--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "gunnerwold <gunnerwold@...>"
<gunnerwold@...> wrote:

> I noticed how they spelled
> konungr something like kunugr, like the way you spell akantiuR

with

> no n before the k. Whats the reason? Is n just a later Norse thing?
>

Hi!

Because there weren't as many runes as sounds in the language, one
rune can often be read in several different ways. The g in "konungr"
is therefore spelled k. For some reason an n-rune is usually not
written before the k-rune (this seems to be a general rule, although
there are exceptions). Therefore a k-rune can be read k, n, nk or
ng. Likewise the t-rune can be read t, d, nt or nd. Which makes
reading runes really hard...

The exact reason why the n is not written is hard to find -- don't
know if anybody really knows, but runic inscriptions (especially the
old ones, in stone) tend to be as economic as possible.

Chris