The Old English Rune Poem

Feoh byþ frofur fira gehwylcum; sceal ðeah manna gehwylc miclun hyt dælan gif he wile for drihtne domes hleotan.

Wealth is a comfort to everyone; yet every person must share it out freely, if they wish to be granted glory before the Lord.

The moralising second half is characteristic: the poem repeatedly turns a rune name into a Christian lesson.

Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned, felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.

The aurochs is fierce and huge-horned, a very savage beast; it fights with its horns, a famous moor-stalker: that is a bold creature.

Ðorn byþ ðearle scearp; ðegna gehwylcum anfeng ys yfyl, ungemetum reþe manna gehwelcum, ðe him mid resteð.

The thorn is extremely sharp; for every warrior it is an evil thing to grasp, immeasurably cruel to anyone who rests among them.

The Old English poem understands this rune as "thorn". The Norwegian and Icelandic poems understand the same rune as þurs, "giant". Both traditions are old, and neither is a corruption of the other.

Os byþ ordfruma ælere spræce, wisdomes wraþu ond witena frofur and eorla gehwam eadnys ond tohiht.

The mouth is the origin of all speech, the support of wisdom and a comfort to the wise, and to every noble a blessing and a hope.

Here os is Latin ōs, "mouth": a learned reinterpretation of the inherited name *ansuz, "a god". The stanza is evidence for Christian-era wordplay, not for the rune's original meaning.

Rad byþ on recyde rinca gehwylcum sefte ond swiþhwæt, ðamðe sitteþ on ufan meare mægenheardum ofer milpaþas.

Riding is easy for any warrior indoors, and very strenuous for the one who sits astride a powerful horse out on the long roads.

Cen byþ cwicera gehwam, cuþ on fyre blac ond beorhtlic, byrneþ oftust ðær hi æþelingas inne restaþ.

The torch is known to all living things by its flame, pale and bright; it burns most often where noble folk are resting indoors.

Gyfu gumena byþ gleng and herenys, wraþu and wyrþscype and wræcna gehwam ar and ætwist, ðe byþ oþra leas.

Generosity is, among people, an ornament and a praise, a support and an honour; and to every exile it is help and sustenance when they have nothing else.

Wenne bruceþ, ðe can weana lyt sares and sorge and him sylfa hæfþ blæd and blysse and eac byrga geniht.

Joy is enjoyed by the one who knows few troubles, pain or sorrow, and who has for themselves prosperity and happiness, and the plenty of a stronghold besides.

The verse has wenne, not the nominative wynn: brūcan governs the genitive, so the name stands here in an oblique case, with e for y. Same word inflected, not a different name.

Hægl byþ hwitust corna; hwyrft hit of heofones lyfte, wealcaþ hit windes scura; weorþeþ hit to wætere syððan.

Hail is the whitest of grains; it whirls down out of the sky, gusts of wind toss it about, and afterwards it turns to water.

All three rune poems call hail a "grain". The image is shared inheritance rather than coincidence.

Nyd byþ nearu on breostan; weorþeþ hi þeah oft niþa bearnum to helpe and to hæle gehwæþre, gif hi his hlystaþ æror.

Need is constricting on the chest; yet for the children of men it often becomes both a help and a healing, if they heed it in time.

Is byþ ofereald, ungemetum slidor, glisnaþ glæshluttur gimmum gelicust, flor forste geworuht, fæger ansyne.

Ice is very cold, immeasurably slippery; it glitters glass-clear, most like gems, a floor wrought by frost, fair to look upon.

Ger byþ gumena hiht, ðonne God læteþ, halig heofones cyning, hrusan syllan beorhte bleda beornum ond ðearfum.

Harvest is the hope of people, when God, the holy king of heaven, lets the earth give bright fruits to rich and needy alike.

Eoh byþ utan unsmeþe treow, heard hrusan fæst, hyrde fyres, wyrtrumun underwreþyd, wyn on eþle.

The yew is a tree rough on the outside, hard and fixed in the ground, a keeper of fire, supported by its roots, a pleasure on the estate.

"Keeper of fire" probably refers to yew being used for fuel or charcoal, though the phrase has attracted a great deal of speculative interpretation.

Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter wlancum on middum, ðær wigan sittaþ on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.

Peorð is always play and laughter among the proud, where warriors sit together happily in the beer-hall.

The stanza never says what a peorð is. The word is unknown outside this poem, which is why the rune's name is one of the standing unsolved problems in runology.

Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme, blode breneð beorna gehwylcne ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.

Elk-sedge most often has its home in the fen; it grows in the water and wounds grimly, burning with blood every person who makes any grab at it.

