Ive been working on the dragon language written on the Alduin figurine, which I cross-referenced with the dragon language script on an E3 display (its the same text). So, in the last couple of hours Ive come up with something of a translation and Im now able to read and write (not understand) the dragon language runes with minimal errors (go me). Without more of the dragon language I cannot, for the life of me, figure out an English translation. Your feedback would be appreciated because no one, as far as I can tell, has gotten this far with a translation (I even checked the wikipedias) :brokencomputer:

NOTES: Sovngarde is a place, a fortress I think, and I found reference on the net to a Hall of Valor or Sovngarde being a Hall of Valor like Valhalla. Heim is foreign for home. Kiin is child and refers to born of, so Im assuming Kriin is a term with similar meaning and Ive put in the term hero to bring it into context. Nal of course is by. Ahrk is and. Dah is push so I put an ing on the end because the dragon language use is more complicated. I have other reasons for my choices but I wont go into my line of thought. None of the other words yielded anything in my dictionaries. I wracked my brain on every language I know and even tried a google search for good measure. Brom is interesting because he's the teacher in Eragon - a dragon themed book and movie. Strun means storm.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragon_Language

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragon_Alphabet

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Bloodmoon:Sovngarde,_a_Reexamination

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1199345-deciphering-the-dragon-word-wall-at-e3/page__p__17845699#entry17845699

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8613775/Draconic/Skyrim%20E3%20draconic%20writing_2.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpqlvtZsmQ1qkf4s8o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1313566193&Signature=2Fi1kqKUmzzNYuI5Q8xUSZcmIrY%3D

Special thanks to BootySweat for his contributions.

Dragon Language Translators: BootySweat, Kicenna, axsntch, and Thadeus.

I think that means something along the lines of The dragon born is coming or being sent home to the hall of valor. Dunno what that would mean though.

Sovngarde is the Nordic idea of the afterlife, where warriors who died in battle go to drink for eternity.

Nice work, Thadeus!

is there a wiki or shared lexicon for the words we know so far from the GI puzzle and the names of shouts?

Im beginning to suspect that the Dragon Language is not a functional language. It has spoken components but from the look of it, the structure is ambiguous and I cannot see a succinct framework capable of establishing core semantic meaning in extended diction - meaning it sounds like barbarian speech. Its like it was thrown together over the weekend. I hope Im wrong about this, I was actually really interested in learning to speak it like people speak Elven from J.R.Tolkein's Lord of the Rings :banghead:

If anyone has found any new dragon language screenshots or other instances of dragon language runes in the game could you please post them here? The more there is to go off the easier it will be to figure out. Right now Im stuck.

Two months ago, I posted a topic http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1199345-deciphering-the-dragon-word-wall-at-e3/page__p__17845699#entry17845699 on what I had figured out while trying to decode the E3 wall. I might have been the first to put two and two together about Sovngarde, but other than that, I haven't been able to figure much else out (I've been too busy).

EDIT: I've also noticed that the bonus disc in this http://levelupnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/skyrim_collectors_edition_pc.jpg of the collector's edition has dragon language on it too. Can anyone make it out? I can't see enough of the detail to decide what each of the letters are, but the number of characters in clumpings looks like its almost the "Dovahkiin Dovahkiin" poem/song.

I never even knew about the Game Informer puzzle, I just did it then after finding it with google, whats funny is that there is a translation listed in the link if you scroll down.


Its translated on the links listed in the OP. But the Alduin Figurine (also the E3 Wall) dragon writing is what there is no translation for - thats what Ive been working on.

There was an interview how they had already made upndifferent tenses and stuff but finally had to take a lot of stuff out again bwcause it was getting way too complicated and horribly difficult translating it.
Still better than WORMGOD WORMGOD WORMGOD

I believe your conversion of the runes to their alphabetic counterparts is incorrect in part. Good try though. As more words become available the rest will make sense.

Thanks for the info to those who helped. If there is any more ideas about a more accurate translation, please let me know.

Interesting, though it really does make me wonder if the dragon language is functional in-lore. I mean, we know they can use shouts with it, and from the music we know it can be sung. But can dragons actually hold meaningful conversation with it?

Nice! I now have high hopes Shor has something to do with the MQ

Is it me or is the chanting from the VGA's/Hotel video the same as above? I may be just me :shrug:

Some new info from Hunting Wolf on the shouts used in the QuakeCon demo:

I read in the PS magazine that Storm Call was "Strun Bah Qo" - perhaps PS magazine got the "Qo" mixed up with an "Ao"

Hah! And I was thinking Strun meant Beast. Thanks a tonne buddy!

Is anyone else contemplating translating every Word Wall each time you find one in the game (hopefully they don't all say the same thing) as part of the role-playing experience?

Not just the word of power, of course, but the entire wall, or any other sample of dragon language discovered in-game.

I am. That's why I learnt to decipher the dragon runes and its really easy - takes seconds. But deciphering them and understanding the words is a big gap - impossible without help.

Thank you both, this is wonderful. I know you'll have a lot of help translating, Thadeus. I don't know how good I'll be at it but I'll try to help when I can tear myself away from playing the game!

:tes:

My plan of attack is to look at the writing in the game in ruins and write down the symbols. Then translate them on the page checking against the alphabet with any I am unsure of. Some symbols are rather similar and hard to figure out when they are damaged.

Todd did say that stories and histories will be written in the dragon language throughout Skyrim - this could shed light on some of the mysteries about Alduin and what is really going on. Like secret information obtainable no other way.

What system are you playing on and can you get screenshots? We'll all be traveling around in different areas and I (and others) can share screenshots with you since I'm on PC.

I can take clear screenshots even though I'll be using a 360. What drives me to do this is the lure of lore about the Dovahkiin that may not be found anywhere else. It makes sense to reward those who seek to plunder the game for every secret it has... and the Todd did make a promise.

I'll be happy to share whatever I find. I'm still learning the lore and Skyrim will be filled with many secrets that need to be discovered and brought together. I know it will be a rewarding undertaking. Will you share what the Todd promised? If I knew, I don't recall and we haven't heard enough from him lately.

:tes:

I hope the Alduin statue is as nice as they say.... 150 is steep but I just couldn't resist... I too want to know the secret of the glyphs!

The Todd said in an interview that the walls of Skyrim would bear stories written in the dragon language that can be translated - He spoke of the depth and detail they are putting into the game as well. So, that would mean the dragon language is supposed to be mostly decipherable.

A very impressive and informative thread Thadeus :wink_smile:

Apparently, "Klo" is "Sand" not "Send" - per Hunting Wolf