The Rune Poems

These Pagan Portals are all current works in progress, serialised here on the Pagan Collective blog with each chapter being open for comment. In due course the entire script will be published as a Pagan Portal book.

Over the next few months, we will be running weekly Spirit of the Rune lessons on this blog. Follow along and learn the runes!

The main documents that help us gauge the meanings of runes are the Icelandic, Norwegian and Anglo-Saxon rune poems. When reading these poems, the Christian overtones are hard to ignore. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the poems themselves have Christian origins. References to the biblical god and hints at biblical themes are the result of the poems being written down by scribes who were Christian. In the process of recording the poems, scribes either intentionally altered wording deemed too unchristian or wrote what they genuinely believed was a more accurate representation.  The poems were recorded at different times as well, and the later the transcription, the more Christian influence is evident.

Despite cultural and religious bias infiltrating the rune poems, they are enough to scratch the veneer, revealing ancient meanings lying hidden. A lot can be teased out from the rune poems if we deepen our understanding of the historical context in which runes were consulted in divination and employed for writing or magical purposes. Each of the rune poems encapsulates a worldview. Each poem features elements deemed essential by the cultures where the poem emerged. For example, ‘Horse,’ ‘Elk,’ ‘Hail,’ ‘Ice,’ ‘Sun,’ ‘Harvest ’- concepts like the torch lighting up the funeral pyre, and connections to the gods themselves are all present among the runic symbols, are described in the poems, and speak to us today as they spoke to Heathens hundreds of years ago.

The Icelandic Rune Poem

Wealth source of discord among kinsmen

and fire of the sea
and path of the serpent. 

Shower lamentation of the clouds
and ruin of the hay-harvest
and abomination of the shepherd. 

Giant torture of women
and cliff-dweller
and husband of a giantess. 

God aged Gautr
and prince of Ásgarðr
and lord of Valhalla. 

Riding joy of the horsemen
and speedy journey
and toil of the steed. 

Ulcer disease fatal to children
and painful spot
and abode of mortification. 

Hail cold grain
and shower of sleet
and sickness of serpents. 

Constraint grief of the bond-maid
and state of oppression
and toilsome work. 

Ice bark of rivers
and roof of the wave
and destruction of the doomed. 

Plenty boon to men
and good summer
and thriving crops. 

Sun shield of the clouds
and shining ray
and destroyer of ice. 

Týr god with one hand
and leavings of the wolf
and prince of temples. 

Birch leafy twig
and little tree
and fresh young shrub. 

Man delight of man
and augmentation of the earth
and adorner of ships. 

Water eddying stream
and broad geysir
and land of the fish. 

Yew bent bow
and brittle iron
and giant of the arrow.

(https://www.ragweedforge.com/rpie.html)

The Norwegian Rune Poem

Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen;
the wolf lives in the forest.

Dross comes from bad iron;
the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.

Giant causes anguish to women;
misfortune makes few men cheerful.

Estuary is the way of most journeys;
but a scabbard is of swords.

Riding is said to be the worst thing for horses;
Reginn forged the finest sword.

Ulcer is fatal to children;
death makes a corpse pale.

Hail is the coldest of grain;
Christ created the world of old.

Constraint gives scant choice;
a naked man is chilled by the frost.

Ice we call the broad bridge;
the blind man must be led.

Plenty is a boon to men;
I say that Frothi was generous.

Sun is the light of the world;
I bow to the divine decree.

Tyr is a one-handed god;
often has the smith to blow.

Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;
Loki was fortunate in his deceit.

Man is an augmentation of the dust;
great is the claw of the hawk.

A waterfall is a River which falls from a mountain-side;
but ornaments are of gold.

Yew is the greenest of trees in winter;
it is wont to crackle when it burns.

(https://www.ragweedforge.com/RunNRPe.html)

The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem

Wealth is a comfort to all men; 

yet must every man bestow it freely,
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord. 

The aurochs is proud and has great horns; 

it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle. 

The thorn is exceedingly sharp, 

an evil thing for any knight to touch,
uncommonly severe on all who sit among them. 

The mouth is the source of all language, 

a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,
a blessing and a joy to every knight. 

Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors 

and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads
on the back of a stout horse. 

The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame; 

it always burns where princes sit within. 

Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one’s dignity; 

it furnishes help and subsistence
to all broken men who are devoid of aught else. 

Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety, 

and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house. 

Hail is the whitest of grain; 

it is whirled from the vault of heaven
and is tossed about by gusts of wind
and then it melts into water. 

Trouble is oppressive to the heart; 

yet often it proves a source of help and salvation
to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes. 

Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery; 

it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;
it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon. 

Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven, 

suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits
for rich and poor alike. 

The yew is a tree with rough bark, 

hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,
a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate. 

Peorth is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,

where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall. 

The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh; 

it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,
covering with blood every warrior who touches it. 

The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers 

when they journey away over the fishes’ bath,
until the courser of the deep bears them to land. 

Tiw is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes; 

it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails. 

The poplar bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth suckers,

for it is generated from its leaves.
Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned
its lofty crown which reaches to the skies. 

The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors. 

A steed in the pride of its hoofs,
when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;
and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless. 

The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen; 

yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow,
since the Lord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the earth.

The ocean seems interminable to men, 

if they venture on the rolling bark
and the waves of the sea terrify them
and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle. 

Ing was first seen by men among the East-Danes, 

till, followed by his chariot,
he departed eastwards over the waves.
So the Heardingas named the hero. 

An estate is very dear to every man, 

if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity. 

Day, the glorious light of the Creator, is sent by the Lord; 

it is beloved of men, a source of hope and happiness to rich and poor,
and of service to all. 

The oak fattens the flesh of pigs for the children of men. 

Often it traverses the gannet’s bath,
and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faith
in honourable fashion. 

The ash is exceedingly high and precious to men. 

With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance,
though attacked by many a man. 

Yr 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.

Iar is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land; 

it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness.

The grave is horrible to every knight, 

when the corpse quickly begins to cool
and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.

Prosperity declines, happiness passes away
and covenants are broken. 

(https://www.ragweedforge.com/rpae.html)

In Your Journal 

1. Compare the poems. What are your impressions of them in relation to each other? How do you feel their foci differ? Why do you think those differences exist?
2. Which of the runic alphabets interests you the most at this point? Why? Has that changed or is it the same?
3. Dedicate a page of your journal to each of the runes. On each page, have the relevant verse of the rune poem/s and an image of the rune itself. What are your initial impressions of these runes? What do you get intuitively and conceptually when reading the verse/s and viewing the image?

 

For more details on Daniela: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/daniela-simina