Junicode 2 is a major reworking of the widely used font for students and scholars of medieval Europe (though it also serves scholars in a number of other disciplines). This version continues to track the development of the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative, version 4.0, with its wealth of specialized medieval characters, but it also provides many OpenType features that allow users to access MUFI characters in accessible ways. In this new version, Junicode has become an extended font family, with five weights (Light, Regular, Medium, SemiBold, and Bold) and five widths (Condensed, SemiCondensed, Regular, SemiExpanded, and Expanded). This makes for a large number of font files (19 each for roman and italic, omitting a few unsuitable styles), but the font also comes in a variable version, in which all the capabilities—and more!—of the traditional “static” version are packaged in just two files. The variable version is especially suitable for web use, but variable fonts can also be used in Adobe InDesign, LibreOffice, LuaTeX, and other text-processing apps.

Play with the font by selecting a style from the drop-down menu below, selecting a language, and finally checking and unchecking boxes to try out a selection of the font’s many features, the effect of which will be displayed in the text box. The box is editable: type or paste in some text of your choosing to see how it looks in Junicode 2.