Manuscript Runes as a Coding System in Anglo-Saxon Poetry Marina Ivleva Original Germanic script named futhark (after the

first six letters in the sequence) was developed in the 1-2 centuries AD most likely under the influence of North Italic alphabets. It employed runes, angular symbols, which according to prof. S. Proskurin might have combined a variant of Latin alphabet and vegetation code. The order of symbols is unique and has not received proper explanation so far because when alphabets are borrowed they usually retain the order of the original alphabet with slight modifications as in the case of Latin and Gothic alphabets which were borrowed from the Greek original. Time and territory of rune use are quite extensive: the artifacts containing them are found from Greenland to the Dnieper and from Scandinavia to the port of Piraeus in Greece. Runes might have been mentioned by Tacitus in the description of divination which was conducted by the Germans. But first surviving futharks date back approximately 200 AD. In Sweden runes were still in use in the 19 century. This makes runes very interesting and fruitful field of investigation.

Fig.1. The Elder Futhark

The Elder Futhark contained 24 symbols, 16 consonants and 8 vowels, which were usually though not necessarily divided into three attirs or families. Later in different places its development was quite the opposite. In Scandinavian countries where the majority of runic artifacts come from the number of runes was limited to 16. This row is usually called Younger Futhark. In England the symbols amounted to 33 and the quality of some runes was changed in accordance with the

phonological shifts of the Anglo-Saxon vocalism. R. Derolez suggested that the term futhorc be used for the Anglo-Saxon row. Besides being recorded as simple rows of symbols Anglo-Saxon futhorc and Younger futhark are preserved in the Rune Poems. There are three extant Rune Poems Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic and Norwegian. All of them give the names of the runes and explain their meaning. Despite being the oldest of the recorded poems Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem is rather a Christian than a pagan text because it does not just name the runes but also adds certain moral and didactic meaning to them.

Fig.2. Anglo-Saxon futhorc

This article deals with Anglo-Saxon futhorc which had two variants epigraphic and manuscript runes. R. Derolez and D. Parsons consider these two types to be supplementary while R. Page think them alternative [Page, 2003,62]. The latter view may have more grounds since manuscript runes were used mostly with some codicological purpose in contrast to epigraphic whose use was rather informative or even magical. There are four basic manuscripts in which Old English poetry is preserved. They are Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Book, Vercelli Codex, Codex Vitellius (that of Beowulf) and Codex Junius. Runes used as codes are found in two of them Exeter Book and Vercelli Codex. The dating of the manuscripts is very problematic but most likely they were written at the end of the 10 century AD. Analyzing the runes in manuscripts scientists came to the conclusion that they were used in three distinct functions: 1. Runes were used as letters of the Latin alphabet

2. Runes stood for the words which their names meant in the Anglo-Saxon

Rune Poem and in such a way they became logograms

3. Runes could also stand for any word which began with the corresponding

sound R. W. V. Elliott suggested that runes may have a metaphoric meaning, e.g. rune Ur whose meaning in Rune Poem is aurochs should be interpreted as power, force proving his point by the fact that this wild ox was a personification of strength in old Germanic culture. His colleagues R. Page and John D. Niles find it hard to agree with him [Niles, 2006, 291]. Runes as letters were basically used in epigraphic tradition, e.g. in the inscriptions on the Franks Casket or on the Ruthwell Cross. The fuller version of the latter inscription is also preserved in Latin letters in Vercelli Codex. In manuscripts runes as letters are found in Riddle 24 of the Exeter Book.
Ic eom wunderlicu wiht, wrsne mine stefne, I'm a strange creature with changing cries hwilum beorce swa hund, hwilum blte swa gat, I can bark like a dog, bleat like a goat, hwilum grde swa gos, hwilum gielle swa hafoc, Honk like a goose, shriek like a hawk. Sometimes I imitate the eagle's cry, hwilum ic onhyrge one haswan earn, The gray warrior's "keee," sometimes the gufugles hleoor, hwilum glidan reorde call mue gemne, hwilum mwes song, Of the kite, sometimes the scream of the gull, r ic glado sitte. mec nemna, While I sit singing, a saucy mimic. swylce ond fulleste, My name is spelled with P, A, and G-ond . Nu ic haten eom Also an M, an I, and an E swa a siex stafas sweotule becna. Say what these six letters clearly spell.1

Here the runes which are prominent against the letters form a word HIGOR magpie. In such a way runes were also used in Riddle 19 with only difference that the runic syntagmas must be read in reverse order to achieve the necessary word, e.g. S R O H is hors (a horse) and the like. In its second and third functions the use of runes is best illustrated in the four runic signatures of Cynewulf, one of the two Old English poets known by name in the age of anonymous poetry. The name Cynewulf or Cynwulf is spelt in runes in
1

Both the text of the riddle and its translation are taken from the site www2.kenyon.edu/AngloSaxonRiddles/ The translation is by C. Williamson.

