Rune poems are proverbial mnemonic kennings 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. Note that the singularis term "rune poem" is a bit anachronistic, as there exist several variations of the Icelandic, and Swedish poems, etc.
The Icelandic and Norwegian poems list 16 Younger Futhark runes, while the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem lists 29 Anglo-Saxon runes. 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.Lapidge (2007:25–26). The Swedish poems features some clear neologisms for later sound developments, like replacing os ("inlet") with oos ("fumes") for the o-rune ᚯ, as the primary sound for o in Middle Norse became instead of .
Old English Rune Poem
The Old English Rune Poem as recorded was likely composed in the 7th centuryVan Kirk Dobbie (1965:XLIX). 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.Van Kirk Dobbie (1965:XLVI). 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.
George Hickes' record of the poem may deviate from the original manuscript. 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. 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. A second copper plate appears across the foot of the page and contains two more runes: stan and gar.
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.
Old Icelandic Rune Poem The Icelandic Rune Poem is recorded in four Arnamagnæan manuscripts, the oldest of the four dating from around 1500. 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.Nordic Medieval Runes In early runology it is referred to as "divided into three" (, Early Modern Swedish: tridelorne, ).
The Icelandic Rune Poem is not standardised, and the two earliest records, AM 687 d 4° () and AM 461 12° (), showcase differences from one another. Other variations have also been documented later on, and Olaus Verelius showcased some short-form variants in 1675, similar in length to the Swedish rune poems. Jón Ólafsson of Grunnavík recorded a form in 1732, attributed to either Magnus Olafsson () or a Sveinn a Barði, with Latin translations.
AM 687 d 4° The oldest recorded Icelandic rune poem is found in the manuscript AM 687 d 4° (). This it is the most popular basis for modern normalizations of the Icelandic rune poem. However, AM 687d 4° is damaged and impossible to make out at parts, leaving some bits as guesswork which varies between sources. Especially ᚿ Nauð (n), ᛆ Ár (a), ᛒ Bjarkan (b) and ᛦ Ýr (ʀ) are effected. British historian and runologist R. I. Page discussed this in detail in his publication "The Icelandic rune poem" (1999).
R. I. Page transcribed AM 687 d 4° (hereafter = A), text: f. Iv, 11. 1-16. (Plate 1), as the following. He gives the following notes for the transcription:Abbreviated words/syllables are rendered in italic (which cannot be more than a general indication since the scribe was inconsistent in writing out the forms of some endings). Letters and groups which the scribe omitted in error or through lack of space are supplied within angled brackets < >. Letter sequences that cannot now be identified are inserted, for convenience of reading, within square brackets [ ], on the evidence either of the available space or of related texts. Such added readings have, of course, little authority for the A version of the poem. The convention [....] indicates that the reading cannot be supplied with any conviction, and merely suggests very roughly how many graphs are lost. It is not always easy to distinguish certain spelling conventions in the manuscript - whether u or v, d or d is intended, for instance. In such cases I have perhaps rather arbitrarily chosen one graph or the other. It is sometimes hard to determine whether the scribe intended a space between adjacent words or not, and again my practice here is inevitably arbitrary. Stops (raised points, colons) are not always easy to distinguish from chance marks on the parchment surface. Rune forms are here given their conventional transliterations in bold characters.
+ AM 687 d 4° () transcribed by R. I. Page # Rune Poem Kenning 1 ᚠ f er frænda rog ok flædar viti ok g[ra]fseids gata Aurum fy<l>ker 2 ᚢ u er skygia gratur ok skæra þuer[rir ok] hirdis hatr Vmbre • Visi 3 ᚦ þ er kuenna kuǫl ok kleita ibui ok [..]lrunar veʀ Sat[ur]nus. þeingill 4 ᚮ o er alldingautr ok asg[ar]dz iof[ur ok v]alhallar visi Jupi[ter] Oddviti 5 ᚱ r er sitiandi sela ok snudig ferd ok iors erfidi Ite<r> • Ræsir 6 ᚴ k er barna baul ok bardagi ok h[o]ldfuahus. Flag[...] [k]ongur 7 ᚼ h er kallda [k]orn ok knap[a dri]fa ok snaka sott. G[ran]do Hilldingr 8 ᚿ n er þyiar þra [ok........] kost[r] ok v[o]ssamlig verk. Opera Niflungr 9 ᛁ i er aʀ baur[k]r [ok un]nar þ[e] kia ok feigra manna far. Gl[a]cies jofur 10 ᛆ a er gumna g[.]d[. ...........]ok d[a]ladreyri. Annus Allvalldr 11 ᛋ s er s[k]yia skiolldr [ok sk]inandi raudull ok isa alldrtregi. Rota: Siklin<gr> 12 ᛚ l [er] vellanda va[..] ok [..]dr ket[i]ll ok glaummunga grandi. Iacus Lofd<ungr> 13 ᛒ b er[..................]ok litid tre ok u[.]gsamligr uidr Abies. Budlungr 14 ᛘ m er manns g[a]man ok molldar auki ok skipa skreytir. Homo Milldingr 15 ᛐ t er [ein]hendr [a]s ok vlfsleifar ok hofa hilmir. Mars • Tiggi 16 ᛦ y er ben[....................]otgiarnt jarn Arcus ynglingr
A variation of the Icelandic rune poem is shown below, with English translation side-by-side from Dickins (1915),Dickins (1915:28–33) with slight corrections. Red markers indicates guesswork or other alterations from R. I. Page's transcription above.
