Norse Gods' Names: Pronunciation and Runes

A demonstration of how many of the best-known names of Norse myth would be written in the runic script that was used during the Viking Age (Younger Futhark), with authentic reconstructed medieval pronunciation.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit JacksonWCrawford.com (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: www.hackettpub...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpub...
Audiobook: www.audible.co...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.hackettpub...
Audiobook: www.audible.co...
Latest FAQs: vimeo.com/3751... (updated Nov. 2019).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit www.iseehawks.com/
Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

[@magisterwarjomaa3858]

Is there a special reason why you translitterated the final R of Baldr with the Reið rune (as opposed to Yr)?

[@JacksonCrawford]

This is a great question, and thanks to my assistant Stella for pointing me to it. Usually in Old Norse names (most male names and some female names), the -r (sometimes -n like in Óðinn) at the end is a grammatical ending rather than part of the root. This -r or -n disappears when other endings are added (so for example with the names Óðinn and Þórr, the genitive/possessive form of their names is Óðins 'Odin's' not *Óðinns and Þórs 'Thor's' not *Þórrs) and virtually all translators remove the -r or -n in English (so for example Óðinn becomes Odin, Þórr becomes Thor, Haraldr becomes Harald, Hǫðr becomes Hoth or Hod). However, uniquely in the case of Baldr, the -r is actually part of the root (the possessive form is Baldrs 'Baldr's' not *Baldrs). Now, the -r as a grammatical ending comes from a -z in Proto Germanic (you can see it as the -s at the end of nouns in Gothic, e.g. Gothic dags = Old Norse dagr, Gothic hairdeis = Norse hirðir, Gothic nauðs = Norse nauðr), and an /r/ from an old /z/ is still written differently in Younger Futhark than the original /r/: the /r/ from an old /z/ with the rune ᛦ 'ýr' and the original /r/ with the rune ᚱ 'reið.' This is why I write the -r at the end of most names with ᛦ but I write the -r at the end of Baldr with ᚱ. Another quick way to check if the -r is part of the root or not is if it's written in the Old English cognate too. Old English just drops the -z from the end of words without changing it into anything: Old Norse dagr = Old English dæg, Norse hirðir = English hirde, Norse nauðr = Old English nead, but Old Norse Baldr is cognate with Old English bealdor 'lord, prince.' If an /r/ from /r/ is followed by an /r/ from /z/, like in the name Þórr, it looks like the usual Younger Futhark rule that you never write the same sound twice ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmi9Z2hrbZeYrpY ) kicks in. For example I have seen ᚦᚢᚱ in several real inscriptions but I have never seen it written *ᚦᚢᚱᛦ. This suggests to me that by the Viking Age, the two /r/'s had actually merged in pronunciation, but the writing of some /r/'s differently was preserved by tradition (just like in English we write the words 'write' and 'right' differently even though we no longer pronounce them differently). Because the phoneme /z/ was typically only present in grammatical endings in Proto-Germanic, usually the rune ᛦ 'ýr' will only be seen in Younger Futhark at the very end of the word. However, there are a few places in Old Norse where an /s/ in a root became a /z/ and thus later an /r/ because of the sound change rule known as Verner's Law. This includes the archaic word for 'chooser,' kyrja, that appears in valkyrja 'Valkyrie,' and comes from the same root as Old Norse kjósa, English choose.

[@magisterwarjomaa3858]

@@JacksonCrawford Thank you very much for your detailed answer, Sir. I am a native speaker of Finnish and have studied the linguistic history of my language both academically and as a hobby...and also that of various Indo-European tongues, seeing that Finnish has a plethora of loanwords from Proto-Germanic, Proto-Baltic and Old (East) Norse. What about the name Óðinn, if the reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is 'Woðanaz', did they simply drop the final /z/ during the Proto-Norse period(?) without replacing it with /r/ and the word developing into something like *Óðin(n)r?

