2001:16B8:B1F0:8F00:B882:2381:97A2:2011: /* Runic manuscripts */

2025-11-03T14:13:35Z

Runic manuscripts

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{{Short description|Medieval Danish manuscript}}
[[Image:CodexRunicus.jpeg|thumb|right|Leaf (f. 27r.) of Codex Runicus, a [[vellum]] [[manuscript]] from c. 1300 containing one of the oldest and best preserved texts of the [[Scanian Law]], written entirely in runes.]]
[[Image:CodexRunicus Dream.jpg|thumb|right|The last leaf (f. 100r) of the Codex Runicus manuscript with the oldest musical notation found in Scandinavia.]]
The '''Codex Runicus''' is a [[codex]] of 202 pages written in [[medieval runes]] around the year 1300 which includes the oldest preserved Nordic provincial law, [[Scanian Law]] (''Skånske lov'') pertaining to the [[Lands of Denmark|Danish land]] Scania ([[Skåneland]]). Codex Runicus is one of the few runic texts found on [[parchment]]. The manuscript's initials are painted various colors and the [[rubric]]s are red. Each rune corresponds to a letter of the [[Latin alphabet]].

The Codex Runicus has the [[shelfmark]] ''AM 28 8vo'' and is part of the [[Arnamagnæan Collection]] in the [[Arnamagnæan Institute]] at the [[University of Copenhagen]] in Denmark.<ref name="am28">[http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/am28.html AM 28 8vo – Codex runicus]. Scanned version of Codex Runicus. The Arnamagnæan Institute, a teaching and research institute within the Faculty of Humanities at the [[University of Copenhagen]]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991002053657/http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/am28.html |date=1999-10-02}}</ref><ref>''Det Arnamagnæanske Haandskrift No 28, 8vo: Codex Runicus''. Kommissionen for det Arnamagnæanske Legat, København: 1877.</ref>

==Runic manuscripts==
[[File:Landskabslove.png|thumb|left|400px|Prior to the adoption of the [[Danish Code]], each [[Lands of Denmark|''landskab'']] had [[Medieval Scandinavian law#Denmark|its own legal code]], except for the [[Uthlande]] (in dark gray) which followed [[Lex Frisionum|Frisian Law]].]]
The Codex Runicus is considered by most scholars a nostalgic or revivalist use of runes and not a natural step from the Nordic runic script culture of the [[Viking Age]] to the medieval Latin manuscript culture.<ref name="Fredriksen">{{Cite book |last=Frederiksen |first=Britta Olrik |editor-last=Bandle |editor-first=Oskar |contribution=The History of Old Nordic manuscripts IV: Old Danish |title=The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages |publisher=Walter De Gruyter |year=2003 |location=Berlin |pages=819–823 |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqkBXIJkkuEC |isbn =3-11-014876-5|display-editors=etal}}</ref>

A similar use of runes in a [[Scandinavia]]n manuscript from this era is known only from the small fragment ''SKB A 120'', a religious text about [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]]'s lament at the cross. The two manuscripts are similar in how the runes are formed and also in their language use, and it has therefore been suggested that they were both written by the same [[Scanian dialects|Scanian]] scribe. Some scholars argue that they were written at the scriptorium at the [[Cistercian]] monastery at [[Herrevad Abbey|Herrevad]] in Scania, although the idea is contested.<ref>Frederiksen, Britta Olrik (2003). "The History of Old Nordic manuscripts IV: Old Danish", p. 821: "Something of a similar kind is known only in the small fragment SKB A 120, and given that it stands close to AM 28 8vo in terms of the form of the runes and the language (Scanian), it has been suggested that it the two manuscripts come from the same scriptorium; it has been further suggested, on rather meager grounds, that this scriptorium may have been at the Cistercian monastery at Herrevad in Scania."</ref>

Some historians have considered it feasible that the Codex is a part and remainder of a formerly substantial collection of Scandinavian runic manuscripts, obliterated during the destruction of monasteries and libraries that followed the [[Protestant Reformation]]. Support for this idea has been found in reports written by [[Olaus Magnus]], a Catholic [[ecclesiastic]] active during the 16th century in [[Uppsala]], [[Sweden]], who fled the country due to the Reformation. According to Olaus Magnus, there were many books written with runes in important Swedish religious centres, such as [[Skara]] and [[Uppsala]], before the Reformation.<ref name="Enoksen">Enoksen, Lars Magnar. (1998). ''Runor : historia, tydning, tolkning''. Historiska Media, Falun. {{ISBN|91-88930-32-7}} p. 175</ref> Other historians have questioned the accuracy of his report.<ref name="Enoksen"/>

==Content of the Codex==
[[Image:Codex-Runicus.png|thumb|right|The sample page 27r of the Codex written with Latin letters, for the reader's convenience]]

