BabelStone Anglo-Saxon Runic Fonts

These are a set of six Runic fonts that each cover the subset of 34 characters in the Unicode Runic block that are used in Frisian and Anglo-Saxon inscriptions from the 5th to 11th centuries :

• BabelStone Runic Beagnoth : A font based on the runic letterforms used on the Thames scramasax
• BabelStone Runic Beorhtric : A font based on the angular letterforms used in runic inscriptions, but with some early letterforms
• BabelStone Runic Beorhtnoth : A font based on the angular letterforms used in runic inscriptions
• BabelStone Runic Beowulf : A general purpose sans serif font
• BabelStone Runic Berhtwald : A general purpose serif font
• BabelStone Runic Byrhtferth : A font based on the rounded letterforms used in runic manuscripts

These fonts use OpenType features to implement kerning, ligatures (bind runes), mirrored glyphs for Right-to-Left contexts, and stylistic alternative glyphs, as described below.

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Download

The six fonts are available for download individually or as a single zip file:

• BabelStone Runic Beagnoth Version 1.01 [2010-01-04]
• BabelStone Runic Beorhtric Version 1.02 [2010-01-30]
• BabelStone Runic Beorhtnoth Version 1.02 [2010-01-30]
• BabelStone Runic Beowulf Version 1.01 [2010-01-04]
• BabelStone Runic Berhtwald Version 1.01 [2010-01-04]
• BabelStone Runic Byrhtferth Version 1.01 [2010-01-04]
• All Six Fonts [2010-01-30]

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Sample Images

BabelStone Runic Beagnoth at 24 points

BabelStone Runic Beorhtric at 24 points

BabelStone Runic Beorhtnoth at 24 points

BabelStone Runic Beowulf at 24 points

BabelStone Runic Berhtwald at 24 points

BabelStone Runic Byrhtferth at 24 points

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Ligatures (Bind Runes)

All fonts include a number of ligatures (bind runes) that can be activated by inserting a Zero Width Joiner character (U+200D) between the characters to be ligatured.

Example 1 : Dragon's Head Knife Mount with Cryptic Runic Inscription

Screenshot of BabelStone Runic Beowulf at 24 points

Unicode Runic Text

ᛋᛒᛖ‍ᚱᚫᛞᚻᛏᛇᛒᚳᚪᛁ ᛖ‍ᚱᚻ‍ᚪᛞ‍ᚫᛒᛋ

Note ligatured runes E/R, H/A and D/Æ

Example 2 : The Wheatley Hill Ring Inscription

Screenshot of BabelStone Runic Berhtwald at 24 points

Unicode Runic Text

[ᚻ]ᚱᛁᚾᚷᛁᚳᚻ‍ᚪᛏᛏ[ᚫ]

Note ligatured runes H/A

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Kerning

All fonts except for BabelStone Runic Berhtwald provide kerning between runes where appropriate.

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Alternate Glyphs

BabelStone Runic Beowulf and BabelStone Runic Beohtric include stylistic alternate glyphs for some characters using the OpenType salt (Stylistic Alternates) feature. Some applications may allow you to select a particular stylistic alternate glyph, but I do not have access to any such application, so I have not been able to test that this feature has been implemented correctly in my fonts.

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Mirrored Glyphs for Right-to-Left Text

Runic inscriptions mostly read left-to-right (LTR), but sometimes read right-to-left (RTL) or are sometimes written boustrophedon (left-to-right and right-to-left in alternate lines); when written right-to-left the glyphs are normally mirrored, as for example on the front of the Franks Casket shown below, where the top line is written left-to-right with normal glyphs, and the bottom line is written right-to-left with mirrored glyphs.

You can cause a stretch of Runic text to be displayed in right-to-left order by putting U+202D (LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE [RLO]) at the start of the text and putting U+202C (POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING [PDF]) at the end of the text (PDF is not required at the end of a line, as the directionality of the text is reset at a new line, but for the same reason RLO is required at the start of each line of RTL text).