[@lajakl]

The hypothetical middle stage would be *Óðinz or something similar but the -z assimilated with the preceding /n/ giving Óðinn as the final form. The second /n/ is the remnant of the /z/. This is a general rule in Old Norse and also applies to words ending in /l/ (so Proto-Germanic *katilaz-> *ketilz (?) -> ON ketill). I actually disagree with Dr. Crawford's analysis that viking age /z/ had already merged with -r since I find it far more plausible that in words ending with /rz/ (like Þórr) the /z/ simply assimilated to the preceding /r/ much like it did to the /n/ and /l/ in those words. But I'm not a professor or an authority on that level so take it as you will.

[@PrussianJaeger]

lajakl Yea the PG /z/ had at some point between PG and ON changed to a /r/ or /ɻ/; there was still some distinction between the sounds at the time, but we aren’t sure exactly what it was. There is no -/z/ in ON, only -/r/, so the /z/ did change to /r/, not assimilate, but Mr. Crawford is saying that the two /r/‘s merged, not the /r/ and the /z/.

[@magisterwarjomaa3858]

@@PrussianJaeger Yep. I'm thinking of Old East Norse here and how it applies to loanwords into Finnish in the period of, say, 900-1200 CE. It's widely known that OEN (at least the variants/local dialects spoken in the area of modern Sweden and Gotland) apparently retained the -/z/ ending as -/s/ for quite a while. Yet, in the above-mentioned period a group of words pertaining to "viking" culture were loaned into Finnish (e.g. argR, rargR, mjekR, haukR) and these all have a simple /a/ ending in Finnish orthography/pronunciation. This fact has lead me to postulate that the final R must have been voiced akin to ʀ̥ in this period, and since the Finnish language didn't have an equivalent sound, people simply heard the phoneme as their familiar /a/ sound. If the OEN final sound had been different, let's say resembling a regular /r/, it would be reflected in Finnish, e.g. argR -> *arkari and not as 'arka'.

[@harrybailey6297]

Such a beautiful place to live your so lucky

[@user-tm5fi1tz1o]

You're *

[@andromeda7147]

Thank you so much for this video! By now it has become a kind of pet peeve of mine, seeing people write old norse things in elder futhark

[@williameichmann3037]

Every time I watch one of Dr. Crawford's videos I have the sudden realization that I''ll never have the opportunity to listen to one of his lectures in person. Feels bad, man.

[@JA_94]

In a way if you watch his videos they are a tiny lecture.

[@Luka1180]

Agreed. He should film them like some professors do and release some for free, others behind the Patreon paywall. :)

[@JellyfishButterGaming]

It would be hard to see him in person looking at a man that fine all kinds of thoughts would be messing with me lol 😅

[@MrErickloli]

Thank you Mr. Crawford. I'm glad you exist.

[@barbageddon2842]

Thank you! As always you're spectacular!

[@MidgardMusings]

Excellent! Thank you for this video.

[@shiva1x]

Once again, thanks!!! I always get confused on the A and O vowels in transliteration:(

[@chadsknnr]

Thank you

[@DanielEscovedo]

That's very interesting indeed! Dankeschön!

[@artkoenig9434]

May those beautiful places always surround you!

[@swataraSakkara]

Thanks for your work, helped me a lot.

[@sunshinesilverarrow5292]

Thank you. ☀️

[@stavroulax.1212]

Thank you really thank you

[@Osvath97]

I presume that these are Old West Norse pronunciations? It would be interesting to know about the Old East Norse pronunciations.

[@hitrapperandartistdababy]

A Wyoming Cowboy teaching me a Dane about my ancient culture. I find that quite funny! Thanks for the video :D

[@miv-7776]

My guitar teacher literally was so cool, he had long hair and was from iceland and his name is thor. It was so cool he taught us how to pronounce it in icelandic it’s so cool😭

[@robiniowoodstonewomenwitch5467]

Greetings Jackson The Norse Gods Interesting Thank You

[@nordicwoman9]

Just got my hands on one of your books, love your videos already

[@jacobbarger6088]

Dope. Thanks for that one.

[@karlmagnusson6931]

Thank you so much for this!

[@thecitizen49]

I always enjoy you videos. Dr Jackson. But I was wondering if there are any Norse saga's about the Viking settlements in Vinland?

