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Elder Scrolls
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For the language used by the Dragons, see Dragon Language.

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a new language has been released; the language of the dragons. Sometimes referred to as Dragonish, the dragon tongue, or Dovah speech, this language has become rare in Tamriel since the dragon's apparent extinction. The main character of Skyrim, the Dragonborn (or Dovahkiin) will be able to learn parts of the language, using them to cast powerful spells known as shouts. Interestingly, speakers of dragon language can calm Dragonlings with it.

Alphabet

A
A
Aa
aa
Ah
ah
B
B
D
D
E
E
Ei
ei
Ey
ey
F
F
G
G
H
H
I
I
Ii
ii
Ir
ir
J
J
K
K
L
L
M
M
N
N
O
O
Oo
oo
P
P
Q
Q
R
R
S
S
T
T
U
U
Ur
ur
Uu
uu
V
V
W
W
X
X
Y
Y
Z
Z

The alphabet consists of 34 symbols: there are 25 that map directly to letters in the English alphabet, and 9 that map to pairs of letters. The Dragon language does not have "C" as that sound is created by either "S" or "K."

The shape of the letters is constrained by their need to be written using three large talons and a vestigial fourth digit called the dewclaw. Thus, each letter consists of at most three scratches and a dot.

Song of the Dragonborn translation

Song of the Dragonborn written using the Dragon Alphabet:

Dovahkiin Dragon Letters

Transliteration

DOVahKiiN DOVahKiiN
 NaaL OK ZIN LOS VahRiiN
 Wah DeiN VOKUL MahFAERaaK ahST VaaL
 ahRK FIN NOROK PaaL GRaaN
 FOD NUST HON ZINDRO ZaaN
 DOVahKiiN Fah HIN KOGaaN MU DRaaL
 
ahRK FIN KEL LOST PRODah
 DO VED ViiNG KO FIN KRah
 TOL FOD ZeyMah WIN KeiN MeyZ FUNDeiN
 ALDUIN FeyN DO JUN
 KRUZiiK VOKUN STaaDNAU
 VOTH aaN BahLOK Wah DiiVON FIN LeiN

English translation

Dragonborn Dragonborn
By his honor is sworn
To keep evil forever at bay
And the fiercest foes rout
When they hear triumph’s shout
Dragonborn for your blessing we pray

And the scrolls have foretold
Of black wings in the cold
That when brothers wage war come unfurled
Alduin, bane of kings
Ancient shadow unbound
With a hunger to swallow the world

Translated by Gameinformer[1]

Known words

Known words in the dragon language. Written using the typography above, i.e. if one dragon letter corresponds to several English, lowercase is used.