The BabelStone Anglo-Saxon Runic fonts all include mirrored glyphs for use in Right-to-Left contexts. The mirrored glyphs should be applied by activating the rtlm (Right-to-left mirrored forms) OpenType feature (see discussion on "Left-to-right and right-to-left text" at Advanced Typographic Extensions - OpenType Layout) when the text is marked as RTL as descibed in the previous paragraph, but this feature appears not to be supported by Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Example of Right-to-Left Runic Text

From the Front of the Franks Casket

‮ᚹᚪᚱᚦᚷᚪ᛬ᛋᚱᛁᚳᚷᚱᚩᚱᚾᚦᚫᚱᚻᛖᚩᚾᚷᚱᛖᚢᛏᚷᛁᛋᚹᚩᛗ

<RLO> WARÞ GA:SRIC GRORN ÞÆR HE ON GREUT GISWOM <PDF>

the runes should be laid out right-to-left, but glyph-mirroring will probably not be applied

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Character Repertoire

Code Point	Character Name	Rune Name	BabelStone Runic
			Beagnoth	Beorhtric	Beorhtnoth	Beowulf	Berhtwald	Byrhtferth
16A0	RUNIC LETTER FEHU FEOH FE F	feoh	ᚠ	ᚠ	ᚠ	ᚠ	ᚠ	ᚠ
16A2	RUNIC LETTER URUZ UR U	ūr	ᚢ	ᚢ	ᚢ	ᚢ	ᚢ	ᚢ
16A3	RUNIC LETTER YR	ȳr	ᚣ	ᚣ	ᚣ	ᚣ	ᚣ	ᚣ
16A6	RUNIC LETTER THURISAZ THURS THORN	þorn	ᚦ	ᚦ	ᚦ	ᚦ	ᚦ	ᚦ
16A9	RUNIC LETTER OS O	ōs	ᚩ	ᚩ	ᚩ	ᚩ	ᚩ	ᚩ
16AA	RUNIC LETTER AC A	āc	ᚪ	ᚪ	ᚪ	ᚪ	ᚪ	ᚪ
16AB	RUNIC LETTER AESC	æsċ	ᚫ	ᚫ	ᚫ	ᚫ	ᚫ	ᚫ
16B1	RUNIC LETTER RAIDO RAD REID R	rād	ᚱ	ᚱ	ᚱ	ᚱ	ᚱ	ᚱ
16B3	RUNIC LETTER CEN	ċēn	ᚳ	ᚳ	ᚳ	ᚳ	ᚳ	ᚳ
16B7	RUNIC LETTER GEBO GYFU G	ġyfu	ᚷ	ᚷ	ᚷ	ᚷ	ᚷ	ᚷ
16B8	RUNIC LETTER GAR	gār	ᚸ	ᚸ	ᚸ	ᚸ	ᚸ	ᚸ
16B9	RUNIC LETTER WUNJO WYNN W	wyn	ᚹ	ᚹ	ᚹ	ᚹ	ᚹ	ᚹ
16BB	RUNIC LETTER HAEGL H	hæġl	ᚻ	ᚻ	ᚻ	ᚻ	ᚻ	ᚻ
16BE	RUNIC LETTER NAUDIZ NYD NAUD N	nȳd	ᚾ	ᚾ	ᚾ	ᚾ	ᚾ	ᚾ
16C1	RUNIC LETTER ISAZ IS ISS I	īs	ᛁ	ᛁ	ᛁ	ᛁ	ᛁ	ᛁ
16C4	RUNIC LETTER GER	ġēr	ᛄ	ᛄ	ᛄ	ᛄ	ᛄ	ᛄ
16C7	RUNIC LETTER IWAZ EOH	ēōh	ᛇ	ᛇ	ᛇ	ᛇ	ᛇ	ᛇ
16C8	RUNIC LETTER PERTHO PEORTH P	peorð	ᛈ	ᛈ	ᛈ	ᛈ	ᛈ	ᛈ
16C9	RUNIC LETTER ALGIZ EOLHX	eolh, eolhseċġ	ᛉ	ᛉ	ᛉ	ᛉ	ᛉ	ᛉ
16CB	RUNIC LETTER SIGEL LONG-BRANCH-SOL S	siġel	ᛋ	ᛋ	ᛋ	ᛋ	ᛋ	ᛋ
16CF	RUNIC LETTER TIWAZ TIR TYR T	tīr	ᛏ	ᛏ	ᛏ	ᛏ	ᛏ	ᛏ
16D2	RUNIC LETTER BERKANAN BEORC BJARKAN B	beorc	ᛒ	ᛒ	ᛒ	ᛒ	ᛒ	ᛒ
16D6	RUNIC LETTER EHWAZ EH E	eh, eoh	ᛖ	ᛖ	ᛖ	ᛖ	ᛖ	ᛖ
16D7	RUNIC LETTER MANNAZ MAN M	man	ᛗ	ᛗ	ᛗ	ᛗ	ᛗ	ᛗ
16DA	RUNIC LETTER LAUKAZ LAGU LOGR L	lagu	ᛚ	ᛚ	ᛚ	ᛚ	ᛚ	ᛚ
16DD	RUNIC LETTER ING	ing	ᛝ	ᛝ	ᛝ	ᛝ	ᛝ	ᛝ
16DE	RUNIC LETTER DAGAZ DAEG D	dæġ	ᛞ	ᛞ	ᛞ	ᛞ	ᛞ	ᛞ
16DF	RUNIC LETTER OTHALAN ETHEL O	ēþel	ᛟ	ᛟ	ᛟ	ᛟ	ᛟ	ᛟ
16E0	RUNIC LETTER EAR	ear	ᛠ	ᛠ	ᛠ	ᛠ	ᛠ	ᛠ
16E1	RUNIC LETTER IOR	ior	ᛡ	ᛡ	ᛡ	ᛡ	ᛡ	ᛡ
16E2	RUNIC LETTER CWEORTH	cweorð	ᛢ	ᛢ	ᛢ	ᛢ	ᛢ	ᛢ
16E3	RUNIC LETTER CALC	calc	ᛣ	ᛣ	ᛣ	ᛣ	ᛣ	ᛣ
16E4	RUNIC LETTER CEALC	cealc	ᛤ	ᛤ	ᛤ	ᛤ	ᛤ	ᛤ
16E5	RUNIC LETTER STAN	stān	ᛥ	ᛥ	ᛥ	ᛥ	ᛥ	ᛥ
16EB	RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION		᛫	᛫	᛫	᛫	᛫	᛫
16EC	RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION		᛬	᛬	᛬	᛬	᛬	᛬
16ED	RUNIC CROSS PUNCTUATION		᛭	᛭	᛭	᛭	᛭	᛭

