Rune poem

The rune poems list the letters of a runic alphabet with a short verse characterizing each one. Three different rune poems have been preserved, an Icelandic, a Norwegian and an Anglo-Saxon one. The Icelandic and Norwegian poems both give the order of the sixteen runes of the Younger Futhark,

ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚬ ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛅ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ ᛦ,

with slightly differing letter names, while the Anglo-Saxon poem (Cotton Otho B.x.165) has

ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ ᚱ ᚳ ᚷ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛝ ᛟ ᛞ ᚪ ᚫ ᚣ ᛡ ᛠ,

i.e. 29 runes, with an order clearly related to the Scandinavian ones, but with some runes having variant shapes to the Younger Futhark, some taken from the Elder Futhark, and some that have no Scandinavian counterpart at all.

There is also a list of rune names in the Abecedarium Nordmannicum, a 9th century manuscript, though it is debatable whether it can be called a poem.

Runes

Fé

• Norwegian. Fe, Icelandic. Fé, Old English Feoh ᚠ "wealth"

The word fé for wealth is cognate to English fee and originally meant "cattle" (German Vieh, Sanskrit paśu)...

Ur

• Norwegian: Ur ᚢ "dross"
• Icelandic: Úr ᚢ "rain"
• Old English: Ur ᚢ "aurochs"

The name of the rune was preserved, but associated with different meanings. The name of Gothic 𐌿 u is urus.

Þurs

• Norwegian Thurs ᚦ "giant"
• Icelandic Þursi ᚦ "giant"
• Old English Þorn ᚦ "thorn"

The only rune to have permanently entered the Latin alphabet, Þ, for the writing of Old English and Icelandic. It was introduced to Icelandic orthography in the 12th century work The First Grammatical Treatise (see Icelandic alphabet).

As

• Norwegian Óss ᚬ "estuary"
• Icelandic Ás "one of the Aesir, Odin"
• Old English Os ᚩ "mouth"
• Old EnglishÆsc ᚫ "ash": one of the additional runes, with both shape and sound similar to the Elder Futhark As rune.

Reidh

• Norwegian Reidh, Icelandic Reið, Old English Rad ᚱ "ride, journey"

Kaun

• Icelandic/Norwegian Kaun ᚴ "ulcer"
• Old English Cen ᚳ "torch"

Similar to the case of Ur, the rune kept its name in Old English, but with a different meaning associated with it.

Hagall

• Icelandic/Norwegian Hagall ᚼ "hail"
• Old English Hægl ᚻ "hail"

The shape of the Old English rune is closer to the Old Futhark ᚺ.

Naud

• Icelandic Naud, Norwegian Naudhr, Old English Nyd ᚾ "need"

Is

• Icelandic Iss, Norwegian Isa, Old English Is ᛁ "ice

Ar

• Icelandic Ár, Nord. Ar ᛅ "boon, plenty"
• Old English Jara ᛅ "harvest" (sometimes "year")

Ár means Year. In Edda it also means Early.

Sol

• Icelandic Sól, Norwegian Sol, Old English Sigel ᛋ "Sun"

See Sol.

Tyr

• Icelandic/Norwegian Tyr ᛏ
• Old English Tiw ᛏ "Tiw"

Bjarken

• Icelandic/Norwegian Bjarken/Bjarkan ᛒ "birch"
• Old English Beorc ᛒ "birch" ("poplar"?)

Madr

• Icelandic/Norwegian Maður/Madhr ᛘ "man"
• Old English Mann ᛗ "man"

Logr

• Icelandic Lögr ᛚ "waterfall"
• Norwegian Logr ᛚ "water"
• Old English Lagu ᛚ "ocean"

The three names have similar meanings. The corresponding Gothic letter 𐌻 l is called lagus.

Yr

• Icelandic/Norwegian Yr ᛦ "yew"

C. f. Old English Yr ᚣ: one of the additional runes, with the shape a variant of Scandinavian Ur.

There is an Old English rune whose name means "yew": ᛇ Eoh. It is taken from the Old Futhark, and neither its shape nor its sound is related to the Scandinavian Yr rune.

The Yr rune ᛦ is a modification of the Algiz rune ᛉ, originally from the Proto-Germanic terminal -z, Proto-Norse and Old Norse terminal -R, and eventually -y (see Algiz).

Anglo-Saxon

While the Younger Futhark has reduced the original inventory of 24 runes, the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc has expanded it: to 29 runes in the rune poem, and later to a total of 33.