[@stellanathaniel3198]

There's The Saga of the Greenlanders and Saga of Erik the Red (Grænlendinga Saga and Eiríks Saga Rauða)-- they should both be included in this collection, which Dr. Crawford's recommended previously in his 'Some Book Recommendations' video: www.amazon.com/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031

[@arindika1]

There are minor differences between Icelandic and Old Norse.. In particular Æsir is pronounced "Eye-sir". Æ sounds like eye. And in Icelandic, words and names like "Baldr" would be "Baldur". In fact this is a common name. We have added the letter U to the end of every word like that, that seems to end with a sudden R.

[@jessetheunicorn9960]

Your videos are very imformative btw. Do you have any scources about this material I'd like to do my own research as well.

[@voodoupanda172]

Would anyone be able to help translate 'Son of Odin' into Younger Futhark for me? This channel seems to be the only place that knows how to actually translate

[@arindika1]

WOW! As an Icelander you have a great accent when you speak Icelandic/Old Norse! Satisfying after seeing God of War butcher some of the pronunciations.

[@LeviathanSpeaks1469]

Dr. Crawford, do you know how the names of the Gods would have been pronounced when Elder Futhark was being used? I know that in the Merseburg Incantations, Baldr's name was spelled "Balder" while his father's name was spelled "Wotan"

[@BrittAnarVlogs]

Do you ever teach at UCCS? I’m an anthropology major and fascinated by linguistics

[@cookiefacestudios1793]

Might just be me because I'm not that educated into old norse, but ironically the simplified younger futhark is actually more complicated than the elder one, 1 letter = 2 letters

[@kaptenteo]

Could anyone please explain to me why the rune chosen for the 'V' in Valhall is ᚢ rather than ᚠ? They both could represent the v-sound, so I'm curious to know the reason for this choice.

[@Smedis]

While ᚠ can be pronounced both like F or like V, if it’s at the beginning of a word it’s pretty certain to be pronounced like F, not V. So it can’t be ᚠ but must be ᚢ. (This is just one reason, but is enough to be pretty certain.)

[@IcaroArthur]

Awesome!

[@FischerOratoria]

Why does "e" on Berserker becomes "o" in Freyja?

[@martinnyberg6882]

4:36 So even though the end-of-word R is written with a different symbol, the sound was a trilled *r* for both uses? When did the Z--R--r transition (from proto-germanic end-of-word to old norse end-of-word sounds) happen?

[@rivalpiper]

You forgot to explain Frigg!

[@Runic-Raven]

I guess most people use the elder Futhark because its easier to learn and IF i am correct it was still used in proto Norse? Im absolutely not sure though. Personally i think younger Futhark is much more complex to learn than elder Futhark.

[@roslynluyt7284]

Do you mean Proto germanic? It goes Proto-Indo European Language (theoretically) (PIE)> some sort of move to a more Germanic line of PIE (imo) > Proto Germanic > Northern Germanic > Old Norse split into East and West.

[@thedogdaddychannel507]

Great video is always You're sporting a pretty nice hat

[@siweaver1509]

How would you spell Vidarr in younger futark?

[@gunlawguy6112]

Anyone care to explain the "ár" and "áss" runes. Ár I thought was supposed to be the open mouthed "ah" and "áss" the rounded. Yet there seems to be absolutely no pattern. Its a little frustrating since they're supposed to represent specific sounds and yet are seemingly used at will. Thanks in advance.

[@tracyblanshard-sz6vv]

How do you pronounce brotgydja. Please

[@domdergroe4002]

Det går bra!

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

So that's how you say Belldandy

[@roninaesir]

I know I am 4 years late but how would you write Níðhöggr?

[@garudo7352]

How would Ullr be written in runes? :) Would it be ᚢᛚᛦ?

[@KimTaura]

Was there a reason why Frigg was on the screen, but not said?

[@SonnenscheinWald]

Every girl you ever taught, ever, totally had a crush on you. Believe that! 😂

[@manuelblanquet8751]

I have a question: Why ᚦᚢᚱ and not ᚦᚬᚱ?

[@dimitere1]

Hi, Manuel! Dr. Crawford explained in a previous video that the reason is that "O" is a open rounded vowel and in such cases "ᚢ" should be used.