Word Transcription Translation Source
Dragon aa Dragon N aaN a [2]
Dragon ah Dragon R Dragon K ahRK and [2]
Dragon ADragon O AO Lightning in-game shout "Storm Call"
Dragon B Dragon ah Dragon L Dragon O Dragon K BahLOK hunger [2]
Dragon D Dragon ah Dah push in-game shout "Unrelenting Force"
Dragon D Dragon ei Dragon N DeiN keep [2]
Dragon D Dragon ii Dragon V Dragon O Dragon N DiiVON swallow [2]
Dragon D Dragon O DO of [2]
Dragon D Dragon O Dragon V Dragon ah DOVah dragon In-game dialogue
Dragon D Dragon O Dragon V Dragon ah Dragon K Dragon ii Dragon N DOVahKiiN dragonborn [2]
Dragon D Dragon R Dragon aa Dragon L DRaaL pray [2]
Dragon F Dragon ah Fah for [2]
Dragon F Dragon ey Dragon N FeyN bane [2]
Dragon F Dragon I Dragon N FIN the [2]
Dragon F Dragon O Dragon D FOD when [2]
Dragon F Dragon U Dragon N Dragon D Dragon ei Dragon N FUNDeiN unfurled [2]
Dragon F Dragon U Dragon S FUS force in-game shout "Unrelenting Force"
Dragon G Dragon R Dragon aa Dragon N GRaaN rout [2]
Dragon H Dragon I Dragon N HIN your [2]
Dragon H Dragon O Dragon N HON hear [2]
Dragon J Dragon U Dragon N JUN kings [2]
Dragon K Dragon ei Dragon N KeiN war [2]
Dragon K Dragon E Dragon L KEL Elder Scroll [2], In game dialoque
Dragon K Dragon O KO in [2]
Dragon K Dragon O Dragon G Dragon aa Dragon N KOGaaN blessing [2]
Dragon K Dragon R Dragon ah KRah cold [2]
Dragon K Dragon R Dragon U Dragon Z Dragon ii Dragon K KRUZiiK ancient [2]
Dragon L Dragon ei Dragon N LeiN world [2]
Dragon L Dragon O Dragon S LOS is [2]
Dragon L Dragon O Dragon S Dragon T LOST have [2]
Dragon M Dragon ah Dragon F Dragon A Dragon E Dragon R Dragon aa Dragon K MahFAERaaK forever [2]
Dragon M Dragon ey Dragon Z MeyZ come [2]
Dragon M Dragon U MU we [2]
Dragon N Dragon aa Dragon L NaaL by [2]
Dragon N Dragon O Dragon R Dragon O Dragon K NOROK fiercest [2]
Dragon N Dragon U Dragon S Dragon T NUST they [2]
Dragon O Dragon K OK his [2]
Dragon P Dragon aa Dragon L PaaL foes [2]
Dragon P Dragon R Dragon O Dragon D Dragon ah PRODah foretold [2]
Dragon R Dragon O RO balance in-game shout "Unrelenting Force"
Dragon S Dragon T Dragon aa Dragon D Dragon N Dragon A Dragon U STaaDNAU unbound [2]
Dragon T Dragon O Dragon L TOL that [2]
Dragon V Dragon aa Dragon L VaaL bay [2]
Dragon V Dragon ah Dragon R Dragon ii Dragon N VahRiiN sworn [2]
Dragon V Dragon E Dragon D VED black [2]
Dragon V Dragon ii Dragon N Dragon G ViiNG wings [2]
Dragon V Dragon O Dragon K Dragon U Dragon L VOKUL evil [2]
Dragon V Dragon O Dragon K Dragon U Dragon N VOKUN shadow [2]
Dragon V Dragon O Dragon T Dragon H VOTH with [2]
Dragon W Dragon ah Wah to [2]
Dragon W Dragon I Dragon N WIN wage [2]
Dragon Z Dragon aa Dragon N ZaaN shout [2]
Dragon Z Dragon ey Dragon M Dragon ah ZeyMah brothers [2]
Dragon Z Dragon I Dragon N ZIN honor [2]
Dragon Z Dragon I Dragon N Dragon D Dragon R Dragon O ZINDRO triumph's [2]

Font

There are three fonts based on the dragon language available for download

Dovah is here. "aa," "ah," "ei," "ey," and "ii" are not included in the font based download.

Dragon Script is here. "aa," "ei," "ii', "ah," "uu," "ur," "ir," "oo" and "ey" map to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 respectively. While the "0"(zero) key also has a character mapped to it, it is one that is not used and was discarded from the final version of the game and can be ignored. "ey" also maps to "C." You must have CAPSLOCK on to properly write with the other 25 letters. This was extracted from the game files by TheSuperNerd and is official.

Another version of the Dragon font can be downloaded here. (The Dragon Shout) It has all 34 letters (as the Dragon Script. 'aa', 'ah', 'ei', 'ey', 'ii', 'ir', 'ur', 'uu' and 'oo' are mapped to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 'C' respectively. This is different from the 'Dragon Script'. The font is now easier to look (with edited strokes and greater spaces between letters), easier to type (as pressing 2 -> 9 and C is easier than 1->9). Also, the nine special letters in Dragon Language is mapped by order (from 'a' to 'u') and you do NOT need to use CapsLock. The effect is the same, whether this is used or not.

To use the font on the wiki, see the DragonScript template.

References

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