These are a set of twelve Unicode Ogham fonts in seven font families, representing a variety of different styles of Ogham letters found in manuscripts and on Ogham stone inscriptions. These fonts do not map Ogham glyphs to Latin letters like most fonts, but use the special Ogham characters defined in the Unicode Standard (see How to Input Unicode Ogham below for more information).
| Font | Style | Description |
|---|---|---|
| BabelStone Ogham | Regular | General-purpose stemline font with manuscript-style glyph forms. |
| Italic | The same, but with directionally-angled B-series and H-series letters. | |
| BabelStone Ogham Bound | Regular | Stemline font with bind letters. |
| Italic | The same, but with directionally-angled B-series and H-series letters, and directionally-angled vowel letters. | |
| BabelStone Ogham Fixed | Regular | Monospaced stemline font. |
| BabelStone Ogham Stemless | Regular | Stemless font with dot-shaped vowel letters. |
| BabelStone Ogham Lithic | Regular | Stemline font with bold strokes and dot-shaped vowel letters, emulating the style of letters found on classic Ogham pillar stones. |
| BabelStone Ogham Pictish | Regular | Stemline font based on the styles of Ogham letters found on the Ogham stone inscriptions from the Pictish areas of Scotland (eastern coast of Scotland, Orkney Isles, and Shetland Isles). The font comprises Regular, Bold, Italic and Bold-Italic versions which are not actually bold and/or italic but have different styles of letters (bold for bind letters; italic for directionally-angled letters). This allows the user to select a different style of Ogham letters by simply changing the font style. Regular style has no bind letters, straight B-series and H-series letters, straight vowel letters. |
| Italic | No bind letters, angled B-series and H-series letters, angled vowel letters. | |
| Bold | Bind letters, straight B-series and H-series letters, straight vowel letters, X-shaped P, hammerhead A. | |
| Bold-Italic | Bind letters, angled B-series and H-series letters, angled vowel letters, X-shaped P. | |
| BabelStone Ogham Special | Regular | Same as BabelStone Ogham Pictish Regular, but has some rare glyph forms: S-shaped A, Rabbit-eared D, Diagonal I, S-shaped M-series letters, and disjoined letter Eabhadh. This font is not intended to be used on its own, but as a source of special glyph forms for certain letters when used in conjunction with BabelStone Ogham Pictish. |
Pictish Ogham inscriptions are written using a variety of styles of Ogham lettering, and many include unusual letters such as "Hammerhead A" and "Rabbit-eared D" that may be insignificant glyph variants or may indicate phonetic distinctions. Representing these Ogham texts accurately is impossible using a generic Ogham font, but by using the BabelStone Ogham Pictish and BabelStone Ogham Special fonts it is possible to render Pictish Ogham texts with glyph forms that closely match those used in the actual inscriptions. Two examples of particularly problematic Ogham texts are shown below.
Ogham inscription on the sides of a cross slab from Bressay in Shetland (BREAY/1).
Drawings by John Borland, © RCAHMS
Screenshot of text rendered using the BabelStone Ogham Pictish and BabelStone Ogham Special fonts in Internet Explorer 10 under Windows 7
Unicode text of inscription rendered using the BabelStone Ogham Pictish (Regular and Italic) and BabelStone Ogham Special fonts (using WOFF fonts if these fonts are not installed on your local machine)
᚛ᚉᚏᚏᚑᚄᚉᚉ᛬ᚅᚐᚆᚆᚈᚃᚃᚇᚇᚐᚇᚇᚄ᛬ᚇᚐᚈᚈᚏᚏ᛬ᚐᚅᚅ
ᚁᚓᚅᚅᚔᚄᚓᚄ᛬ᚋᚓᚊᚊᚇᚇᚏᚏᚖᚐᚅᚅ
CRROSCC:NAHHTVVDDA{D}{D}S:DATTRR:{A}NN[--] | BENN{I}SES:MEQQDD{RR}ÓANN[--]
The cross of Nahhtvddadds, daughter of Ann[...], and Benises, son of Droann
Ogham inscription on the surface of a slab from Lunnasting in Shetland (LTING/1).