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OpenType Features

Script	Language	Features
Runic <runr>	Default <dflt>	Glyph Composition Decomposition <ccmp>
		Kerning <kern>
		Right-To-Left Alternates <rtlm>
		Stylistic Alternates <salt>

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See Also

• BabelStone Moon Runes (an Anglo-Saxon runic font based on the moon runes on Thror's map in The Hobbit)

BabelStone Moon Runes

BabelStone Moon Runes is a Unicode Runic font based on the moon runes shown on Thror's map in The Hobbit. See Moon Runes and Goblin Alphabet for more information.

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Download

• BabelStone Moon Runes Version 1.00 [2009-01-01]
• BabelStone Moon Runes Version 1.01 [2010-01-01]

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Sample Images

BabelStone Moon Runes (24 points)

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Character Repertoire

Basic Latin [0000..007F]

U+0009		TAB
U+0020		SPACE
U+0021	!	EXCLAMATION MARK
U+0022	"	QUOTATION MARK
U+0023	#	NUMBER SIGN
U+0024	$	DOLLAR SIGN
U+0025	%	PERCENT SIGN
U+0026	&	AMPERSAND
U+0027	'	APOSTROPHE
U+0028	(	LEFT PARENTHESIS
U+0029	)	RIGHT PARENTHESIS
U+002A	*	ASTERISK
U+002B	+	PLUS SIGN
U+002C	,	COMMA
U+002D	-	HYPHEN-MINUS
U+002E	.	FULL STOP
U+002F	/	SOLIDUS
U+0030	0	DIGIT ZERO
U+0031	1	DIGIT ONE
U+0032	2	DIGIT TWO
U+0033	3	DIGIT THREE
U+0034	4	DIGIT FOUR
U+0035	5	DIGIT FIVE
U+0036	6	DIGIT SIX
U+0037	7	DIGIT SEVEN
U+0038	8	DIGIT EIGHT
U+0039	9	DIGIT NINE
U+003A	:	COLON
U+003B	;	SEMICOLON
U+003C	<	LESS-THAN SIGN
U+003D	=	EQUALS SIGN
U+003E	>	GREATER-THAN SIGN
U+003F	?	QUESTION MARK
U+0040	@	COMMERCIAL AT
U+0041	A	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A
U+0042	B	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B
U+0043	C	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C
U+0044	D	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D
U+0045	E	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E
U+0046	F	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER F
U+0047	G	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER G
U+0048	H	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER H
U+0049	I	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I
U+004A	J	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER J
U+004B	K	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K
U+004C	L	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L
U+004D	M	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M
U+004E	N	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N
U+004F	O	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O
U+0050	P	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P
U+0051	Q	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Q
U+0052	R	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R
U+0053	S	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S
U+0054	T	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T
U+0055	U	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U
U+0056	V	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V
U+0057	W	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W
U+0058	X	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X
U+0059	Y	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y
U+005A	Z	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z
U+005B	[	LEFT SQUARE BRACKET
U+005C	\	REVERSE SOLIDUS
U+005D	]	RIGHT SQUARE BRACKET
U+005E	^	CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
U+005F	_	LOW LINE
U+0060	`	GRAVE ACCENT
U+0061	a	LATIN SMALL LETTER A
U+0062	b	LATIN SMALL LETTER B
U+0063	c	LATIN SMALL LETTER C
U+0064	d	LATIN SMALL LETTER D
U+0065	e	LATIN SMALL LETTER E
U+0066	f	LATIN SMALL LETTER F
U+0067	g	LATIN SMALL LETTER G
U+0068	h	LATIN SMALL LETTER H
U+0069	i	LATIN SMALL LETTER I
U+006A	j	LATIN SMALL LETTER J
U+006B	k	LATIN SMALL LETTER K
U+006C	l	LATIN SMALL LETTER L
U+006D	m	LATIN SMALL LETTER M
U+006E	n	LATIN SMALL LETTER N
U+006F	o	LATIN SMALL LETTER O
U+0070	p	LATIN SMALL LETTER P
U+0071	q	LATIN SMALL LETTER Q
U+0072	r	LATIN SMALL LETTER R
U+0073	s	LATIN SMALL LETTER S
U+0074	t	LATIN SMALL LETTER T
U+0075	u	LATIN SMALL LETTER U
U+0076	v	LATIN SMALL LETTER V
U+0077	w	LATIN SMALL LETTER W
U+0078	x	LATIN SMALL LETTER X
