'Younger Futhark', 'Younger Fuþąrk' or 'Scandinavian Futhark' are just a few of the names given to the runes used by the Nordic tribes from the 9th to 11th centuries.
The full Norse runic symbol set consists of just 16 runes, but there is a 'long-branch' set (Danish) which resides in the uppercase letters, and a 'short-twig' set (Norwegian and Swedish) that is lowercase.
These runes are a reduced form of the 'Elder Futhark' runes of the 2nd to 8th centuries and was used when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse.
I wanted to make the 'Elder Futhark' runes a part of this font, but there are clashes between the runes used in each of these versions.
The term 'Futhark' is derived from the pronunciation of the first 6 symbols of the name. 'Fuþąrk', which reflects the actual first 6 runes, is also acceptable and there are even Anglo-Saxon variants of the name and the runes, as well. As having a Norwegian ancestry Myself, I named this font after the more often used phonetic version because the 'þ' (þurisaz¹) and 'ą' (ansuz²) would probably be challenging across languages, keyboard maps, devices and platforms as far as keeping the name straight.
The Younger Futhark font in this distribution uses the Unicode Letter Sets (so that it will preview correctly on Font-Journal.com and other online font catalog sites), contains the 32 runes and offers a variety of means to access the special characters directly from the Basic Latin letter set so that you can simply use letters to access the whole Younger Futhark alphabet. This TrueType (TTF) PC font is also optimized for Flash.
The following letters were used, given in order of how they appear in the Younger Futhark runic alphabet, because these are the actual transliterations of each rune...
Younger Futhark Long-Branch Rune Transliterations:
F U Þ Ą R K H N I A S T B M L ʀ
Younger Futhark Short Twig Rune Transliterations:
f u þ ą r k h n i a s t b m l ʁ
Notice that there are two R/r characters. The last rune is the transliteration of a small latin capital R ('ʀ'), and since I needed 2 different versions of that one, I originally used the "R/r with stroke" ('Ɍ'/'ɍ'), because I couldn't find the small latin capital R and I knew I needed 2 versions of it for the long-branch and the short branch versions of the rune. I thought if anyone derives something from it, that might be the least used character, and I am willing to listen to better suggestions. But then, I found the small capital R and noticed it had an inverted version next to it, so these two small capital R characters ('ʀ'/'ʁ', found in the IPA Extensions Letter Set/Block) are used after all.
In the case that you cannot view the special characters correctly, I have included an image of the Younger Futhark alphabet as the head image at the top of this page with its transliteraterations.
The header image also functions as a key. The upper case key for the long-branch runes is given in a Teal color, while the lower case key for the short twig runes is given in a brown color.
Also, there are actually two versions of the A/a. The first A/a is actually an A/a with Ogonek ('Ą'/'ą'), but as stated I am still using an 'a' in the name for clarity. It seems everyone is doing the same, anyways.
Additionally, I used the following characters to allow easier access to the wayward characters in the Latin Supplemental and both of the first Latin Extended Letter Sets/Blocks:
(A with Ogonek) Ą: E
(a with Ogonek) ą: e
(Capital Thorn) Þ: P
(smaller thorn) þ: p
(small Capital R) R: Q (or Ɍ)
(Inverted sm Cap R) ʁ: Q (or ɍ)
After all, there are so few runes it seems foolish to not take some of the space left over after the transliterations which is free in the Basic Latin letter set. E because it was another nearby vowel which can sound similar, P because the Þ (Thorn) looks nearly identical, and Q mainly because of its proximity to the R. Since this version is dedicated to the Younger Futhark runes and does not include a set for the Elder Futhark runes, it just seemed moronic not to do it.
Using a Basic Latin letter set, you can then produce the complete runic alphabet with your keyboard easily...
F U P E R K H N I A S T B M L Q
f u p e r k h n i a s t b m l q
Just remember that not all of these keys are actual transliterations, phonetic sounds, interpretations, or passable excuses for each rune, some are simply mapped to the runes out of convenience so that they are easily available (as described above).
I believe that this is a faithful and true representation of the spirit of Younger Futhark runes used by the Norse Viking Hordes (the term 'Viking' actually is a verb that refers to "Raiding/Plundering", BTW). However, these runes were carved into wood (usually the long-branch version) and stone (usually the short twig version) as a part of very circular and flowing designs, often within an overline and underline or inside rune tall scrolls accompanying art, and not so much used in straight lines. Therefore Photoshop text warping effects are encouraged.
Because these runes were often used with a line over/under or both, I have included those characters, as well. I am also making a subscript Service Mark and superscript Trademark using the runes.
I've been working pretty hard on this since I started it on Monday, August 26th, 2013, only taking breaks for work, eat, sleep and my operation earlier today (Yep, just had to mention that).
This font's original distribution archive can be found at:
http://www.font-journal.com/fonts/13118/younger_futhark.php
Younger Futhark font was released as conditional use Freeware (Copyrighted freely available licensed software) on August 28th, 2013, @ 9:09pm Central Time, under the condition that I get credit for my part in this work and that My contribution as the original artist remains intact and unaltered (see LICENSE, immediately below).
Copyright Douglas Peters 2013 and released as conditional use Freeware, with donations accepted (I would love a legal copy of Fontographer). ;) You may contact Me through my FontStruct profile or via Doug-Peters.com.
Released as conditional use Freeware (Copyrighted freely available software from this site or Font-Journal.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License with the condition that I get credit for my part in this work and that My contribution as the original artist and Copyright holder remains intact and unaltered for My part in it.
Users/bearers of this font are allowed to use this font for private, public or commercial use, allowed to contribute to the work, alter it, append it, re-stylize it to suit their needs, rename it, port it to other font formats, computer platforms, and/or digital devices.
I do respectfully ask that My joined DP Trademark logos remain intact and untouched in the 2 replacement characters (available in the Specials Letter Set).
Redistribution is allowed, though only with the full distribution archive file list intact. The file list is given below and it includes this HTML document, which needs to accompany all future distributions. It should be attached to the archive which includes the font file and other files listed below. this document should be named "ReadMe.html". It is necessary to include this file as an HTML document because of all the special characters involved which will not be reproduced in a simple text document.
Distribution File List:
The following files must accompany all further distributions of this font:
Currently, I have the Overline in the Macron character, I need to find where it's actually supposed to be. And I still need to add the TM & SM runes. ;)
¹) 'þurisaz' is the rune name, which makes the "th" sound, as in a Latin Letter Thorn ('Þ' or 'þ').
²) 'ansuz' is the rune name, which transliniates to a Latin Letter A with Ogonek ('Ą' or 'ą'), and ansuz also became the name of the Latin Letter ('Æ' or 'æ').
Again, this is another font project that I've always wanted to do because of My Nordic heritage, that I finally could do thanks to Fontstruct and the awesome Fontstructor.
I apologize if I typoed, misunderstood or miscommunicated anything presented, I'm on pain-killer drugs at the moment after an operation I had earlier today. ;)