# Rune Name Old Icelandic English 1 ᚠ Fé (livestock, loose wealth, gold) Fé er frænda róg ok flæðar viti ok grafseiðs gata Wealth = source of discord among kinsmen and beacon of the flow (river) and path of the serpent. 2 ᚢ Úr (bad precepitation) Úr er skýja grátr ok skára þverrir ok hirðis hatr. Bad precepitation = lamentation of the clouds and ruin of the hay-harvest and the shepherd's hatred . 3 ᚦ Þurs (giant, troll, demon) Þurs er kvenna kvöl ok kletta búi ok rúnar verr. Giant = torture of women and dweller of cliffs and husband of a giantess. 4 ᚬ Óss (Æsir) Óss er aldingautr ok ásgarðs jöfurr, ok valhallar vísi. Æsir = Elder Gautr and head of Asgard and lord of Valhall. 5 ᚱ Reið (ride, riding) Reið er sitjandi sæla ok snúðig ferð ok jórs erfiði. Riding = joy of the mounted (the horsemen) and speedy journey and toil of the steed. 6 ᚴ Kaun (ulcer) Kaun er barna böl ok bardaga [för] ok holdfúa hús. Ulcer = children's woe and painful spot and abode of mortification. 7 ᚼ Hagall (hail) Hagall er kaldakorn ok krapadrífa ok snáka sótt. Hail = cold grain and shower of sleet and sickness of serpents. 8 ᚾ Nauð (need, distress, constraint) Nauð er Þýjar þrá kostr ok vássamlig verk. Constraint = grief of the bond-maid and state of oppression and toilsome work. 9 ᛁ Íss (ice) Íss er árbörkr ok unnar þak ok feigra manna fár. Ice = bark of rivers and roof of the wave and destruction of the doomed. 10 ᛅ Ár (year = yearly harvest) Ár er gumna
Plenty = boon to men and good summer and thriving crops. 11 ᛋ Sól (sun) Sól er skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok ísa aldrtregi. Sun = shield of the clouds and shining ray and destroyer of ice. 12 ᛏ Týr (Tyr Týr er einhendr áss ok ulfs leifar ok hofa hilmir. Tyr = god with one hand and leavings of the wolf and prince of temples. 13 ᛒ Bjarkan (birch) Bjarkan er ok lítit tré ok ungsamligr viðr. Birch = leafy twig and little tree and fresh young shrub. 14 ᛘ Maðr (man) Maðr er manns gaman ok moldar auki ok skipa skreytir. Man = delight of man and augmentation of the earth and adorner of ships. 15 ᛚ Lögr (whelving water body) Lögr er vellanda va ok ðr ketill ok glömmungr grund. Whelving water body = welling water (eddying stream) and wide kettle (pool) and land of the fish. 16 ᛦ Ýr (yew) Ýr er ben otgjarnt járn Yew = bent bow and brittle iron and giant of the arrow.
Old Norwegian Rune Poem The Norwegian Rune Poem was preserved in a 17th-century copy of a destroyed 13th-century manuscript.Lapidge (2007:25). 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.Acker (1998:52–53).
Swedish Rune Poem There are multiple recorded Swedish rune poems, all of which are short rune kennings. Some appears to be later Medieval creations pertaining to sound changes, while others show archaic features of unknown older descent. A select few are cognate to the Norwegian and Icelandic poems, and some others appear regional. Some of the kennings are classic proverbs or riddles, thus appearing standalone in other material as well. The poem for ᛁ is ("ice") is a common proverb or riddle, stating that "the ice is the broadest bridge". The poem for ᚾ nödh ("need, distress, constraint") is found as a proverb in the 14th century: nødh ær iw enga koster ("need is of no choice"), i.e. when forced, you only have one choice, later appearing in the 17th century as: noͤdhen aͤr eenda kost ("need is the only choice").
The earliest recorded poem was done rather unknowingly by Johannes Bureus in 1599, simply listing them as "signific" in Latin.Bureus: Runakänslånäs lärä_spån (1599) An incomplete alternative collection was recorded in a letter by in 1600c:File:Brief van Nicolaus Andreas Granius aan Bonaventura Vulcanius (1538-1614), VUL 106 1.pdf (although not published until 1908), and a supplemented third version, more similar to the Bureus collection, was published by Georg Stiernhielm in 1685. Various anachronistic forms are also recorded by Olaus Verelius in 1675, found scattered alongside some equivalent short forms of the Icelandic poems. Olof Rudbeck the Elder published further recorded forms in his work (1698), which also included poems recorded by Ole Worm in Danicorum Monumentorum (1643), Bureus, and Verelius etc. He cites his new poems from "a Teten", "Professor " (1643–1702), "Adjunct Johannes Andreae Murich" (1651–1679), and "" (1670–1697) and "" (1618–1671).