U+0079	y	LATIN SMALL LETTER Y
U+007A	z	LATIN SMALL LETTER Z
U+007B	{	LEFT CURLY BRACKET
U+007C	|	VERTICAL LINE
U+007D	}	RIGHT CURLY BRACKET
U+007E	~	TILDE

Latin-1 Supplement [0080..00FF]

U+00A0		NO-BREAK SPACE
U+00B7	·	MIDDLE DOT
U+00C0	À	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH GRAVE
U+00C1	Á	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
U+00C2	Â	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00C3	Ã	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH TILDE
U+00C4	Ä	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS
U+00C5	Å	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
U+00C6	Æ	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER AE
U+00C7	Ç	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA
U+00C8	È	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH GRAVE
U+00C9	É	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH ACUTE
U+00CA	Ê	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00CB	Ë	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS
U+00CC	Ì	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH GRAVE
U+00CD	Í	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH ACUTE
U+00CE	Î	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00CF	Ï	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS
U+00D0	Ð	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER ETH
U+00D1	Ñ	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH TILDE
U+00D2	Ò	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH GRAVE
U+00D3	Ó	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH ACUTE
U+00D4	Ô	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00D5	Õ	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH TILDE
U+00D6	Ö	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS
U+00D8	Ø	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH STROKE
U+00D9	Ù	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH GRAVE
U+00DA	Ú	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH ACUTE
U+00DB	Û	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00DC	Ü	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS
U+00DE	Þ	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER THORN
U+00DF	ß	LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S
U+00DD	Ý	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE
U+00E0	à	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE
U+00E1	á	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
U+00E2	â	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00E3	ã	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH TILDE
U+00E4	ä	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS
U+00E5	å	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
U+00E6	æ	LATIN SMALL LETTER AE
U+00E7	ç	LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA
U+00E8	è	LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE
U+00E9	é	LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE
U+00EA	ê	LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00EB	ë	LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS
U+00EC	ì	LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH GRAVE
U+00ED	í	LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE
U+00EE	î	LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00EF	ï	LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS
U+00F0	ð	LATIN SMALL LETTER ETH
U+00F1	ñ	LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH TILDE
U+00F2	ò	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH GRAVE
U+00F3	ó	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE
U+00F4	ô	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00F5	õ	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH TILDE
U+00F6	ö	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS
U+00F8	ø	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH STROKE
U+00F9	ù	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH GRAVE
U+00FA	ú	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE
U+00FB	û	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX
U+00FC	ü	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS
U+00FD	ý	LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE
U+00FE	þ	LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN
U+00FF	ÿ	LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS

