Runic Alphabet

Since the first entry in the series, the Ultima games made use of the Runic Alphabet on its maps and in game manuals (see especially The Book of Mystic Wisdom from Ultima IV).

History
The runic alphabet is based on the Germanic / Norse runic alphabet. Throughout the ages, the alphabet has taken on new letters and experienced subtle changes to the shape of the existing ones. Most notably, the original alphabet had no equivalent to 'Q' and 'V' shared the same letter as 'U'. Additionally, the runic alphabet sports several special characters that represent very common two-letter combinations.

After first being encountered on maps, in was in Ultima IV where runic first became critically important, as the shrines only relayed the true axiom of Infinity in runic. Beginning with Ultima V, this alphabet was also frequently seen on signs, in books, etc. For example, the words of power were only revealed in runic and one important message from the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom had to be manually translated. Also, the Book of Lore mentioned that by that time runic was already more common in the countryside than in cities.

The runic alphabet, after being very common and Ultima VI, slowly began to wane in the time of Ultima VII and Ultima VII Part Two. In The Book of Fellowship Batlin claimed that it was slowly being replaced by the latin alphabet. While the replacement was clearly not complete in Britannia, by the time of the Avatar's arrival, the Fellowship was never seen using the runic alphabet and Batlin was dismissive of it, calling it "an antiquated style of operation".

The Translation spell found on Serpent Isle did translate both these runes and the ancient Ophidian writings. Runic's use was common on Serpent Isle in the settlements of the new colonists, but not in the ruins of the Ophidians, who had developed their own alphabet.

By Ultima IX, the runic alphabet could only be seen on the town maps and it was stated that its usage has been reduced significantly. Neverthless, all official documents were still written in runic, as noted in the Journal.

Trivia

 * Runic Magic in the got its name from the use of runic letters etched onto the stones that are used for casting, each letter representing one word of power, with the exception of XEN and ZU missing.
 * Even though runic has been used since Ultima I, was the first game to be shipped with a translation guide.
 * Runic was also known to the Zealans of Pagan, as Bentic describes it as "Archaic Alphabet". How they acquired it is not explained.
 * Translating runic in is necessary to solve the final puzzle of the game. This also applies to, as the Words of Power are only given in runic.
 * Runic is also found in the spellbooks in and . Spell scrolls found on the Serpent Isle, however, use the Ophidian Alphabet.
 * Runic was at first used on Ultima Online maps, but the obscure alphabet was abandoned in later installments.