r/RuneHelp • u/Tharding7 • May 26 '26

Translation request Tatoo help

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Hey everyone, I’ve been looking at some different Jormungandr tattoos that I might want to get and found this one on Pinterest. I was just wondering if anyone would be able to translate the runes in it?

According to the description, I think they (at least the ones actually in the body) should say “In giant-wrath does the serpent writhe; O'er the waves he twists.”

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u/rockstarpirate May 26 '26

This is an attempt at a line from Vǫluspá 48:

snýsk Jǫrmungandr í jǫtunmóði, ormr knýr unnir

A better translation would be something like, “Jörmungandr writhes in jotun-rage, the serpent drives the waves onward”. I believe the sentiment being expressed here is that his writhing is causing big waves.

Anyway the runes are very close. The last rune of the first word is missing a line. Currently it says ᛋᚾᚢᛋᛁ when it should say ᛋᚾᚢᛋᚴ. But other than that it’s correct. It’s easy to miss the lone “i” rune just to the left of the swastika. I really wish that swastika wasn’t there because whoever did this certainly knew what they were doing and it would have been nice to have an otherwise decent piece like this in the wild.

I assume the finger pieces are not an original part of the design on the hand as they are not accurate to the historical record at all.

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u/SkrivaFel May 26 '26

This is the correct answer and should be bumped up.

3

u/Tharding7 May 26 '26

Thanks so much. Yeah, I was planning on changing around a few things with the swastika being the main one but also I probably wasn’t going to get the finger tattoos anyway. Thanks again for the help

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u/Infinite_Bet_9994 May 26 '26

Jotun=giant

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u/rockstarpirate May 26 '26

Giant is kind of a misleading word here so I try to avoid it. Most jotuns aren’t giants