[@adamcarey6093]

Ullr in younger Futhark?

[@wtlandry2]

How the heck is Urddarbrunnr pronounced?

[@BluetoothBerrys]

can you make a video about the alphabet and an English to Norse translation

[@Petercakes]

The Gods have surely visited you.

[@LoveSaidNo1]

Dr Crawford if you could please explain what Runes did Odin see was it the elder futhark or do we not know what he seen thank you.

[@jemadamson2715]

Th-rrrrr is a hard combo haha

[@larrycontrary7834]

Do you teach for any online universities?

[@LSDANNY7x]

❤❤❤

[@user-pm1gb2eo1s]

What in tarnation? Did you just start your video with “hi”? Listen partner, if you wanna keep that head of yours, you ain’t gonna start another video with “hi” instead of “howdy y’all”, ye get? (Great video, as always)

[@barbageddon2842]

Haha funny.

[@user-pm1gb2eo1s]

Barbara G I’m a real riot, aren’t I?

[@barbageddon2842]

@@user-pm1gb2eo1s I thought so.

[@DrevniyMonstr]

Yngvi - ᛁᚴᚢᛁ or ᚢᚴᚢᛁ?

[@robpfeifer4954]

Question: So im German and want to get rune tattoos (no im in no way shape or form a nazi/extreme right) i know we had the same gods and used runes before Christianity, im just confused which set would be appropriate .. thank you

[@stellanathaniel3198]

These videos might help (though if you're looking to use Old Norse for the base language, Younger Futhark is probably the answer): kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZvQqahtr5Vnoc0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmi9Z2hrbZeYrpY

[@juliaconnell]

I just want to say - oh this is hard, challenging to say - I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. the sins of the fathers (grandfathers, mothers, grandmothers) - should not weigh down the generations to come forevermore - (for ever more). you're not the first german person to be - sensitive - on this subject (I understand that this is part of your culture, your education - but still - the bad *and* the GOOD is part of ALL of us as human beings) you shouldn't have to justify getting rune tattoos in the context of history. my family lore is that my mother's father's ancestry is Viking/Old Norse - and that that there is Jewish ancestry on my maternal line somewhere - if this is true, if I have a drop of Jewish blood (which I believe I do, more than a drop) all I feel is love, compassion and forgiveness. WWII ended in 1945. 74 years ago. just saying, from one person to another, one human being to another, oh - run out of words - will a suffice. get the tattoo you want to express you - the real you. (sorry doesn't answer your original question, sorry!)

[@robpfeifer4954]

@@juliaconnell i really do appreciate you and the sentiment, and big hugs back to you, i just felt that given (yes the history) but also the current climate of things i had to be clear. But you are right i shouldnt have to justify it :)

[@robpfeifer4954]

@@stellanathaniel3198 thank you :)

[@mirkwoodwand]

I've got Havamal 127 tattooed on me in YF runes and the way I see it is this. I know what I'm about and what I stand for and I let my actions speak louder than my runes. If someone confronts me about it, then I actually appreciate that that person spoke up because that's what more people should do. If someone ever tried to punch me because of my rune tattoos and an assumption about what they meant, I'd probably buy that person a drink, rather than be mad about it.

[@HAYLSIES]

for myself 3:46

[@DrevniyMonstr]

Why "NiarþR" (for Njǫrðr), but not "NiurþR"? It seems, "Bjǫrn" = "Biurn"... And why "Hal" (for Hel), but not "Hil" (Like in "birsirkR")? Thank you!