Runic [16A0..16FF]

U+16A0	ᚠ	RUNIC LETTER FEHU FEOH FE F
U+16A2	ᚢ	RUNIC LETTER URUZ UR U
U+16A3	ᚣ	RUNIC LETTER YR
U+16A6	ᚦ	RUNIC LETTER THURISAZ THURS THORN
U+16A9	ᚩ	RUNIC LETTER OS O
U+16AA	ᚪ	RUNIC LETTER AC A
U+16AB	ᚫ	RUNIC LETTER AESC
U+16B1	ᚱ	RUNIC LETTER RAIDO RAD REID R
U+16B3	ᚳ	RUNIC LETTER CEN
U+16B7	ᚷ	RUNIC LETTER GEBO GYFU G
U+16B8	ᚸ	RUNIC LETTER GAR
U+16B9	ᚹ	RUNIC LETTER WUNJO WYNN W
U+16BB	ᚻ	RUNIC LETTER HAEGL H
U+16BE	ᚾ	RUNIC LETTER NAUDIZ NYD NAUD N
U+16C1	ᛁ	RUNIC LETTER ISAZ IS ISS I
U+16C4	ᛄ	RUNIC LETTER GER
U+16C7	ᛇ	RUNIC LETTER IWAZ EOH
U+16C8	ᛈ	RUNIC LETTER PERTHO PEORTH P
U+16C9	ᛉ	RUNIC LETTER ALGIZ EOLHX
U+16CB	ᛋ	RUNIC LETTER SIGEL LONG-BRANCH-SOL S
U+16CF	ᛏ	RUNIC LETTER TIWAZ TIR TYR T
U+16D2	ᛒ	RUNIC LETTER BERKANAN BEORC BJARKAN B
U+16D6	ᛖ	RUNIC LETTER EHWAZ EH E
U+16D7	ᛗ	RUNIC LETTER MANNAZ MAN M
U+16DA	ᛚ	RUNIC LETTER LAUKAZ LAGU LOGR L
U+16DD	ᛝ	RUNIC LETTER ING
U+16DE	ᛞ	RUNIC LETTER DAGAZ DAEG D
U+16DF	ᛟ	RUNIC LETTER OTHALAN ETHEL O
U+16E0	ᛠ	RUNIC LETTER EAR
U+16E1	ᛡ	RUNIC LETTER IOR
U+16E2	ᛢ	RUNIC LETTER CWEORTH
U+16E3	ᛣ	RUNIC LETTER CALC
U+16E4	ᛤ	RUNIC LETTER CEALC
U+16E5	ᛥ	RUNIC LETTER STAN
U+16EB	᛫	RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION
U+16EC	᛬	RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION
U+16ED	᛭	RUNIC CROSS PUNCTUATION

General Punctuation [2000..206F]

U+200B	​	ZERO WIDTH SPACE
U+200C	‌	ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER
U+200D	‍	ZERO WIDTH JOINER

Combining Diacritical Marks for Symbols [20D0..20FF]

U+20DE

⃞

COMBINING ENCLOSING SQUARE

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OpenType Features

Script	Language	Features
Runic <runr>	Default <dflt>	Glyph Composition Decomposition <ccmp>

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See Also

• BabelStone Anglo-Saxon Runic Fonts