English The
Old English Rune Poem as recorded was likely composed in the 7th century and was preserved in the 10th-century manuscript
Cotton Otho B.x, fol. 165a – 165b, housed at the
Cotton library in
London,
England. In 1731, the manuscript was lost with numerous other manuscripts in a fire at the Cotton library. However, the poem had been copied by
George Hickes in 1705 and his copy has formed the basis of all later editions of the poems. The Norwegian Rune Poem is preserved in
skaldic metre, featuring the first line exhibiting a "(rune name)(copula) X" pattern, followed by a second rhyming line providing information somehow relating to its subject.
Icelandic The Icelandic Rune Poem is recorded in four
Arnamagnæan manuscripts, the oldest of the four dating from the late 15th century. The Icelandic rune poem is shown below with English translation side-by-side from Dickins:
Swedish The Old Swedish rune poem is possibly the youngest of the four, first being recorded in a letter in the year 1600, but not published until 1908. The text may be corrupt and it has received relatively little attention from runologists. The runes are in a different order, and a couple are missing: The text was originally sent to
Bonaventura Vulcanius by a Swedish student, who claimed to have ”learned it from the old rustics” (
a senibus rusticis didici). It was first published in 1908 by
Philipp Christiaan Molhuysen, using roughly the above orthography. A modern edition was published in 1987. ==
Abecedarium Nordmannicum==