Rune poem
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Contains special characters Template:Wikisource/outer core{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|showblankpositional=1|unknown=|1|2|3|diagnose|has|italic|italics|lang|nocat|position|title|wislink|works|wslink}} Template:Wikisource/outer core{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|showblankpositional=1|unknown=|1|2|3|diagnose|has|italic|italics|lang|nocat|position|title|wislink|works|wslink}} Rune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Four different poems from before the mid-20th century have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, the Icelandic Rune Poem and the Swedish Rune Poem.
The Icelandic and Norwegian poems list 16 Younger Futhark runes, while the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem lists 29 Anglo-Saxon runes.Template:Citation needed Each poem differs in poetic verse, but they contain numerous parallels between one another. Further, the poems provide references to figures from Norse and Anglo-Saxon paganism, the latter included alongside Christian references. A list of rune names is also recorded in the Abecedarium Nordmannicum, a 9th-century manuscript, but whether this can be called a poem or not is a matter of some debate.
The rune poems have been theorized as having been mnemonic devices that allowed the user to remember the order and names of each letter of the alphabet and may have been a catalog of important cultural information, memorably arranged; comparable with the Old English sayings, Gnomic poetry, and Old Norse poetry of wisdom and learning.<ref name=LAPIDGE25-26>Lapidge (2007:25–26).</ref>
Rune poems
English
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Old English Rune Poem as recorded was likely composed in the 7th century<ref name=VANKIRKXLIX>Van Kirk Dobbie (1965:XLIX).</ref> and was preserved in the 10th-century manuscript Cotton Otho B.x, fol. 165a – 165b, housed at the Cotton library in London, England. In 1731, the manuscript was lost with numerous other manuscripts in a fire at the Cotton library.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI>Van Kirk Dobbie (1965:XLVI).</ref> However, the poem had been copied by George Hickes in 1705 and his copy has formed the basis of all later editions of the poems.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/>
George Hickes' record of the poem may deviate from the original manuscript.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/> Hickes recorded the poem in prose, divided the prose into 29 stanzas, and placed a copper plate engraved with runic characters on the left-hand margin so that each rune stands immediately in front of the stanza where it belongs.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/> For five of the runes (wen, hægl, nyd, eoh, and Ing) Hickes gives variant forms and two more runes are given at the foot of the column; cweorð and an unnamed rune (calc) which are not handled in the poem itself.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/> A second copper plate appears across the foot of the page and contains two more runes: stan and gar.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/>
Van Kirk Dobbie states that this apparatus is not likely to have been present in the original text of the Cotton manuscript and states that it's possible that the original Anglo-Saxon rune poem manuscript would have appeared similar in arrangement of runes and texts to that of the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems.<ref name=VANKIRKXLVI/>
Norwegian
The Norwegian Rune Poem was preserved in a 17th-century copy of a destroyed 13th-century manuscript.<ref name=LAPIDGE25>Lapidge (2007:25).</ref> The Norwegian Rune Poem is preserved in skaldic metre, featuring the first line exhibiting a "(rune name)(copula) X" pattern, followed by a second rhyming line providing information somehow relating to its subject.<ref name=ACKER52-52>Acker (1998:52–53).</ref>
Icelandic