The fact that some Anglo-Saxon runes were given names of trees (ᛇ Eoh "yew", ᚪ Ac "oak", ᚫ Æsc "ash", c. f. also AS thorn vs. Norse thurs) may be related to Ogham signs, all of which are named after trees.

Gyfu, Wynn

• ᚷ Gyfu "gift"

The rune appears in the Elder Futhark with the same shape. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌲 g, called giba.

• {{runic|ᚹ}) Wynn "joy"

Also taken from the Elder Futhark. Corresponds to Gothic 𐍅 w winja.

Ger, Eoh, Peordh, Eolh

• ᛄ Ger "summer"

Ger corresponds to ᛃ "jera" of the Elder Futhark. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌾 j, named jer.

• ᛇ Eoh "yew" (see Yr above, Gothic 𐌴 e aiƕus)
• ᛈ Peorð

Also in the Elder Futhark. The meaning of the name is unclear, and apparently related to 𐍀 p pairþra of the Gothic alphabet. It is glossed as:

Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter / wlancum [on middum], ðar wigan sittaþ / on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.

"Peorð is a source of recreation and amusement to the great, where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall."

Etymologically possible, although not very credible, is a meaning "fart" (interpreting the verse in the sense that farts arouse merriment in the banquet hall). A more likely meaning (or at least a modern equivalent closer to the anglo-saxon)for peorth is 'game counter' (meaning chess piece), stemming from the anglo saxon tradition of bonding through drinking and gaming.

• ᛉ Eolh a sedge.

Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne / wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme / blode breneð beorna gehwylcne / ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.

"The Elk-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh; it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound, covering with blood every warrior who touches it."

In both shape and position, the rune corresponds to Elder Futhark ᛉ "algiz". The rune is a special case insofar that the reconstructed name is not acrophonic, because the sound expressed by it in the Old Futhark only appears terminally: continuing Proto-Germanic -z, it is transliterated as Proto-Norse -R, becoming Old Norse -r. For this reason, the rune became superfluous and was dropped in the Younger Futhark, while it was assigned a new sound value in Anglo-Saxon.

Eh

• ᛖ Eh "horse"

Also in the Older Futhark.

Ing, Ethel, Daeg

• ᛝ Ing

Corresponds to Elder Futhark ᛜ "ingwaz".

• ᛟ Eþel "estate"

Appears as the final rune (after ᛞ) in the Elder Futhark. Gothic 𐍉 o oþal.

ᛞ Daeg "day"

Also in the Elder Futhark. Gothic 𐌳 d dags.

Ac, Æsc, Yr, Ior, Ear

Five additional runes expressing Anglo-Saxon vowels:

• ᚪ Ac "oak"
• ᚫ Æsc "ash" (C. f. As above)
• ᚣ Yr

See also Yr above.

Yr byþ æþelinga and eorla gehwæs / wyn and wyrþmynd, byþ on wicge fæger / fæstlic on færelde, fyrdgeatewa sum.

"Yr is a source of joy and honour to every prince and knight; it looks well on a horse and is a reliable equipment for a journey."

• ᛡ Ior Possibly a form of fish; Also has been translated as Serpent.

Iar byþ eafix and ðeah a bruceþ / fodres on foldan, hafaþ fægerne eard / wætre beworpen, ðær he wynnum leofaþ.

"Iar is a river fish and yet it always / feeds on land; it has a fair abode / encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness."

• ᛠ Ear "grave"

ᛠ Ear byþ egle eorla gehwylcun, / ðonn[e] fæstlice flæsc onginneþ, / hraw colian, hrusan ceosan / blac to gebeddan; bleda gedreosaþ,/ wynna gewitaþ, wera geswicaþ.

" The grave is horrible to every knight, / when the corpse quickly begins to cool / and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth. / Prosperity declines, happiness passes away / and covenants are broken."

Abecedarium Nordmannicum

A short poem found in the Codex Sangallensis 878, kept in the St. Gallen abbey, probably originating in Fulda, written down in the 9th century.

Feu forman / Ur after / Thuris thriten stabu / Os ist imo oboro / Rat end os uuritan / Chaon thanne / Hagal / Naut habet / Is / Ar / endi Sol / [Tiu] / Brica / endi Man midi / Lagu the leohto / Yr al bihabet

See also

• Runic alphabet
• Gothic alphabet
• Solomon and Saturn
• Briatharogaim
• Runic divination

External links

• Rune Poems from "Runic and Heroic Poems" by Bruce Dickins
• The Old English Rune Poem
• Rune-Net