the closing parts of four poems Christ, Juliana, Elena and The Fates of the Apostles. All the four signatures are slightly different either in the order or number of runes. For example, in Elena the runes follow in the same order as the do in the name while in The Fates of the Apostles this order is broken. In Juliana runes are arranged in two groups of three symbols and one of two symbols. While being evident in making up the name the runes are also a part of metrical organization of the text and as such they are supposed to be read somehow. This causes serious problems because not all rune names given in The Rune Poem make sense in the context.
A ws secg o t cnyssed cearwelmum, drusende, eah he in medohealle mamas ege, plede gold. gnornode gefera, nearusorge dreah, enge rune, r him fore milpaas mt, modig rgde wirum gewlenced. is geswirad, gomen fter gearum, geogo is gecyrred, ald onmedla. ws geara geogohades glm. Nu synt geardagas fter fyrstmearce for gewitene, lifwynne geliden, swa toglide, flodas gefysde. ghwam bi 2 lne under lyfte; (Elena, 1256-70) Until then the man was continually tossed by the waves of care. He was like a flickering torch (cen), even though he received precious gifts of embossed gold in the mead-hall. Yr, his comrade at need (nyd), mourned , felt clamming sorrow, secret oppression, where formerly the mettled steed (eh) galloped, measured the mile-long paths, splendid in its filigreed trappings. With the years pleasure, delight (wynn) has faded, youth with its former pomp is changed. Once the radiance of youth was ours (ur). Now the old days have passed away in the fullness of time, lifes joys departed as water (lagu) ebbs away, the floods driven along. For every man under heaven wealth (feoh) is transitory.3

Some runes fit perfectly in the context of the poem (e.g. nyd need, eh horse, wynn joy, lagu water and feoh wealth). These runes have the abovementioned names in the Anglo-Saxon and two other Rune Poems which illustrates the second possible use of runes in the manuscripts. The conventional meanings of cen torch, yr bow and ur aurochs must be changed in some way to make an intelligible idea. Usually scholars amend ur for a personal pronoun ure our and cen for an adjective cene bold (though in this passage R.I.Page preferred to insert absent in the text simile). As is clear from the translation even such a brilliant runologist as R. I. Page could not find a proper explanation for the rune yr and preferred to leave it as it is though his
2 3

The Old English texts are taken from the site Labyrinth Library The translation is by R. I. Page [Page, 2003, 194]

colleague John D. Niles suggested here an adverb yfele grievously[Niles, 2006, 297]. In this example we find the third function of manuscript runes. What is also essential about manuscript runes is the fact that the rows of runes in futhork or alphabet order usually appeared together with some strange scripts not easily identified, such as Greek, Gothic and Hebrew. So it is highly probable that the runes were treated by the scribes as some secret script that can be understood only by a certain group of people. On the other hand this type of script was really prominent against the Latin letters and even decorative to some extent. This may be the reason why runes were used to enhance the significance of Pater Noster letters in The Poetic Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn I. In this dialogue Solomon describes the significance of the prayer Pater Noster at first as a whole text and then he assigns the power to damage the devil to every letter of the prayer. So, each letter of this prayer is described separately and to make the letters stand out they are given their runic equivalents in one of the two manuscripts in which this poem is preserved.
prologa prima, am is P nama. Hafa gumcga gierde lange, gyldene gade, and a one grymman feond swimod sweopa, and him on swae fylge A ofermgene and hine eac ofslih. T hine teswa and hine on a tungan stica, wrste him t woddor and him a wongan briece. E hiene yfla, swa he a wile ealra feonda gehwane fste gestondan. onne hiene on unanc R ieorrenga gesece, bocstafa brego, bregde sona feond be am feaxe, lte flint brecan scines sconcan; Prologa prima whose name is P: The warrior has a long rod, With a golden goad, and ever the grim fiend Fierce-minded smiteth; and on his tracks pursueth A with mighty power, and him also beateth. T plagueth him, and him in the tongue stabbeth Twisteth his throat for him, and his cheeks breaketh. E afflicteth him, as he ever will Fastly stand against every foe; Then little to his pleasure, R shall angrily seek him; Prince of letters shall soon whirl The fiend by his hair, he will let the flint break The phantasms shanks;4

In this text runes intensify the letters and sometimes their angular form reminds of the weapons with the help of which the devil is overcome.
4

The translation by J.M. Kemble [Kemble, 1845-8, 140]

Manuscript runes in England were never used to preserve some substantial piece of text, they were only separate runes or small groups and the purpose of their use was always to convey some intentionally hidden idea. This is the reason to believe that manuscript runes are a coding system used by Anglo-Saxon scribes and not the continuation of the epigraphic tradition. Bibliography .. . : , 2005. 234 c. Derolez, R. Runica Manuscripta: the English Tradition. Brugge. De Tempel, 1954. 466 p. Kemble, John M. Anglo-Saxon Dialogues of Salomon and Saturn. London 1845-8 227c. Labyrinth Library: Old English Literature. : http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/oe.html Niles, John D. Old English Enigmatic Poems and the Play of the Texts. Brepols Publishers, 2006. 330 p. Page, R.I. An Introduction to English Runes. The Boydell Press, 2003. 249 p. Williamson, Craig. The Old English Riddles of the Exeter Book. Chapel Hill, 1977. 484 p.