Rune poem

The rune poems list the letters of a runic alphabet with a short verse characterizing each one. Three different rune poems have been preserved, an Icelandic, an Norwegian and an Anglo-Saxon one. The Norwegian and Swedish poems both give the order of the sixteen runes of the Younger Futhark, ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛅ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ ᛦ, with slightly differring letter names, while the Anglo-Saxon poem has ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ ᚱ ᚳ ᚷ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛝ ᛟ ᛞ ᚪ ᚫ ᚣ ᛡ ᛠ, i.e. 29 runes, with an order clearly related to the scandinavian ones, but with some runes having variant shapes to the Younger Futhark, some taken from te Older Futhark, and some that have no Scandinavian counterpart at all.

There is yet another rune poem, the Abcedarium Nordmanicum, known from a 9th century manuscript. This is sometimes referred to as the Old Swiss Rune Poem. The letter names are related to the younger futhark.

Fe

Nor. Fe, *Icel. Fé ᚠ "wealth"
AS.: ᚠ Feoh

Ur

Nor: Ur ᚢ "iron"
Icel.: Úr ᚢ "rain"
AS: Ur ᚢ "aurochs"

Þurs

Nor./Icel. Thurs ᚦ "giant"
AS Thorn ᚦ

As

Nor. As, Icel. Óss ᚨ "one of the Aesir"
AS Os ᚩ "mouth" (from Latin?)
ASÆsc ᚫ "ash": one of the additional letters, with the same shape, and a similar shape to the Scandinavian As rune.

Reidh

Icel./Nor. Reidh, AS Ras ᚱ "ride"

Kaun

Icel./Nor. Kaun ᚼ "ulcer"
AS Cen ᚳ "torch"

Hagall

Icel./Nor. Hagall ᚼ "hail"
AS Haeglᚻ "hail"

Naud

Icel. Naud, Nor. Naudhr, AS Nyd ᚾ "need"

Is

Icel. Iss, Nor. Isa, AS Is ᛁ "ice"

Ar

Icel. Ár, Nord. Ar ᛅ "boon, plenty"
Ár

Sol

Icel. Sól, Nor. Sol, AS Sigel ᛋ "Sun"

Tyr

Icel./Nor. Tyr ᛏ
AS Tir ᛏ "polaris"

Bjarken

Icel./Nor. Bjarken/Bjarkan ᛒ "birch"
AS Beorc ᛒ "poplar?"

Madr

Icel./Nor. Madr/Madhr ᛘ "man"
AS Mann ᛗ "man"

L

Icel. Lögr ᛚ "waterfall"
Nor. Logr ᛚ "water"
AS Lagu ᛚ "ocean"

Yr

Icel./Nor. Yr ᛦ "yew"
AS: Yr ᚣ: one of the additional runes, with the shape a variant of Scandinavian Ur. It is glossed with:

ᚣ 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.

Anglo-Saxon only runes

ᚷ Gyfu "gift", appearing after Cen (also in the Older Futhark)
ᚹ Wynn "joy" (also in the Older Futhark)
ᛄ Ger "summer", appearing after Is.
ᛇEoh "yew"
ᛈPeordh (also in the Older Futhark). The meaning of the name is unclear, and apparently related to p of the Gothic alphabet. It is glossed as:

Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter / wlancum [on middum], ðar wigan sittaþ / on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.

"Peordh is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,

where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall."

ᛉ Eolh
ᛖ Eh "horse" (also in the Older Futhark)
ᛝ Ing
ᛟ Ethel "estate" (also in the Older Futhark) . See Odal.
ᛞ Daeg "day" (also in the Older Futhark)
ᚪ Ac "oak"
ᛡ Ior a fish
ᛠ Ear "grave"

Abecedarium Nordmanicum

A short poem found in the monastery of St. Gallen, probably originating in Fulda, written down in the 9th century.

Feu froma / Ur anmot / Thurs thri staba / Os obana / Rat rinnit / Can cliuvit / Hagal hardo / Naut nagal / Is / Ar /Sol skinit / Tir / Birka bivit / Lagu liohto / Manna middi /Yr al

"Cattle first / Aurochs / Thurs three staves / Os upmost /

Rat runs / Cancre cleaves / hail is hard / Naut nail / ice / year / Sol shines / Tir / birch trembles / lake is bright / man in the middle / Yr all"

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