Lore:Dragon Alphabet

The Dragon Alphabet is the alphabet used for the Dragon Language. Text written in the Dragon Alphabet is found on walls in ancient dungeons and on burial grounds in the form of Word Walls. The alphabet consists of 34 symbols: 25 that map directly to letters in the Latin alphabet, and nine that represent pairs of letters. There is a symbol for every letter in the Latin alphabet.

The shape of the letters is constrained by their need to be written using three large talons and a vestigial fourth digit called the dewclaw. Thus, all of the character symbols consist of a maximum of three scratches occasionally punctuated with a dot from the dewclaw.

A	AA	AH	B	D	E	EI	EY	F	G	H	I	II	IR	J	K	L
A	1	4	B	D	E	2	9	F	G	H	I	3	7	J	K	L
M	N	O	OO	P	Q	R	S	T	U	UU	UR	V	W	X	Y	Z
M	N	O	8	P	Q	R	S	T	U	5	6	V	W	X	Y	Z

The letter "C" does not usually appear, due to the fact that the letter is unused in the Dragon Language. See Legends Card Packs below for details. The character "0" is a part of the Dragon Alphabet Font. It goes unused as there is no associated letter.

C	"0"
C	0

Examples

Song of the Dragonborn

The first text in the Dragon Alphabet appeared in a Game Informer post about their February 2011 edition, along with a post about translating the cover. The original article contained the following samples of Dragon text:

Dragon alphabet	Latin alphabet	Translation
DOV4K3N DOV4K3N	DOVahKiiN DOVahKiiN	Dragonborn Dragonborn
N1L OK ZIN LOS V4R3N	NaaL OK ZIN LOS VahRiiN	By his honor is sworn
W4 D2N VOKUL M4FAER1K 4ST V1L	Wah DeiN VOKUL MahFAERaaK ahST VaaL	To keep evil forever at bay
4RK FIN NOROK P1L GR1N	ahRK FIN NOROK PaaL GRaaN	And the fiercest foes rout
FOD NUST HON ZINDRO Z1N	FOD NUST HON ZINDRO ZaaN	When they hear triumph's shout
DOV4K3N F4 HIN KOG1N MU DR1L	DOVahKiiN Fah HIN KOGaaN MU DRaaL	Dragonborn for your blessing we pray
4RK FIN KEL LOST PROD4	ahRK FIN KEL LOST PRODah	And the scrolls have foretold
DO VED V3NG KO FIN KR4	DO VED ViiNG KO FIN KRah	Of black wings in the cold
TOL FOD Z9M4 WIN K2N M9Z FUND2N	TOL FOD ZeyMah WIN KeiN MeyZ FUNDeiN	That when brothers wage war come unfurled
ALDUIN F9N DO JUN	ALDUIN FeyN DO JUN	Alduin bane of kings
KRUZ3K VOKUN ST1DNAU	KRUZiiK VOKUN STaaDNAU	Ancient shadow unbound
VOTH 1N B4LOK W4 D3VON FIN L2N	VOTH aaN BahLOK Wah DiiVON FIN LeiN	With a hunger to swallow the world

Coincidentally, this poem is also the song that is heard throughout the game when the player enters combat with a dragon or if the player lets the game run on the main menu without selecting an option.

Originally known as "Dragon Poem", it was revealed through the in-game book Songs of Skyrim that this is only a portion of a longer work. Loading Screen text name the work Song of the Dragonborn. The full version, in both English and the Dragon Tongue, can be found in Songs of Skyrim.

E3 Word Wall

The Word Wall at E3 2011

At E3 2011, Bethesda's booth displayed a Word Wall (right) which contained the following sample of Dragon text:

Dragon alphabet	Latin alphabet	Translation
4RK OND DR9	ahRK OND DRey	And lo, did
S4ROT	SahROT	Mighty
H2MVERLUND	HeiMVERLUND	Heimverlund
M9Z NOL HEVNO	MeyZ NOL HEVNO	come from the brutal
BROM MED STRUN	BROM MED STRUN	North, like a storm
DO UZN4G1R	DO UZNahGaaR	Of unbridled
N4KR3N NOL	NahKRiiN NOL	Vengeance from
SOVNGARDE	SOVNGARDE	Sovngarde
NIM1R	NIMaaR	Itself

• "Sovngarde" is the Nordic idea of the afterlife, a part of Aetherius.
• The same text appears on the dragon wall statue included with the collector's edition of the game.
• This is also the text for the first Word Wall for the shout Storm Call.

Dragonstone

Dragonstone

A Dragonstone found in Bleak Falls Barrow has the following inscription:

Dragon alphabet	Latin alphabet	Translation
HET NOK UN	HET NOK UN	Here lie our
MAHL1N DROGGE	MAHLaaN DROGGE	Fallen lords
ER2 SUL9K SE	ERei SULeyK SE	Until power of
ALDUIN VOKR3	ALDUIN VOKRii	Alduin revives

Legends Card Packs

Skyrim Legendary card pack

Heroes of Skyrim Legendary card packs in The Elder Scrolls: Legends feature the Dragon Alphabet, but it is used to replace English characters rather than words in the Dragon Language. Legendary packs display the following phrases:

Dragon alphabet	Latin alphabet
WALK IN THE PA OF THE LEGENDS	WALK IN THE PA[TH] OF THE LEGENDS
UNLEASH THE STRENGTH OF LEGENDS AND CONQUER ALL	UNLEASH THE STRENGTH OF LEGENDS AND CONQUER ALL
THE POWER OF LEGENDS AWAITS YOU	THE POWER OF LEGENDS AWAITS YOU

This is the only instance of the letter "C" in the Dragon Alphabet.

Dragon Alphabet Font

A Dragon font containing all known characters is available for download.

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.