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, :
,with slightly differing letter names, while the Anglo-Saxon poem (
Cotton Otho B.x.165) has :
,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
Older 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.
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 "
iron"
*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 ? "giant"
*Old English
Þorn ᚦ
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
"ss ᚬ "estuary"
*Icelandic
"ss ᚬ "one of the
Aesir,
Odin"
*Old English
Os ᚩ "mouth"
*Old English
Æsc ᚫ "
ash": one of the additional runes, with both shape and sound similar to the
Older 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 to 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"
Sol
*Icelandic
Sól, Norwegian
Sol, Old English
Sigel ᛋ "
Sun"See
Sol (goddess).
Tyr
*Icelandic/Norwegian
Tyr ᛏ
*Old English
Tiw ᛏ "
Tiw"
Bjarken
*Icelandic/Norwegian
Bjarken/
Bjarkan ' "
birch"
*Old English
Beorc ' "birch" ("
poplar"?)
Madr
*Icelandic/Norwegian
Madr/
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 for Proto-Germanic final
z, Proto-Norse final
R, Old Norse final
r and eventually
y (see
Algiz).
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 the names of the
Ogham signs, all of which are called after trees.
Gyfu, Wynn
*ᚷ
Gyfu "gift"The rune appears in the Older Futhark with the same shape. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌲
g, called
giba.
*ᚹ
Wynn "joy" Also taken from the Older Futhark. Corresponds to Gothic 𐍅
w winja.
Ger, Eoh, Peordh, Eolh
*ᛄ
Ger "summer"
Ger corresponds to ᛃ "jera" of the Older 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 Older 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 homosocial bonding through drinking and gaming.
*ᛉ
Eolh a
sedge (
Cyperaceae).
Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne / wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme / blode breneð beorna gehwylcne / ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.:"The Eolh-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 Older 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 word-final: 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 Young Futhark, while it was assigned a new sound value in Anglo-Saxon.
This rune suffers the same translation problems of
algiz but may, like algiz, mean
Elk. Elk-Sedge may be, considering the description, a form of
sawgrass.
Eh
*ᛖ
Eh "horse"
Also in the Older Futhark.
Ing, Ethel, Daeg
*ᛝ
IngCorresponds to Older Futhark ᛜ "ingwaz".
*ᛟ
Eþel "estate"
Appears as the final rune (after ᛞ) in the Older Futhark. Gothic 𐍉
o oþal.
ᛞ
Daeg "day"
Also in the Older 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"
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*
Runic alphabet*
Gothic alphabet*
Solomon and Saturn*
Briatharogaim*http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/rune_poems.html
*http://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html
*http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/a12.html
