My Kickstarter Project: Modern Runic Alphabets

Restoring Diversity in Letters

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The oldest runic alphabet is called the Elder Futhark. But one will find it hard to write modern (Germanic) languages using this alphabet. It only has 24 letters compared to the standard 26 of English language's A-to-Z. Also, the sounds the ancient runes used to make no longer correspond to today's tongues.

Microsoft Windows Runic Keyboard Layout (proof of concept shown for Dutch language)

So, in order to write modern languages using the old runes, we have to get creative. Luckily, there are other runic alphabets, the Younger Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, along with a number of additional symbols uncovered by archaeology. 

Example of a German text by the poet Goethe, rewritten using a modernized Runic alphabet. Underscored symbols are used to represent capital letters. Colons (:) instead of spaces are used to separate words.

Taken together, we can use a conservative approach to design modern runic alphabets for all Germanic languages, including English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Flemish, German, Swiss German, Luxemburgish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Frisian, and Faroese.

Deliverables

•  A PDF + paperback guidebook titled Modern Runic Alphabets: Restoring Diversity in Letters, including example texts for each of the relevant language, and an introductory essay about the history of the runes and their meaning

• Relevant Microsoft Keyboard Layout files to install modern runic keyboards (also made available through a website for download)

• A website that allows you to automatically transcribe any modern Germanic text into their updated runic equivalents

Bonus

If the project exceeds 100,000 EUR in backing, a runic alphabet app will be commissioned for Apple iOS and Android (made available for free through their app stores).