Drawing by Ian G. Scott, © RCAHMS
Screenshot of text rendered using the BabelStone Ogham Pictish and BabelStone Ogham Special fonts in Internet Explorer 10 under Windows 7
Unicode text of inscription rendered using the BabelStone Ogham Pictish (Bold and Bold-Italic) and BabelStone Ogham Special fonts (using WOFF fonts if these fonts are not installed on your local machine)
ᚕᚈᚈᚗᚉᚒᚆᚕᚈᚈᚄ᛬ᚐᚆᚕᚆᚆᚈᚈᚐᚅᚅᚅ᛬ᚆᚉᚉᚃᚃᚓᚃᚃ᛬ᚅᚓᚆᚆᚈᚑᚅᚅ
ÉTTÚCUHÉTTS:AHÉHHTTANNN:HCCVVEVV:NEHHTON[N]
BabelStone Ogham Regular (36 points) |
BabelStone Ogham Italic (36 points) |
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BabelStone Ogham Bound Regular (36 points) |
BabelStone Ogham Bound Italic (36 points) |
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BabelStone Ogham Fixed (36 points)
BabelStone Ogham Stemless (36 points)
BabelStone Ogham Lithic (36 points)
BabelStone Ogham Pictish Regular (36 points) |
BabelStone Ogham Pictish Italic (36 points) |
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BabelStone Ogham Pictish Bold (36 points) |
BabelStone Ogham Pictish Bold Italic (36 points) |
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BabelStone Ogham Special (36 points)
The tables below render each character in the specified BabelStone Ogham font, either using the font installed on your local machine or using WOFF fonts if the font is not installed on your local machine.
| Code Point | Character Name | BabelStone Ogham | BabelStone Ogham Bound | BabelStone Ogham Fixed | BabelStone Ogham Stemless | BabelStone Ogham Lithic | BabelStone Ogham Pictish | BabelStone Ogham Special | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Italic | Regular | Italic | Regular | Italic | Bold | Bold Italic | ||||||
| U+1680 | OGHAM SPACE MARK | ||||||||||||
| U+1681 | OGHAM LETTER BEITH | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ | ᚁ |
| U+1682 | OGHAM LETTER LUIS | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ | ᚂ |
| U+1683 | OGHAM LETTER FEARN | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ | ᚃ |
| U+1684 | OGHAM LETTER SAIL | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ | ᚄ |
| U+1685 | OGHAM LETTER NION | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ | ᚅ |
| U+1686 | OGHAM LETTER UATH | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ | ᚆ |
| U+1687 | OGHAM LETTER DAIR | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ | ᚇ |
| U+1688 | OGHAM LETTER TINNE | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ | ᚈ |
| U+1689 | OGHAM LETTER COLL | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ | ᚉ |
| U+168A | OGHAM LETTER CEIRT | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ | ᚊ |
| U+168B | OGHAM LETTER MUIN | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ | ᚋ |
| U+168C | OGHAM LETTER GORT | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ | ᚌ |
| U+168D | OGHAM LETTER NGEADAL | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ | ᚍ |
| U+168E | OGHAM LETTER STRAIF | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ | ᚎ |
| U+168F | OGHAM LETTER RUIS | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ | ᚏ |
| U+1690 | OGHAM LETTER AILM | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ | ᚐ |
| U+1691 | OGHAM LETTER ONN | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ | ᚑ |
| U+1692 | OGHAM LETTER UR | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ | ᚒ |
| U+1693 | OGHAM LETTER EADHADH | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ | ᚓ |
| U+1694 | OGHAM LETTER IODHADH | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ | ᚔ |
| U+1695 | OGHAM LETTER EABHADH | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ | ᚕ |
| U+1696 | OGHAM LETTER OR | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ | ᚖ |
| U+1697 | OGHAM LETTER UILLEANN | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ | ᚗ |
| U+1698 | OGHAM LETTER IFIN | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ | ᚘ |
| U+1699 | OGHAM LETTER EAMHANCHOLL | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ | ᚙ |
| U+169A | OGHAM LETTER PEITH | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ | ᚚ |
| U+169B | OGHAM FEATHER MARK | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ | ᚛ |
| U+169C | OGHAM REVERSED FEATHER MARK | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ | ᚜ |
Runic punctuation marks are included as a couple of Ogham inscriptions from the Shetland Isles use a double-dot word separator mark under Norse Runic influence, and as the Runic punctuation marks are common to all scripts, the Runic double-dot punctuation mark (U+16EC) seems to me to be the best fit for the double-dot word separator mark used in Ogham inscriptions.
