The Rune Poems
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(fé)
(2) er frænda róg/ ok flæðar viti
(3)/ ok grafseiðs gata. (4) wealth (5) is kinsmen's strife/ and ocean's beacon (6)/ and grave-fish's (7) road. aurum (8) fylkir gold sherriff (9) |
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(úr)
er skýja grátr/ ok skára þverrir/ ok hirðis hatr. (10) drizzle is the clouds' weeping/ and the destroyer of hay (11)/ and the shepherd's hate. umbre (12) vísi shadow captain |
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(þurs)
er kvenna kvöl/ ok kletta íbúi/ ok Valrúnar verr. (13) giant is womens' torment/ and a crag-dweller/ and Valrún's husband. Saturnus þengill Saturn thing-leader |
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(áss)
er aldingautr (14)/ ok Ásgarðs
jöfurr/ ok Valhallar vísi. god (15) is ancient Gautr/ and Ásgarð's king/ and Valhöll's captain. Jupiter oddviti Jupiter leader (16) |
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(reið)
er sitjandi sæla/ ok snúðig ferð/ ok jórs erfiði. ride is seated bliss/ and a swift journey/ and the horse's labour. iter ræsir journey host-captain |
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(kaun)
er barna böl (17)/ ok bardagi
(18)/ ok holdfúa hús. sore is childrens' bale/ and a calamity/ and putrefaction's house. flagella konungr whip king |
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(hagall)
er kaldakorn/ ok knappa drífa (19)/
ok snáka sótt. (20) hail is a cold grain/ and a shower of knobs/ and snakes' sickness. grando hildingr hail warlord |
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(nauð)
er þýjar þrá/ ok þungr kostr (21)/
ok vássamlig verk. (22) need is the bondwoman's throes/ and an oppressive condition/ and waterlogged work. opera niflungr work Niflung (23) |
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(íss)
er árbörkr/ ok unnar þekja (24)/
ok feigra manna fár. (25) ice is river-bark/ and wave's thatch/ and fated men's bale. glacies jöfurr ice warrior-king (26) |
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(ár)
er gumna gæði (27)/ ...
(28)/ ok daladreyri. (29) harvest (30) is men's blessings/ and dales' blood. annus allvaldr year sovereign king (31) |
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(sól)
er skýja skjöldr/ ok skínandi röðull/ ok ísa aldrtregi.
(32) sun is the clouds' shield/ and a shining halo/ and ice's deadly sorrow. rota siklingr wheel king (33) |
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(Týr)
(34) er einhendr áss/ ok úlfs leifar/ ok hofa hilmir.
(35) Týr is the one-handed god/ and the wolf's leavings/ and the temples' ruler. Mars tiggi Mars king (36) |
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(bjarkan)
er laufgat lim/ ok lítit tré/ ok vegsamligr viðr. (37) birch is a leafy limb/ and a little tree/ and a glorious wood. abies buðlungr fir tree king (38) |
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(maðr)
er manns gaman/ ok moldar auki/ ok skipa skreytir. man is man's delight/ and earth's addition (39)/ and ships' adorner. homo mildingr man gentleman (40) |
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(lögr)
er vellanda vatn (41)/ ok víðr
ketill/ ok glömmunga grandi. (42) sea is welling water/ and a wide cauldron/ and the fish's beach. lacus lofðungr lake Lofðung (43) |
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(ýr)
er bendr bogi/ ok brotgjarnt járn. (44) yew is a bent bow/ and brittle iron. arcus ynglingr bow Yngling (45) |
Footnotes:
1. The text is adapted from R. I. Page, The Icelandic Rune-Poem, Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, 1999; see this work for further explanation of the texts and variants. The primary text I have chosen to use here is AM 687d 4º, f. lv, 11. 1-16 (designated "A" by Page), the earliest version of the Icelandic Rune-Poem, dating to roughly 1500 CE. Significant variants will be included in the footnotes. Page designates the texts as: B = AM 461 12º (dated 1539-1558); C = AM 749 4º, f. 25v (17th century); RJ = Runolphus Jonas (1651); BJ = Björn Jónsson (1642); JOa = Jón Ólafsson's Runologia 3, ch. 1 (AM 413 fol.) (1752); JOb = Jón Ólafsson's Runologia 3, ch. 3 (AM 413 fol.) (1752); OV = Olaus Verelius, Manuductio (1675). Thanks are due to Haukur Thorgeirsson and an anonymous Icelander for assistance with corrections. [Back]
2. It must be noted that the original text has only the form, not the name, of each rune. I have inserted the rune-names. [Back]
3. var. fyrða gaman "men's delight" (B, C, RJ, JOb); Fáfnis bani "Fáfnir's bane" (JOa); Fáfnis beðr "Fáfnir's bed" (OV). [Back]
4. var. grafþvengs gata "grave-thong's (serpent's) road" (B); þegna þræta "thanes' quarrel" (JOa). [Back]
5. This meaning includes money or gold, but also livestock, generally cattle, but also sheep (esp. in Iceland), the traditional measure of wealth. [Back]
6. A kenning for "gold". [Back]
7. "Grave-fish" is a kenning for "serpent", and "serpent's road" is a kenning for "gold". [Back]
8. In addition to the normal stanzas, the "A" text has been glossed with Latin equivalents and various titles for king or leader that use the primary sound of the rune. [Back]
9. The ruler of a fylki "county, shire", perhaps "petty-king". Fylki is ultimately derived from fólk "people". I have used "sheriff" from archaic English "shire-reeve", the ruler of a shire. [Back]