[@dashfo653]

It all comes back to the Proto Norse/North Germanic vowels a and e . In the change from Proto Norse to Old Norse the vowel a was given u-umlaut to ǫ (a+u=ǫ): alu > ǫl, barnu > bǫrn, and a was given i-umlaut to e (a+i/j=e): gastiz > gestR, haljo > hel, and another change was the breaking of e to ia/ja: helpan > hjalpa(n), herton > hjarta(n). A reconstructed (Proto Norse) Njǫrðr is Nerþuz, and this name had both breaking ne- > nia- and u-umlaut nia- to njǫ- (Nerþuz > Niarþuz > Njǫrþ(u)R, latin spelling Njǫðr). I think that’s why he uses the “original” vowels -ia-. Hel is a result of i-umlaut of a: halia > hel, hence the use of “original” vowel a in “hal”. Did he mention Bjǫrn? Bjǫrn would have a similar change as Njǫrðr: (Bernuz > Biarnuz > Bjǫrn(n)), the dropping of -uz is caused by assimilation -n(u)z > -nn, hence proper (latin) spelling would be with double n Bjǫrnn, like in Óðinn from Wodanaz -n(a)z > -nn) I think “Berserkr” should also have a “barsarkR” as it has the same root as “Bjǫrn”: bjǫrn+serkr = lit. "bear-coated" (a person wearing a bear’s fur).

[@juliaconnell]

family lore is ancestry from vikings (aka old Norse) - (one of the reasons why I love this channel) - at first being a historian (by degree, not profession) I was very skeptical - but the more I learn, the more I am convinced. Berserkr - all too real for me - I *literally* saw red when I was young (others were being bullied - and my vision literally went RED)

[@whoami7566]

Trying to get them r to roll like he does and I sound like a wookie

[@Blue138UEF]

Well Runes aren't an alphabet, they weren't used for writing initially. Second of all what runic alphabet are you using? Is it Swedish/Norwegian or Danish? Because a simple Google search will show that there's several variants

[@Tina06019]

I like the way you pronounced the names with the context of stories.

[@lloydbautista2055]

I have kind of a complicated question about Beowulf. So I know that the story of Sigurd exists throughout Germanic mythology in Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon culture, which for me raises the question how likely is it that the story of Beowulf or something closely equivalent existed in Norse mythology but was never recorded?

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

I used to be in such ignorance, but the error of my ways has been corrected thanks to your channel.

[@k00091]

No more Bionicles ey?

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

Konan Gauld *bonklez

[@Luka1180]

@@LeoxandarMagnus Hau did you do that, language wizard? With a Rau?

[@JossieAyame]

Thank you for this! I love your videos with Norse pronunciations.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

I like the beard!

[@davidmoracvitanic210]

What about Níðhöggr? How spell it and what can you said about it? Greatings of chilean patagonia

[@toddrobertson8505]

You should have added how Patreon would be written in Younger Futhark.

[@DINOLOVER6717]

Wonderfully educational, except skipped Frigg 🙃

[@glitter_smack016]

Can you do a video on how to say "vǫlubrjótr" which is (from what I was told) "witch-breaker"?

[@jamessimpson9385]

Good morning Dr. Crawford. Time for breakfast.

[@juliaconnell]

well technically I suppose it's morning here - 4:38am (so 2:38am when you posted this) - hope you have a lovely, hmmm... Wednesday? (Thursday here, in New Zealand, overly hot - was hoping for rain overnight, but not to be)

[@jamessimpson9385]

@@juliaconnell hi Julia. Yep, it was 8am Wednesday morning. I'm good. You?

[@juliaconnell]

@@jamessimpson9385 morning James - *sigh* well it's now 5:07am Thursday - haven't slept - music is LOUD from next door so sleep seems a long way away (I know them - a lovely couple, jointly, both lovely people separately, reunited after some time apart so my understanding and compassion is overwhelming my impulse to tell them to.. well, lol, 'be quiet' apart from that all good. hope you have a lovely day :)

[@jamessimpson9385]

@@juliaconnell And you as well. Hope you are able to get some sleep.

[@ThanhTriet600]

I love the wacky ways anime in particular pronounces Nordic names. Like Yggdrasil = Yig-dras-y-il. And it's common for them to never pronounce the R at the end of names.

[@revarios2588]

Dr. Crawford thank you for your response to Magisters question. It took me back to a time in college when my Astronomy Professor took her class back in time to the beginning on the chalk board, through an equation. She only had to erase the board once in order to finish the equation. OMG! what an experience that was. For all I know it could have been sacred geometry. Your response was just as amazing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@stolman2197]

Thank you. And hello back from southern Utah

[@oneukum]

Are there runestones featuring the names of gods in older futhark?

