Historic Rune Poems

The Anglo Saxon Rune Poem

(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.

(Ur ) Aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.

(Thorn) is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,
uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.

(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.

(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.

(Ken) Torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;
it always burns where princes sit within.

(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.

(Wynn) Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety,
and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(Peorth) Lot-box is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,
where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(Ethel) Estate is dear to every man,
if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.

(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.

(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.

(Aesc) Ash is exceedingly high and precious to men.
With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance,
though attacked by many a man.

(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.

(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.

(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.

The Norwegian Rune Poem

Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen;
the wolf lives in the forest.

Dross comes from bad iron;
the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.

Giant causes anguish to women;
misfortune makes few men cheerful.

Estuary is the way of most journeys;
but a scabbard is of swords.

Riding is said to be the hardest for horses;
Reginn forged the finest sword.

Ulcer is fatal to children;
death makes a corpse pale.

Hail is the coldest of grain;
Christ created the world of old.

Need gives scant choice;
a naked man is chilled by the frost.

Ice we call the broad bridge;
the blind man must be led.

Harvest is a boon to men;
I say that Froði was generous.

Sun is the light of the world;
I bow to the divine decree.

Týr is a one-handed God;
often has the smith to blow.

Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;
Loki was fortunate in his deceit.

Man is an augmentation of the dust;
great is the talon-span of the hawk.

Waterfall is a River falling from a mountain;
but ornaments are of gold.

Yew is the greenest of trees in winter;
it is wont to crackle when it burns.

The Icelandic Rune Poem

(Money) is the (cause of) strife among kinsmen,
and the fire of the flood-tide
and the path of the serpent.
gold "leader of the war-band"

(Drizzle) is the weeping of clouds,
and the diminisher of the rim of ice,
and (an object for) the herdsman's hate.
shadow (shower?) "leader"

(Thurs) is the torment of women,
and the dweller in the rocks,
and the husband of Vardh-rúna (a giantess?).
Saturn "ruler of the thing"

(Ase = Ódhinn) is the olden-father,
and Ásgardhr's chieftain,
and the leader of Valhöll.
Jupiter "point-leader"

(Riding) is a blessed sitting,
and a swift journey,
and the toil of the horse.
journey "worthy man"

(Sore) is the bale of children,
and a scourge,
and the house of rotten flesh.
whip "king = descendant of good kin"

(Hail) is a cold grain,
and a shower of sleet,
and the sickness (destroyer) of snakes.
hail "battle leader"

(Need) is the grief of the bondmaid,
and a hard condition to be in,
and toilsome work.
trouble "niflungr = descendant of the dead?"

(Ice) is the rind of the river,
and the roof of the waves,
and a danger for fey men.
ice "one who wears the boar-helm"

(Good harvest) is the profit of all men,
and a good summer,
and a ripened field.
year "all-ruler"

(Sun) is the shield of the clouds,
and a shining glory,
and the life-long sorrow (=destroyer) of ice.
wheel "descendant of the victorious one"

(Tyr) is the one-handed god,
and the leavings of the wolf,
and the ruler of the temple.
Mars "director"

(Birch twig) is a leafy limb,
and a little tree,
and a youthful wood.
silver fir "protector"

(Man) is the joy of man,
and the increase of dust,
and the adornment of ships.
human "generous one"

(Wetness) is churning water,
and a wide kettle,
and the land of fish.
lake "praise-worthy one"

(Yew) is a strung bow,
and brittle iron,
and Farbauti (= a giant) of the arrow.
bow, rainbow "descendant of Yngvi"

The Abecedarium Nordmanicum

Fee (or Cattle) is first,
Ur-ox (Aurochs) after,
Thurs (Giant) the third stave,
Os (God) to the right of it,
Ride written after;
then cleave Canker (or Torch),
Hail holding
Need,
Ice,
good Year,
and Sun;
Tiw (the God Tiwaz),
Birch,
and Man in the middle,
Lake (or Water) the bright,
Yew holds All.