The Icelandic Rune Poem is recorded in four Arnamagnæan manuscripts, the oldest of the four dating from the late 15th century.<ref name=LAPIDGE25/> The Icelandic Rune Poem has been called the most systemized of the rune poems (including the Abecedarium Nordmannicum) and has been compared to the ljóðaháttr verse form.<ref name=ACKER52-52/><ref>Nordic Medieval Runes</ref>
The Icelandic rune poem is shown below with English translation side-by-side from Dickins:<ref name="DICKINS28-33">Dickins (1915:28–33)</ref>
| # | rune | name | Old Icelandic | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ᚠ | Fé | <poem>
Fé er frænda róg ok flæðar viti ok grafseiðs gata</poem> |
<poem>
Wealth = source of discord among kinsmen and fire of the sea and path of the serpent.</poem> |
| 2 | ᚢ | Úr | <poem>
Úr er skýja grátr ok skára þverrir ok hirðis hatr.</poem> |
<poem>
Shower = lamentation of the clouds and ruin of the hay-harvest and abomination of the shepherd.</poem> |
| 3 | ᚦ | Þurs | <poem>
Þurs er kvenna kvöl ok kletta búi ok varðrúnar verr.</poem> |
<poem>
Giant = torture of women and cliff-dweller and husband of a giantess.</poem> |
| 4 | ᚬ | Óss | <poem>
Óss er aldingautr ok ásgarðs jöfurr, ok valhallar vísi.</poem> |
<poem>
God = aged Gautr and prince of Ásgarðr and lord of Valhalla.</poem> |
| 5 | ᚱ | Reið | <poem>
Reið er sitjandi sæla ok snúðig ferð ok jórs erfiði.</poem> |
<poem>
Riding = joy of the horsemen and speedy journey and toil of the steed.</poem> |
| 6 | ᚴ | Kaun | <poem>
Kaun er barna böl ok bardaga [för] ok holdfúa hús.</poem> |
<poem>
Ulcer = disease fatal to children and painful spot and abode of mortification.</poem> |
| 7 | ᚼ | Hagall | <poem>
Hagall er kaldakorn ok krapadrífa ok snáka sótt.</poem> |
<poem>
Hail = cold grain and shower of sleet and sickness of serpents.</poem> |
| 8 | ᚾ | Nauð | <poem>
Nauð er Þýjar þrá ok þungr kostr ok vássamlig verk.</poem> |
<poem>
Constraint = grief of the bond-maid and state of oppression and toilsome work.</poem> |
| 9 | ᛁ | Íss | <poem>
Íss er árbörkr ok unnar þak ok feigra manna fár.</poem> |
<poem>
Ice = bark of rivers and roof of the wave and destruction of the doomed.</poem> |
| 10 | ᛅ | Ár | <poem>
Ár er gumna góði ok gott sumar algróinn akr.</poem> |
<poem>
Plenty = boon to men and good summer and thriving crops.</poem> |
| 11 | ᛋ | Sól | <poem>
Sól er skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok ísa aldrtregi.</poem> |
<poem>
Sun = shield of the clouds and shining ray and destroyer of ice.</poem> |
| 12 | ᛏ | Týr | <poem>
Týr er einhendr áss ok ulfs leifar ok hofa hilmir.</poem> |
<poem>
Týr = god with one hand and leavings of the wolf and prince of temples.</poem> |
| 13 | ᛒ | Bjarkan | <poem>
Bjarkan er laufgat lim ok lítit tré ok ungsamligr viðr.</poem> |
<poem>
Birch = leafy twig and little tree and fresh young shrub.</poem> |
| 14 | ᛘ | Maðr | <poem>
Maðr er manns gaman ok moldar auki ok skipa skreytir.</poem> |
<poem>
Man = delight of man and augmentation of the earth and adorner of ships.</poem> |
| 15 | ᛚ | Lögr | <poem>
Lögr er vellanda vatn ok viðr ketill ok glömmungr grund.</poem> |
<poem>
Water = eddying stream and broad geysir and land of the fish.</poem> |
| 16 | ᛦ | Ýr | <poem>
Ýr er bendr bogi ok brotgjarnt járn ok fífu fárbauti.</poem> |
<poem>
Yew = bent bow and brittle iron and giant of the arrow.</poem> |
Swedish
The Old Swedish rune poem is possibly the youngest of the four, first being recorded in a letter in the year 1600, but not published until 1908.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The text may be corrupt and it has received relatively little attention from runologists.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The runes are in a different order, and a couple are missing:
| # | rune | name | Old Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ᚠ | Faͤ | Faͤ frande ro | Cattle, kinsmen's calm |
| 2 | ᚢ | Ŭr | Ŭr vaͤder vaͤrst | Shower, worst weather |
| 3 | ᚦ | Tors | Tors qŭinne qŭāl | Giant, woman's pain |