[@roslynluyt7284]

Yes, but none that I know of which have the names of the Gods. Einang, Tune, Kylver,Järsberg, Stentoften.. are examples

[@runeguidance1341]

Thank you for acknowledging this! No one listens me lololol

[@arindika1]

Norn/Nornir means Witch/Witches. Draugr means Ghost. For some reason video games like to call the undead ghosts...

[@MisterTipp]

Can you do a guest lecture at Lund University? 🙃

[@SonnenscheinWald]

I'm enjoying all of the rolling Rs in this video 😁

[@p-ocote]

2:25 Since you write Huginn and Muninn with only one rune for the N. Would write the name ULLR with one L ? And would it end with reið or ýr. Not quite sure what is the root here...

[@asyafrika]

You missed Frigg! OMG.. my ocd exploded

[@user-zk5uj3wh5h]

what i dont understand is why people would want to learn icelandic and not the proper old norse.

[@juliaconnell]

umm 🖐🏽 (that's a 'hand up') (looks like a hand on twitter - more like a zombie hand here lol...) not *everyone* Dr Crawford - not everyone. some of us want to know real old Norse content in context - i.e. reality. thank you for being so generous with your time and energy for these other requests (no disrespect intended)

[@LittleImpaler]

You forgot Frigg

[@andrew199315]

Learning an old language from Scandinavia from a cowboy from USA, welcome to 2020 people.

[@TheShadowspear2]

I'm trying to learn Old Norse but what my concern is the letters and their meanings. How do I say it in a sentence with the right pronounciation? And how can I translate those words in English? For example: I walked my Dog today, it was fun. It just confuses me cause each rune has a meaning so how do I get a simple meaning from each rune that's in one word?

[@MacSherry]

Thanks so much! I was searching YT trying to find the spoken pronunciations for Norse gods when I came on your wonderful show. This happened because I could not read the names written in my new guide to the YGGDRASIL a Norse Divination book with tarot cards. I do have runes to practice writing with.

[@SuperJoss97]

Hello, I would like to know if you could help me with a project of mine. I am trying to make a chess set based on Norse Mythology characters. I was thinking about the dead from Hel as the pawns and I would like to write each character name on the piece using Younger Futhark. I was thinking about calling them Heljar-sinnar, as they are called in the 51st chapter of the Prose Edda but I don't know if that is correct and even if that is correct, I don't know how to write it in Younger Futhark. I am also having some problems in finding Younger Futhark versions of some other characters names like Gullinbursti, Sleipnir and Skoll and Hati. Thank you for your time.

[@vincegordon6830]

Well done! When I first started watching your video I thought to myself, that really looks like Sinks Canyon! Apparently I was right. 🤟🤩

[@RoGameReview]

cowboy expert in runes and norse mythology and language, what an age we love in

[@user-ob6th6yp8s]

Mjöð? ᛘᛁᚢᚦ?

[@davidborden3181]

Question about the prounciation of 'i': is it the same as in the word "in" in english when its a short vowel, or is it dependent on its position in a word? You seem to be pronouncing it this way if its in the middle of a word, but as an 'ee' sound like in "heat" elsewhere. I've noticed this in the way modern Scandinavians pronounce the Norse gods names, but I've mostly read that the reconstructed pronunciation is like the word "heat." Sidenote: Aside from using a modern Icelandic pronunciation, is there any instance of the vowel sound of the english word "hi" ever being used in Old Norse? I know both Old English and Gothic had this sound, as well as modern Scandinavian languages so I've always wondered if its possible that it was used in Old Norse. Thank you kindly sir :)

[@stellanathaniel3198]

This video might be helpful (basically, you just hold the 'ee' sound longer): kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJDdm4uQrKlnaLM

[@davidborden3181]

@@stellanathaniel3198 Yes from my understanding both "i" and accented "i" are the "ee" sound, the latter just being longer, but I've heard it pronounced, such as in this video, like the english word "in."

[@eb282]

It sounds like you are trilling both “R” types, ᚱ & ᛣ. I thought the ᛣ isn’t trilled at nominative suffix of a noun or am I incorrect?