10. var. versta veðr "the worst weather" (OV). [Back]
11. Deciphering skára is problematic. Thorsson derives it from skör "rim, edge (of ice)", but Page from skári "swathe of mown grass". Another possibility is from skári "young sea-gull" (ie. they are diminished as they take shelter from the rain). [Back]
12. Thorsson suggests that this may be a mistake, and that imber "rain-shower" would be more appropriate. [Back]
13. As posited by Page - the original has "..lrúnar ver". var. Varðrúnar verr "Varðrún's (a giantess' name) husband" (C, BJ, JOab); síðförull seggr "late-night rambling man" (B); hamra heimramr "mighty crag-dweller" (RJ). [Back]
14. var. aldagautr "men's Gautr" (RJ), a recorded heiti of Óðinn. [Back]
15. The kennings used here clearly refer to Óðinn. [Back]
16. Esp. one who marches ahead or heads the vanguard. [Back]
17. var. barna bági/ barna bagi "children's enemy/ children's trouble" (RJ). [Back]
18. var. bardaga för "journey of battle/calamity" (RJ, JOb). [Back]
19. var. krapa drífa "a shower of sleet" (JOa). [Back]
20. A kenning for "winter". var. skýja skot, eða silfr "clouds' shot, or silver" (JOa). [Back]
21. The word "þungr" here is unreadable in the original text, but suggested by later texts. [Back]
22. var. vósamlig verk "woeful work" (JOb); vósamlig vera "woeful state of being" (RJ). [Back]
23. One of the Niflung dynasty, made famous in the Sigurð-sagas and the OHG Nibelungenlied. [Back]
24. var. unnar þak (B, C, RJ, JOb). "Thatch" has the additional meaning of "roof, covering". [Back]
25. var. feigs fár (JOa, OV); feigs manns farad (B), feigs forráð (C, RJ, JOb) "pit/ abyss of the doomed". Here, fár "danger, harm" can also be read as far "path, track" - perhaps an allusion to the icy valleys in the far north which were considered to be the entrances to Hel? [Back]
26. In non-Scandinavian Germanic languages, cognate forms refer to wild boar, so metaphorically it would seem to refer to a warrior with the ferocity of a boar or possibly wearing a boar-helm. [Back]
27. var. gumna gledi "men's festivity" (B); gumna góði "men's benefit" (RJ, JOb). [Back]
28. The second kenning in A is unreadable. var. gott sumar "good summer" (B, C, RJ, JOa) [Back]
29. Seemingly, this kenning is a later addition to an original two-kenning line, since "dales' blood" is a kenning for river (á), not harvest (ár). var. vel flest þat er vill "practically everything that one wants" (B); algróinn akr "ripened field" (C, RJ, JOab). [Back]
30. Cognate with English "year", ár can mean both "year" and "harvest". [Back]
31. Lit. "all-powerful" or "almighty". [Back]
32. Found in A and B, possibly also a later addition to an original two-kenning line. var. hverfandi hvel "turning wheel" (C, RJ, JOab, OV). [Back]
33. Etymology obscure. It is not derived from sigr "victory" as Thorsson claims. Possibly derived from siklan "flowing of the spittle" (poss. in reference to the alliance of the Æsir and Vanir), or sigl "sail" (ie. a sea-king or leader of a fleet)? [Back]
34. In the A text, "l" and "t" appear to have exchanged places in the normal futhark order, which has been restored here. [Back]
35. Again, the third kenning appears to be a later addition. var. Friggjar faðir "Frigga's father" (B); Baldrs bróðir "Baldr's brother" (C, RJ, JOab). [Back]
36. From older tyggi "king". Derived from verb tjúga "to draw", also toga "to draw" (cognate with ModEng "tow"; cf. Grm. Herzog). [Back]
37. The different versions have much variation in form, but little in content. var. laufgad trie "leafy tree" (C, RJ, JOb); laufgaðr viðr "leafy wood" (JOa); blomgat tre "blossoming tree" (B); lítid lim "little branch" (C, RJ, JOab); litel hrisla "little sprig" (B); j ast sæmiligs vidar "? of delightful wood" (B); vaxandi viðr "growing wood" (C, RJ, JOb); lundr fagr "fair grove" (JOa); blomj landz "land's flower" (C). [Back]
38. Etymology obscure. Possibly derived from búð "booth" (ie. someone important enough to have their own booth at the thing-plain), or bygð "county, district" (ie. the leader of same). [Back]
39. ie. "mortal", as after death, one becomes an addition to the earth. [Back]
40. Lit. "one who is mild, merciful, kind, gentle, liberal". [Back]
41. var. vellanda Vimur "boiling Vimur (a mythical river)" (B, C, RJ, JOab). [Back]
42. var. glömmunga grund "fish's plain" (C, JOa). [Back]
43. Probably because of its use in this text, it is taken as a general word for king, but elsewhere it refers to the descendents of the mythical king Lofði (from the Eddas). [Back]
44. This has been extrapolated from the fragmentary "ben.....otgjarnt járn" in text A - B omits this rune altogether. The third kenning is missing, left blank in the original text. I suspect the second kenning ("brittle iron") may in fact be related to the Old Norwegian Rune Poem line for "úr" (slag) - cf. "úr es af illu járni" ("slag is from bad iron"). var. bendr bogi "bent bow" (JOa, OV); tvíbendr bogi "double-bent bow (recurved?)" (C, RJ, JOb); bardaga gagn "battle-help" (C, RJ, JOb); fyfu fleytir "arrow launcher" (RJ,JOa); fyfu farbauti "arrow giant" (JOb). [Back]
45. The descendents of Yngvi (Freyr), traditionally an appellation of the Swedish royal dynasty. [Back]
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