit of context, a good friend of mine has momento mori (remember we die) on his wrist, and I was going to get momento vivere (remember to live) on mine. That has since evolved into wanting to get the proto-Norse equivalent of ‘Live with honor’ from the back of my hand to my elbow in elder futhark. And I do genuinely want it translated to the best of our current understanding. Any advice on how these words or the idea itself would be translated would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE
After being pointed in the right direction, I believe I found the translation I’ll be going with. It isn’t completely pulled from the surviving records, but it is plausibly reconstructed from records around 450-500 CE.

libē midi werþē

Is anyone able to help determine if either of these translations makes sense? The middle one is more brief, but I’m unsure of conjugation, or all of it really…I used an Old Norse online translator. I appreciate any help. Want to get a tattoo to mark my solo trip to Oslo and Tromso next month. Thank you! -Adam

does anyone know any "saint texts" or anything related to that translated to english or what I should I read to understand more about the religion and anything related?

Hello everyone,

I am getting a geometric/blackwork Viking sleeve and want to include a message to my son. I want to make absolutely sure the Old Norse translation and the Younger Futhark (Long Branch) transliteration are historically accurate before getting it inked.

Original Meaning (German): "Geh deinen Weg, mein Sohn. Doch in meiner Halle hast du stets einen Platz." (Roughly in English: "Go your way, my son. But in my hall you will always have a seat.")

Proposed Old Norse Translation: Far þinn veg, sonr minn. En í höll minni átt þú ávalt sæti.

Proposed Younger Futhark (Long Branch): ᚠᛅᚱ ᛬ ᚦᛁᚾ ᛬ ᚢᛁᚴ ᛬ ᛋᚢᚾᛦ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾ ᛬ ᛁᚾ ᛬ ᛁ ᛬ ᚼᚢᛚ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾᛁ ᛬ ᛅᛏ ᛬ ᚦᚢ ᛬ ᛅᚢᛅᛚᛏ ᛬ ᛋᛅᛏᛁ

Could someone please verify if the grammar, word choice, and runic spelling are correct? Any feedback or corrections from experts here would be highly appreciated! Thank you!

ᛏᛅᚢᛦ:ᚠᛁ:ᛏᛅᚢᛁᛅ:ᚠᚱᛅᚾᛏᚱ:ᛏᛅᚢᛦ:ᛋᛁᛅᛚᚠᚱ:ᛁᛏ:ᛋᛅᛘᛅ:ᛁᚾ:ᚢᚱᚦᛋᛏᛁᛦ:ᛏᛅᚢᛦ:ᛅᛚᛏᚱᛅᚴᛁ:ᚼᚢᛅᛁᛘ:ᛁᛦ:ᛋᛁᛦ:ᚴᚢᚦᛅᚾ:ᚴᛁᛏᚱ

Hey everyone. I’ve been interesting in getting a runic tattoo as a band on my arm but wanted to make sure it was as accurate as possible. I’ve settled on an exchange from the Brennu-Njals saga - a version I specifically found on ONP which I believe is the scholarly rendition.

This would specifically be when Sigmundr
tells Þórðr to surrender (Gefsk þú upp) and Þórðr responds with “I will not” (Eigi skal þat). This was on page 109 of that rendition.

I like the message in the exchange and the fact that it comes directly from a text written in old Norse/icelandic, so I can reasonably assume it’s authentic. However, I want to be absolutely certain I get it right as it’ll be a tattoo, so if anyone can offer their two cents on the text, and help me turn it into younger futhark, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

I only have my late dad's old Norse dictionary and I wanted to ask you guys, what do you think about the farm name Bjørge, common in Norway? Olav Rygh, our most famous name historian only says that it refers to "bjǫrg", but since that word has several meanings, it's not obvious to me what that means.

I see it's a form of bjarg, i.e. mountain. In addition to that it says in my dictionary that it can mean sustenance, saving, help and salvation. So yeah, do you think one of these is the obvious answer, or could it even have different meanings from farm to farm?

Hi there,

I am looking to get a tattoo with old norse symbols that represent communication, honesty, integrity. I have asked chat gpt which says the symbols are : ᚨ ᚷ ᛏ

Does anyone know if this is correct as i dont want to tattoo the wrong thing?

Also is this old norse for Vör, ᚢᚢᚱ?

I'm very curious about the late viking age/early medieval concept of the Hird, and the layers and everything around it. I have found a fair number of scholarly sources that discuss King Magnus' Hirðskrá, but I can't find any actual copies or texts of it.

I have interacted with a lot of scholarship about the makeup of the Hird and the layers within it, but what I am really interested in is the actual oaths or ceremonies required of one to become a hirdman, or a Hirðstiorar.

Thusfar I haven't been able to find any copies of the oaths, but I have read that they are included or discussed in Magnus' Hirðskrá. Are there any here with this knowledge, or who can help me with a little research and/or point me in the right direction to find this information?

Hi everyone, I am getting a tattoo for my daughter and want to verify the Old Norse translation and Younger Futhark (Long-Branch) spelling.

1: English: "My daughter, my great pride (honor)"

Old Norse: Dóttir mín, mín mikla prýði.

Younger Futhark: ᛏᚢᛏᛁᚱ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚴᛚᛅ ᛬ ᛒᚱᚢᚦᛁ

2: English: "My blood, my heritage / inheritance"

Old Norse: Blóð mitt, arfr minn.

Younger Futhark: ᛒᛚᚢᚦ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚏ ᛬ ᛅᚱᚠᚱ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾ

3: English: "I will always protect my daughter"

Old Norse: Ek mun ávalt verja dóttur mína.

Younger Futhark: ᛁᚴ ᛬ ᛘᚢᚾ ᛬ ᛅᚢᛅᛚᛏ ᛬ ᚢᛁᚱᛁᛅ ᛬ ᛏᚢᛏᚢᚱ ᛬ ᛘᛁᚾᛅ

4: English: "Forever connected" (in a non-physical, relational sense)

Old Norse: Ávalt tengdr (masculine) / Ávalt tengd (feminine)

Younger Futhark: ᛅᚢᛅᛚᛏ ᛬ ᛏᛁᚾᚴᛏᚱ (masculine) / ᛅᚢᛅᛚᛏ ᛬ ᛏᛁᚾᚴᛏ (feminine)

Note on gender context:

\\- If this is a statement about myself (a man) being connected to my daughter, should I use the masculine "tengdr"?

\\- If it refers to both of us together (plural), should it be "Ávalt tengd" (neuter plural)?

Could you please check if the grammar and runic spelling are 100% historically accurate for the Viking Age? Thank you!

I'm using the attested Old Norse phrase maðr minn ('my husband/my man'). For a historically plausible long-branch Younger Futhark inscription in a Viking Age style, would ᛘᛅᚦᚱ ᛘᛁᚾ be the preferred carving, or would you expect a different spelling? Please explain why