The manuscript has three major parts: the Scanian Law (fol. 1-82), the [[Scanian_Law|Scanian Ecclesiastical Law]] (fol. 84–91), a chronicle of the early [[list of Danish monarchs|Danish monarchs]] (fol. 92-97) and a description of the Danish-Swedish border (fol. 97-100). The Scanian Ecclesiastical Law (''Skånske Kirkelov'') is a settlement detailing the administration of justice agreed upon by the [[Terra Scania|Scanians]] and the [[List of bishops of Lund|archbishop of Lund]] in the late 12th century.<ref>[[Society for Danish Language and Literature]]. [http://smn.dsl.dk/index.php?teksterid=20&side=sider&litteraturbeskrivelse=true&haandskriftid=-1&trykid=-1&tekstid=-1 Kulturhistorisk baggrund] (Cultural historic background). In Danish. Retrieved 20 February 2007</ref> The two law texts are written in the same hand, but the non-legal material of the codex, beginning on leaf 92, is believed to have been added in another hand, at a later date.<ref>[http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/kk28.html Kr. Kålund, Katalog, II, p. 344]. The Arnamagnæan Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Retrieved May 22, 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991003125530/http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/kk28.html |date=1999-10-03}}</ref> The history section consists of a fragment of a list of Danish kings and a [[chronicle]] beginning with the [[List of legendary kings of Denmark#Codex Runicus|legendary Danish king]] [[Hadingus|Hadding]]'s son [[Frotho I|Frode]] and ending with [[Eric VI of Denmark]]. Following the historical texts is a description of the oldest border between [[Sweden]] and [[Denmark]] (referred to as "the [[Daneholm]] settlement"). On the last leaf of Codex Runicus is a verse with musical notations - the first musical notations written in Scandinavia{{According to whom|date=April 2022}}. It is the earliest written evidence of secular music in Denmark, a non-rhythmic notation on a four-line staff.<ref>[http://www.denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,477981&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL The Earliest Evidences of Musical Activities]. ''Early Danish Music''. Cultural Denmark. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Retrieved 22 May 2007 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230054217/http://denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,477981&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |date=2005-12-30}}</ref>

=== Chronicles of Danish kings ===
==== Kongetal ====
{{Kings of Kongetal family tree}}
==== Runekrønike ====
{{Kings of Runekrønike family tree}}

==Transliteration==
[[Image:CodRunFuthark.jpg|thumb|The runic alphabet utilized on f. 27r and f.100r. (Medieval Runes used for c and y are added.)]][[Image:CodRun1.jpg|thumb|Transliteration of f.27 r from the first rubric.]]
Like other Scandinavian manifestations of Medieval runes, the runic alphabet of the Codex Runicus contains a sign for each [[phoneme]] of the language. A dotted variant had been introduced in order to separate voiceless k from the corresponding voiced consonant g. New runes introduced for the vowel sounds also appear in the codex.

The text on leaf 27r, from the first rubric (line 3), reads:<ref name="am28" />

<blockquote>
''Særær man annær man mæþæn kunung ær innæn lændæs bøtæ fore sar sum loh æræ :ok kunungi firitiuhu mark ok hinum ær sar fik firitiuhu mark fore friþbrut.''

[If a man wounds another man while the king is in the province he shall pay a fine for the wound in accordance with the law, and 40 marks to the king and 40 marks for breach of the peace to the one who was wounded.]
</blockquote>

The verse with the musical notations is the first two lines of the folk song ''[[Drømde mig en drøm i nat]]'' (I dreamt a dream last night), about a girl who dreams of becoming a rich woman. The melody is one that is well known to all Danes, having been used as an [[interval signal]] on [[Danmarks Radio|Danish radio]] since 1931.

The section with the verse and musical notations are on the last leaf and reads:
{{verse translation
|Drømde mik en drøm i nat,
um silki ok ærlik pæl.
|I dreamt a dream last night,
of silk and fine fur.
}}

==Notes and references==
<references />

==Further reading==
*{{cite book
| last = Brøndum-Nielsen
| first = Johannes |author2=Svend Aakjær |author3=D.J. Jørgensen
| title = Skånske lov, Danmarks gamle landskabslove, Bd. I
| publisher = København
| year = 1933
| pages = 1–199
}}

==External links==
* [https://clarino.uib.no/menota/text/menota/AM-28-8vo MENOTA Digital facsimile and diplomatic edition of Codex Runicus]
* [https://tekstnet.dk/skaanske-lov/1 Transliteration of the Codex Runicus by chapter at tekstnet.dk]
* [https://www.e-pages.dk/ku/579/ Codex Runicus at the Arnamagnæan Institute]
* [http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/audio/DromteMigEnDrom.wav Audio of ''Drømde mik en drøm i nat'' (wav file)]

[[Category:Scanian runic manuscripts]]
[[Category:14th-century books]]
[[Category:Chronicles about Denmark]]
[[Category:Law books]]
[[Category:Medieval runes]]
[[Category:14th century in Danish law]]

Codex Runicus - Revision history

2001:16B8:B1F0:8F00:B882:2381:97A2:2011: /* Runic manuscripts */