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Rune Pages HomeI: What Are the Runes II: A Brief History of the RunesIII: The Rune PoemsIV: The Old English Rune PoemV: Translation & Commentary of the 1st AEtt of the Rune Poem VI: Translation & Commentary of the 2nd AEtt of the Rune PoemVII: Translation & Commentary of the 3rd AEtt of the Rune PoemVIII: Translation & Commentary of the Additional Rune VersesIX: Rune MagicAppendix A: The Common Germanic or Elder FutharkAppendix B: The Old Norse or Younger FutharkAppendix C: WordhoardAppendix D: BookhoardEric Wodening's Web Site

Four rune poems survive today, each of which lists the runes and their names. The oldest of these is the Abecedarium Nordmannicum. The Abecedarium Nordmannicum is a rather strange document. It lists the sixteen runestaves of the Younger Futhark, but sometimes gives their names in High or Low German forms rather than Norse. As poetry goes Abecedarium Nordmannicum is little more than a nursery rhyme, a work somewhat more in line with our modern "Alphabet Song" than the other rune poems.  And though it only lists the runestaves of the Younger Futhark, it appears alongside an Old English futhorc.

As opposed to the Abecedarium Nordmannicum, the other three rune poems are precisely that, rune poems. They are each roughly similar to the others in structure. Each rune poem consists of short, alliterative verses describing each rune. There are also some notable differences in their structure. The Old English Rune Poem consists of stanzas usually of any where from two to four lines each, each line being made of two half lines. On the other hand, the Old Norwegian Rune Poem is composed of stanzas of two lines each, the first line usually being a kenning for the rune name or a simple description of it and the second being a rather gnomic statement. The Old Icelandic Rune Poem's stanzas are composed of three lines each and tend to be, like the Old English Rune Poem, more descriptive than gnomic.

The oldest ot these three runes poems is the Old English Rune Poem. It is believed to date anywhere from the eighth to tenth century (the earlier date would actually make it older than the Abecedarium Nordmannicum). The original manuscript of the Old English Rune Poem was once in Cotton MS, Otho B10. Unfortunately the Rune Poem was nearly lost to us. The original manuscript was destroyed by fire in 1731. Fortunately H. Wanley had already transcribed it. Later it would be included in G. Hickes' Thesaurus. While scholars sometimes suspect the integrity of Hickes' text, it is admittedly better than not having the poem at all. Of the three rune poems, the Old English Rune Poem is the only one to cover all twenty four of the runes of the Elder Futhark, as well as the runes from the first expansion of the Anglo-Frisian futhorc.

The Old Norwegian Rune Poem dates to the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuries. Despite this, it could well  be the most Christian  rune poem in sentiment. It is the only rune poem which refers to Christ by name  (in its verse for hagall). It also replaces Proto-Germanic *ansuz, "god," with óss, "river mouth."

The Old Icelandic Rune Poem is the youngest of the three, dating to the fifteenth century. Despite this, it sometimes appears to be the most heathen of the three rune poems in sentiment. It retains the name for the fourth rune as áss, "god, one of Æsir" and that particular verse is clearly about Óðinn. It also has the most extensive references to Germanic mythology.

Despite belonging to different eras and different lands and differing a good deal in their structure, the three rune poems are to a large degree similar. In fact, many of the verses within any one given poem will sometimes be reflected by the other two. The perfect example of this could be the verses for *hagaloz "hail"  (Old English hægl, Old Norse hagall). The Old English Rune Poem states that "hail is the whitest corn." The Old Norwegian Rune Poem calls it "the coldest of corns." Finally, the Old Icelandic Rune Poem states that "hail is cold corn." In all three rune poems we are given the idea of hail as a corn or a seed of grain. Similarities can also be seen in the verses for *jera, "year, good harvest" (Old English géar; Old Norse ár). It is said to be "the hope of men" in the Old English Rune Poem, "the profit of men" in the Old Norwegian Rune Poem, and "the profit of all men" in the Old Icelandic Rune Poem.

Chances are that the three rune poems were not descended from the same source, some Proto-Germanic Rune Poem. The three rune poems differ far too much in their overall structures to have the same origin. Their similarities do show, however, that sentiments regarding the various runes were apparently much the same throughout the Germanic tribes. If the runes are truly the Germanic mysteries of the universe and if they do reflect aspects of ancient Germanic religion and magic, this should perhaps come as no surprise. They would then be part of the common heritage of the ancient Germanic world view.