THE ANGLO-SAXON RUNE POEM…
The following text is a translation of the Anglo-Saxon rune
poem. It gives interpretations of 29
runes of the Anglo-Saxon Futhork. The
name for the AS rune row is ‘Futhork’ as opposed the Elder Futhark
because the sound value of the runes is slightly different despite the fact
that the first 24 staves of the Futhork correspond exactly with the Elder
Futhark. The ‘As’/‘Ansuz’ rune of the
Elder is the ‘Os’ rune of the AS.
There are several runic alphabets with slight variations in
sounds/runes and rune order. The main
ones contain anything from 16 to 33 runes.
f
(Feoh) Wealth is a comfort to all men;
yet must every man bestow it freely,
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of
the Lord.
u
(
it is a very savage beast and fights with
its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a
creature of mettle.
T
(Thorn) is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,
uncommonly severe
on all who sit among them.
o
(Os) God is the source of all language,
a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise
men,
a blessing and a joy to every knight.
r
(Rad) Riding seems easy to every warrior
while he is indoors
and very courageous to him who traverses
the high-roads
on the back of a stout horse.
c
(Ken) Torch is known to every living man
by its pale, bright flame;
it always burns where princes sit within.
g
(Gyfu) Gift brings credit and honour,
which support one's dignity;
it furnishes help and subsistence
to all broken men who are devoid of aught
else.
w
(Wynn) Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering,
sorrow nor anxiety,
and has prosperity and happiness and a
good enough house.
h
(Hagal) Hail is the whitest of grain; it
is whirled from the vault of heaven
and is tossed about by gusts of wind and
then it melts into water.
n
(Nyd) Need is oppressive to the heart;
yet often it proves a source of help and
salvation
to the children of men, to everyone who
heeds it betimes.
i
(Is) Ice is very cold and immeasurably
slippery;
it glistens as clear as glass and most
like to gems;
it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair
to look upon.
j
(Ger) Year is a joy to men, when God, the
holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining
fruits
for rich and poor alike.
I
(Eoh) Yew is a tree with rough bark,
hard and fast in the earth, supported by
its roots,
a guardian of flame and a joy upon an
estate.
p
(Peorth) Lot-box is a source of
recreation and amusement to the great,
where warriors sit blithely together in
the banqueting-hall.
z
(Eolh-secg) 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.
s
(Sigel) Sun is ever a joy in the hopes of
seafarers
when they journey away over the fishes' bath,
until the courser of the deep bears them
to land.
t
(Tir) is a guiding star; well does it
keep faith with princes;
it is ever on its course over the mists
of night and never fails.
b
(Beorc) Birch bears no fruit; yet without
seed it brings forth suckers,
for it is generated from its leaves.
Splendid are its branches and gloriously
adorned
its lofty crown which reaches to the
skies.
e
(Eh) Horse is a joy to princes in the
presence of warriors.
A steed in the pride of its hoofs,
when rich men on horseback bandy words
about it;
and it is ever a source of comfort to the
restless.
m
(Man) is dear to his kinsmen;
yet every man is doomed to fail his
fellow,
since the Lord by his decree will commit the
vile carrion to the earth.
l
(Lagu) Sea seems interminable to men,
if they venture on the rolling bark
and the waves of the sea terrify them
and the courser of the deep heed not its
bridle.
N
(Ing) was first seen by men among the
East-Danes,
till, followed by his chariot,
he departed eastwards over the waves.
So the Heardingas named the hero.
E
(Ethel) Estate is dear to every man,
if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant
prosperity.
d
(Dag) Day, the glorious light of the
Creator, is sent by the Lord;
it is beloved of men, a source of hope
and happiness to rich and poor,
and of service to all.
a
(Ac) Oak fattens the flesh of pigs for
the children of men.
Often it traverses the gannet's bath,
and the ocean proves whether the oak
keeps faith
in honourable fashion.
A
(Aesc) Ash is exceedingly high and
precious to men.
With its sturdy trunk it offers a
stubborn resistance,
though attacked by many a man.
y
(Yr) Bow 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.
j
(Iar) Serpent is a river fish and yet it
always feeds on land;
it has a fair abode encompassed by water,
where it lives in happiness.
q
(Ear) Dust 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.
Read about Asatru and
Heathenry