![]() While there have been instances of inverted Valknuts on ancient artifacts throughout history, there was never believed to be any significance to the symbol or any alternative meaning derived from being depicted in an upside down fashion, however many runes in Ancient Norse alphabets have different meanings when they are inverted, often being associated with bad luck or curses. History shows that the Valknut's true meaning has been interpreted in many different ways, but many associate the three interlocking triangles with a devotion to Odin and many also believe that the Valkyries would search for the Valknut on fallen viking warriors so they would know who to guide into Valhalla. In the character screen, the Skills tab is labeled with an upside down (or inverted) Valknut. For a more proper representation of the Ancient Norse language, it would be more appropriate to translate the text into proto-Germanic and use the runic font to spell out the ancient text and then fade it into English. The way the alphabet is used in-game is essentially like a "secret language" that can be translated with a "decoder ring" of sorts. ![]() This isn't exactly the most proper use of the language because ancient Vikings had their own unique language that was comprised of different runic alphabets throughout history. However, the runic text displayed is simply an appropriation of the Elder Runes in substitution of the English letters. As such, I wanted to address a few concerns I have with some of the symbolism and how the runic language is used in Valheim in hopes that the developers will see it and mayhaps make corrections to as to properly represent ancient Norse culture.įirstly, whenever the player reads a runestone, it displays the text in a variation of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet and then fades into English so it is actually readable by the player. Hail and well met! I wouldn't go as far to consider myself an expert on Norse culture, but after discovering my Scandinavian heritage a couple years ago, I would say I know a thing or two about a thing or two. ![]()
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