Old English Rune Poem

From: marktwainonice
Message: 47588
Date: 2007-02-24

This is from the article in the current JIES (V. 34, No. 3& 4, Fall Winter 2006) by Angel Miller "The Old English Rune Poem -- Semantics, Structure, and Symmetry" p. 419 ff.

She provides a diglot text, with her translation, using the only extant version of the poem, published in 1705 by George Hicks in Linguarum Veterum septentrionalium Thesaurus.

The work is essentially an acrostic, with each section starting with a letter of the runic alphabet. She suggests it is a mnemonic. The order of the letters does not agree with the usual Continental or even British fuþark, and adds some late letters.

The order: feoh, ur, ðorn, os, rad, cen, gyfu, wyn, haegl, nyd, is, ger, eoh, peorð, eolhx, sigel, tir, beorc, eh, man, lagu, ing, eþel, dæg, ac, æsc, yr, io/iar, ear.  

I did this because I've never had a reputable sorce for the actual spellings of the actual names of the runic letters in an actual order. Eþel is obviously eþ, edh, eth; ðorn is obviously thorn; æsc is ash, etc. 

I'll quote her  if anyone is interested.