| Code Point | Character Name | BabelStone Ogham | BabelStone Ogham Bound | BabelStone Ogham Fixed | BabelStone Ogham Stemless | BabelStone Ogham Lithic | BabelStone Ogham Pictish | BabelStone Ogham Special | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Italic | Regular | Italic | Regular | Italic | Bold | Bold Italic | ||||||
| U+16EB | RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ | ᛫ |
| U+16EC | RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ | ᛬ |
| U+16ED | RUNIC CROSS PUNCTUATION | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ | ᛭ |
| Script | Language | Features | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ogham <ogam> | Default <dflt> | Glyph Composition Decomposition <ccmp>* | Used to convert ligatured double R <168F 200D 168F> (RUIS-ZWJ-RUIS) to the crosshatched double R glyph form found on some Pictish Ogham inscriptions. ᚏᚏ ⇒ ᚏᚏ |
* Tested as working under Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 10 and Notepad. This feature may not work under other operating systems and/or with other applications. Note that OpenType features do not work with the WOFF versions of the BabelStone Ogham fonts, and you will need to install the BabelStone Ogham fonts locally in order for the ligatured double R to render as expected.
| Font | Version | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.00 | 2008-05-17 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2009-12-26 | Adds support for ligatured double R (<168F ZWJ 168F>) | |
| 2.00 | 2013-06-01 | New glyphs; regular and italic styles | |
| 2.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 2.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2008-05-17 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2009-12-26 | Adds support for ligatured double R (<168F ZWJ 168F>) | |
| 2.00 | 2013-06-01 | New glyphs; regular and italic styles | |
| 2.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 2.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2008-05-17 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2009-12-26 | Adds support for ligatured double R (<168F ZWJ 168F>) | |
| 2.00 | 2013-06-01 | New glyphs | |
| 2.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 2.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2008-05-17 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2009-12-26 | Adds support for ligatured double R (<168F ZWJ 168F>) | |
| 2.00 | 2013-06-01 | New glyphs | |
| 2.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 2.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2013-06-01 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 1.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2013-06-01 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 1.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. | |
| 1.00 | 2013-06-01 | Initial release | |
| 1.01 | 2013-11-06 | Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1 | |
| 1.02/td> | 2022-03-14 | Added 'Ogam' tag for design languages and supported languages of the meta table. |
BabelStone Ogham fonts do not use map Ogham glyphs to Latin letters like most fonts, so you cannot enter Ogham text by simply typing Latin letters on your keyboard. Instead, these fonts use the special Ogham characters defined in the Unicode Standard, so you need to enter Unicode Ogham characters in order to create Ogham text to be displayed with these fonts. There are various ways to enter Unicode Ogham characters, depending on your operating system and the application you are using. Here are some suggestions for users of Microsoft Windows.
Using the built-in Windows Character Map application (under Windows Accessories in the Start menu) you can select a BabelStone Ogham font, and then select and copy the Ogham characters you want.
If you use Microsoft Word, you can insert Ogham characters from the Insert Symbol tool (on the Insert tab, click on "Symbol" then select "More Symbols...") by choosing a BabelStone Ogham font from the list of fonts.
My free BabelMap application for Windows allows you to find and select any Unicode character. Check the "Single Font" radio button, select a BabelStone Ogham font from the dropdown list of available fonts on your system, then select "Ogham" from the dropdown list of Ogham fonts.
My free BabelPad application for Windows allows you to very simply install an Ogham input method which allows you to type Ogham text using the Latin letters on your keyboard. This is my preferred tool, and if I need to put Ogham text in a Word document then I type it in BabelPad, then copy and paste to Word.
Failing all else, you can simply cut and paste Ogham characters from the table of characters shown above on this web page.
All BabelStone Ogham fonts on this page are licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which means you are free to use them for personal or commercial purposes, and to redistribute them by themselves or as part of a free or commercial software package, just as long as you do not sell the fonts on their own. The license also allows you to modify the fonts in any way you like, as long as the modified fonts do not use "BabelStone" in their name. Please read the license for details.
For use on your computer or mobile device please download and install the TTF files. The WOFF and WOFF2 files are for web use only, and are not required by most users.
