The Rune Poem

F. (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.

U. (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.

Þ. (the thorn) is exceedingly sharp, an evil thing for any knight to touch, uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.

O. (?) is the source of all language, a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men, a blessing and a joy to every knight.

R. (?) 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.

C. (the torch) is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame; it always burns where princes sit within.

G. (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.

W. (bliss) he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety, and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.

H. (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.

N. (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.

I. (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.

J. (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.

I. (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.

P. (the chessman?) is a source of recreation and amusement to the great, where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.

Z. (the ?-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.

S. (the sun) is ever a joy to seafarers (or, in the hopes of seafarers) when they journey away over the fishes' bath, until the courser of the deep bears them to land.

T. (?) 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.

B. (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.

E. (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.

M. 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.

L. (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.

NG. (Ing) was first seen by men among the East-Danes, till, followed by his car, he departed eastwards over the waves. So the Heardingas named the hero.

Œ. (an estate) is very dear to every man, if he can enjoy there in his house whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.

D. (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.

A. (the oak) fattens the flesh (of swine) for the children of men. Often it traverses the gannet's bath, and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faith in honourable fashion.

Æ. (the ash) is exceedingly high and precious to men. With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance, though attacked by many a man.

Y. (?) 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.

IO. (?) is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land; it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness.

EA. (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.