Dwarf Runes

Dwarfs use runes for the written word when using their own language although they tend to use a modified human script when writing in the common tongue. However, it is a matter of dwarfish pride ( never to be underestimated) to write in Dwarfish and so examples of the lingua franca are few and far between. The runes used are so similar to the human FUTHARK system as to warrant no differentiation and the image above sets out those runes of the FUTHARK style.

Why FUTHARK? The answer is pretty obvious: it is the sound made by the first six symbols of the alphabet.

Try cutting your own FUTHARK runes using this little App.

There are some good examples of use of dwarfish runes extant in literature although one of the most well known is that from the chronicler and scholar JRR Tolkein an image of which is included below.

The Runes from Balin's Tomb in Moria.