| 4 | ᚬ | Ōs | Ōs i hvario å | River-mouth in every river |
| 5 | ᚱ | Ridher | Ridher haͤstespraͤng | Rider, horse's toil |
| 6 | ᚴ | Koͤn | Koͤn i koͤte vaͤrst | Ulcer (?), worst in the flesh |
| 7 | ᚼ | Hagaller | Hagaller i bo baͤst | Hail, best in home |
| 8 | ᚾ | Noͤdh | Noͤdh aͤr enda kŭst | Need is only choice |
| 9 | ᛁ | Īs | Īs bro bredast | Ice, broadest bridge |
| 10 | ᛏ | Tȳr | Tȳr i vatŭm ledast /
Tȳra vaͤtten ledast |
Tyr [a name], worst in water (or worst of wights) |
| 11 | ᛅ | År | År i bladhe vidast | (Good) year, of leaf widest |
| 12 | ᛒ | Bioͤrka | bioͤrkahult groͤnast | Birch-wood greenest |
| 13 | ᛋ | Sōl | sōl i himbla hoͤgast | Sun, in sky highest |
| 14 | ᛚ | Lagh | Lagh aͤr Landsens aͤra | Law is land's honour |
The text was originally sent to Bonaventura Vulcanius by a Swedish student, who claimed to have ”learned it from the old rustics” (a senibus rusticis didici). It was first published in 1908 by Philipp Christiaan Molhuysen, using roughly the above orthography. A modern edition was published in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Abecedarium Nordmannicum
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Recorded in the 9th century, the Abecedarium Nordmannicum is the earliest known catalog of Norse rune names, though it does not contain definitions, is partly in Continental Germanic and also contains an amount of distinctive Anglo-Saxon rune types.<ref name=PAGE66>Page (1999:660).</ref> The text is recorded in Codex Sangallensis 878,<ref name=ACKER52-52/> kept in the St. Gallen abbey, and may originate from Fulda, Germany.Template:Cn
The Rune Poem Puzzle from the Old Bø Church
In the Old Bø Church in Telemark a 12th century runic inscription is preserved which uses kennings for runes very similar to the rune poems.<ref>R. Øystein (2014). Telemarks historie før 1814</ref><ref>R.I. Page (1999). The Icelandic rune-poem</ref><ref>K. Püttsepp (2003). Kjærlighet på pinne - Vertshusinnskrifter fra norske middelalderbyer</ref><ref>J.E. Knirk (2017). Love and Eroticism in Medieval Norwegian Runic Inscriptions</ref> Reading the lines from the bottom up and resolving the kennings one gets the name of the woman with whom the rune-carver was in love.
| Original runes | Normalization | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| <poem>
Template:Lang </poem> |
<poem>
Template:Lang </poem> |
<poem>
Template:Lang </poem> |
Resolving the kennings the reader gets the following runes:
- ᚴ k (kaun ‘boil, ulcer’ = sickness of children)
- ᚢ u (úrr ‘drizzle’ = hatred of workmen)
- ᚦ þ (þurs ‘troll’ = dweller in the mountain)
- ᚱ r (reið ‘chariot, wagon’ = toil of the horse)
- ᚢ u (= harm of the hay)
- ᚿ n (nauðr ‘need, famine’ = misfortune of the slave)
Together they spell out the name Gudrun.
See also
Notes
References
- Template:Aut (1998). Revising Oral Theory: Formulaic Composition in Old English and Old Icelandic Verse. Routledge. Template:ISBN
- Template:Aut (1915). Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples. Cambridge University Press. (Internet Archive)
- Template:Aut (Editor) (2007). Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge University Press. Template:ISBN
- Template:Aut (1999). An Introduction to English Runes. Boydell Press. Template:ISBN
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Aut (1942). The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems. Columbia University Press Template:ISBN
- The Rune Poem (Old English), ed. and tr. Template:Aut, Poems of Wisdom and Learning in Old English. Cambridge, 1976: 80–5.
- Template:Aut et al. (eds.) Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project, (Madison, WI: Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, 2019-). Online edition of the Old English Rune Poem, annotated and linked to digital facsimile of its first transcription, with a modern translation.
External links
- Rune Poems from "Runic and Heroic Poems" by Bruce Dickins
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