Old English rune poem facts for kids

This picture shows a copy of the Old English Rune Poem from 1705. It was made by Humfrey Wanley and published by George Hickes.

The Old English rune poem is a special poem from the 8th or 9th century. It has short verses, called stanzas, about 29 different Anglo-Saxon runes. Runes were like letters used by people in ancient times.

This poem is similar to other rune poems found in Scandinavia, which talk about the 16 runes of the Younger Futhark alphabet. The Old English rune poem is important because it helps us understand the names and meanings of these ancient symbols.

The only original copy of this poem was in a book called Cotton Otho B.x. Sadly, this book was destroyed in a big fire at the Cotton library in 1731. Luckily, a copy of the poem had been made and published by George Hickes in 1705. Because of this copy, we can still read and study the poem today!

How the Poem Was Saved

The Old English rune poem was probably written down in the 8th or 9th century. It was kept safe in a manuscript (an old handwritten book) from the 10th century. This book was part of the famous Cotton library in London.

The Great Fire of 1731

In 1731, a terrible fire broke out at the Cotton library. Many valuable old books and papers were lost, including the only known copy of the rune poem. It was a huge loss for history!

A Copy Saves the Day

But before the fire, a clever person named Humfrey Wanley (who lived from 1672 to 1726) had already copied the poem. Later, George Hickes published Wanley's copy in his book in 1705. This means that even though the original was destroyed, we still have the poem because of their work. All the versions of the poem we read today come from Hickes's published copy.

What Hickes's Copy Shows

George Hickes's copy of the poem might be a bit different from the original manuscript. He wrote the poem in a way that looked like prose (regular writing), but then he split it into 29 stanzas. He also added pictures of the runes next to each stanza. This helped people see which rune each verse was about.

Hickes even showed different ways some runes could look. He also included a few extra runes that weren't part of the poem itself. It's thought that these extra pictures and notes were added by Hickes, not by the original writer of the poem.

Rune Names and Meanings

The Old English rune poem is like a collection of riddles. Each stanza is a riddle, and the answer to the riddle is the name of a rune! For example, one stanza might describe something, and the answer is "ice," which is the name of a rune.

Where Did the Names Come From?

In Hickes's 1705 book, the names of each rune are written next to their stanzas. It's not clear if these names were in the original manuscript or if Hickes added them. Many experts believe Hickes (or Humfrey Wanley, who copied it) added these names. This means the poem itself doesn't directly tell us the names, but it gives us clues about what each rune means.

Runes Shared with Scandinavia

The Old English rune poem shares 16 rune names with the Younger Futhark alphabet, which was used in Scandinavia. This shows a connection between the languages and cultures.

You can see that many of these names are very similar, like "Feoh" and "Fé" both meaning "wealth." But some are different, like "Cen" (torch) and "Kaun" (ulcer). The "Os" rune in Old English means "god," which connects to the god Woden (similar to Odin).

Runes Unique to Old English

The Old English poem also gives us the names of eight runes that were used in the Elder Futhark alphabet but were later stopped in the Younger Futhark.

Finally, the Anglo-Saxon poem tells us about five runes that were new inventions in Anglo-Saxon England and don't have any matching runes in Scandinavian traditions.

See also

• Cynewulf
• List of runestones