Balgruf

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1

Balgruf is a sort of old style calligraphic script.

As a typographer playing Skyrim by Bethesda I was annoyed by the font used in the books. The upper case ‘F’ seemed to have been cobbled together from other bits of the font and didn’t fit with the aesthetic of the rest of the letters in the font, it also had a right side bearing which was much too large.

As if it had been hastily made by a graphic designer with no experience in typography who was on a strict deadline.

Once you ‘see’ this mistake you cannot unsee it and it was annoying.

So the question arose, how would I have done it?

This font is the answer to that question.

Enjoy !

2

I tried the online text test using the twelve characters needed for Esperanto and I am pleased to note that they are included in the font.

ĈĉĜĝĤĥĴĵŜŝŬŭ

Ĉu neĝas? This is the Esperanto for “Is it snowing?”.

William

3

Is the name used for the font the subject of copyright?

Would you consider renaming the font and then uploading it directly to this forum please?

Although it is a very nice looking font and has great potential use, alas the name is somewhat concerning to me due to my concerns over possible copyright issues. So, for me, using it in a published PDF document is not possible at present.

I have not looked at the font yet but if it has, or has in the future, rarer characters used in medieval times, such as wynn and yogh and some not yet in Unicode but in MUFI (Medieval Unicode Font Initiative) then it could be great for transcribing documents when one wishes to have a medieval look to the document and could become extremely popular in specialist scholarly groups. It would also be helpful if the font has all of the accents for Welsh.

These comments are intended to be constructive and I hope that they help.

William

4

In Skyrim the game by Bethesda Jarl Balgruuf the Greater is the Imperial Jarl of Whiterun and resides in Dragonsreach.

Balgruf is a similar but different name but implies a connection with the game Skyrim. It has deliberately been spelled differently.

It does not contain the characters wynn and yogh but could easily be modified to have these characters.

5

William, I assume that being a member of this forum you have access to a font editor. Balgruf is licensed under the SIL Open Font License which means you can download it and edit the font as much as you want, you can add any characters you like and make any modifications you like. But if you make any modifications you should also change the name to something you like.

The download contains the .FCP files in the folder called ‘Source Code’ which can be loaded into Font Creator. :smiley:

6

Thank you. That is very kind and generous of you.

William

7

It’s not being kind, it is implicit in the license.

8

Well, is it alright with you that I do what you suggested? I am not one for exploiting loopholes, I will only do it if you are happy for me to do that.

William

9

Of course it is OK :smiley:

If I had wanted to stop people from using it as a starting point for derivative works I would have put it under a different license. Please feel free to use any of my fonts as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

And that goes for everyone else as well.

Enjoy ! :sunglasses:

10

Thank you.

William