The Old English name refers to a sedge or reed, not to the elk itself, despite the compound. The relationship between eolh-secg and the reconstructed Elder Futhark name *algiz is disputed.

Sigel semannum symble biþ on hihte, ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ, oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande.

The sun is always a hope to seafarers, when they carry themselves over the fish's bath, until the sea-steed brings them to land.

Tir biþ tacna sum, healdeð trywa wel wiþ æþelingas; a biþ on færylde ofer nihta genipu, næfre swiceþ.

Tir is a particular sign; it keeps faith well with nobles; it is always on its course above the mists of night, and never fails.

The stanza describes something celestial that holds a fixed course (often taken as a star or constellation) while the rune name itself corresponds to the god Týr.

Beorc byþ bleda leas, bereþ efne swa ðeah tanas butan tudder, biþ on telgum wlitig, heah on helme hrysted fægere, geloden leafum, lyfte getenge.

The birch bears no fruit; even so it produces shoots without seed; it is lovely in its branches, high in its crown, finely adorned, laden with leaves, reaching towards the sky.

Eh byþ for eorlum æþelinga wyn, hors hofum wlanc, ðær him hæleþ ymbe welege on wicgum wrixlaþ spræce and biþ unstyllum æfre frofur.

The horse is, in front of nobles, the joy of princes, a steed proud in its hooves, where wealthy warriors on horseback exchange talk about it; and to the restless it is always a comfort.

Man byþ on myrgþe his magan leof: sceal þeah anra gehwylc oðrum swican, forðum drihten wyle dome sine þæt earme flæsc eorþan betæcan.

A person in happiness is dear to their kin; yet each of them must fail the other, because by his decree the Lord will commit that wretched flesh to the earth.

Lagu byþ leodum langsum geþuht, gif hi sculun neþan on nacan tealtum and hi sæyþa swyþe bregaþ and se brimhengest bridles ne gymð.

Water seems unending to people, if they must venture out in an unsteady boat, and the sea-waves terrify them badly, and the sea-steed pays no heed to its bridle.

Ing wæs ærest mid East-Denum gesewen secgun, oþ he siððan est ofer wæg gewat; wæn æfter ran; ðus Heardingas ðone hæle nemdun.

Ing was first seen by people among the East Danes, until he afterwards went east over the wave; his wagon ran behind him. That is what the Heardingas called that hero.

One of the very few places where a rune poem preserves what looks like pre-Christian legendary material.

Eþel byþ oferleof æghwylcum men, gif he mot ðær rihtes and gerysena on brucan on bolde bleadum oftast.

An ancestral home is exceedingly dear to everyone, if they may enjoy there what is right and proper, in their dwelling, usually in prosperity.

Dæg byþ drihtnes sond, deore mannum, mære metodes leoht, myrgþ and tohiht eadgum and earmum, eallum brice.

Day is the Lord's sending, dear to people, the glorious light of the Ruler, a joy and a hope to the prosperous and the poor, of use to everyone.

Ac byþ on eorþan elda bearnum flæsces fodor, fereþ gelome ofer ganotes bæþ; garsecg fandaþ hwæþer ac hæbbe æþele treowe.

The oak on land feeds the flesh of the children of men; it often travels over the gannet's bath, and the ocean tests whether the oak keeps noble faith.

The wordplay is deliberate: treow means both "tree" and "faith". Oak fed pigs on land and became ships at sea.

Æsc biþ oferheah, eldum dyre stiþ on staþule, stede rihte hylt, ðeah him feohtan on firas monige.

The ash is very tall, precious to people, firm on its base; it holds its position properly, though many attack it.

Yr byþ æþelinga and eorla gehwæs wyn and wyrþmynd, byþ on wicge fæger, fæstlic on færelde, fyrdgeatewa sum.

Yr is, to every prince and noble, a joy and an honour; it looks well on a horse, is reliable on a journey, and is a piece of war-gear.

The object is never named. A bow, or a tool for making one, is the usual guess.

Iar byþ eafix and ðeah a bruceþ fodres on foldan, hafaþ fægerne eard wætre beworpen, ðær he wynnum leofaþ.

Iar is a river-fish, and yet it always takes its food on land; it has a fair dwelling surrounded by water, where it lives in delight.

Usually taken to be an eel, a newt or a beaver. Nobody knows.

Ear byþ egle eorla gehwylcun, ðonne fæstlice flæsc onginneþ, hraw colian, hrusan ceosan blac to gebeddan; bleda gedreosaþ, wynna gewitaþ, wera geswicaþ.

The grave is horrible to every noble, when steadily the flesh, the corpse, begins to cool and to choose the pale earth as its bedfellow; fruits fall, joys depart, agreements break.