Futhorc, a
runic alphabetThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
used by the
Anglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
, was descended from the
Elder FutharkThe Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
of 24 runes and contained between 26 and 33 characters. It was used probably from the fifth century onward, for recording Old English and
Old FrisianOld Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast. Whether the speakers of Frisian are the immediate descendants of the Frisians of Roman times or immigrants from North Germany and Denmark is...
.
History
There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in
FrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight...
and from there spread later to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Another holds that runes were first introduced to England from Scandinavia where the futhorc was modified and then exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses, and a definitive answer likely awaits more archaeological evidence.
The early futhorc was identical to the Elder Futhark except for the split of
{{RunicChars}}
Futhorc, a runic alphabetThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
used by the
Anglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
, was descended from the
Elder FutharkThe Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
of 24 runes and contained between 26 and 33 characters. It was used probably from the fifth century onward, for recording Old English and
Old FrisianOld Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast. Whether the speakers of Frisian are the immediate descendants of the Frisians of Roman times or immigrants from North Germany and Denmark is...
.
History
There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in
FrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight...
and from there spread later to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Another holds that runes were first introduced to England from Scandinavia where the futhorc was modified and then exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses, and a definitive answer likely awaits more archaeological evidence.
The early futhorc was identical to the Elder Futhark except for the split of
{{RunicChars}}
Futhorc, a runic alphabetThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
used by the
Anglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
, was descended from the
Elder FutharkThe Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
of 24 runes and contained between 26 and 33 characters. It was used probably from the fifth century onward, for recording Old English and
Old FrisianOld Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast. Whether the speakers of Frisian are the immediate descendants of the Frisians of Roman times or immigrants from North Germany and Denmark is...
.
History
There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in
FrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight...
and from there spread later to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Another holds that runes were first introduced to England from Scandinavia where the futhorc was modified and then exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses, and a definitive answer likely awaits more archaeological evidence.
The early futhorc was identical to the Elder Futhark except for the split of
{{runicThe a-rune , Younger Futhark was probably named after the Æsir, in Proto-Germanic *Ansuz.The shape of the rune is likely from Neo-Etruscan a , like Latin A ultimately from Phoenician Aleph....
a into three variants {{runic|ᚪ}}
āc, {{runic|ᚫ}}
æsc and {{runic|ᚩ}}
ōs, resulting in 26 runes. This was necessary to account for the new phoneme produced by the
IngvaeonicIngvaeonic, also known as North Sea Germanic, is a postulated grouping of the West Germanic languages that would fork into Old Frisian, Old English and Old Saxon and according to some the local dialect of West-Flanders...
split of allophones of long and short
a.
The earliest {{runic|ᚩ}}
ōs rune is found on the 5th century
Undley bracteateThe Undley bracteate, a 5th century bracteate found in Undley Common, near Lakenheath, Suffolk . It bears the earliest known inscription that can be argued to be in Anglo-Frisian Futhorc...
. {{runic|ᚪ}}
āc was introduced later, in the 6th century. The double-barred {{runic|ᚻ}}
hægl*Haglaz or *Hagalaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the h-rune , meaning "hail" .In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as haegl and in the Younger Futhark as hagall The corresponding Gothic letter is h, named hagl.The Elder Futhark letter has two variants, single-barred and...
characteristic for continental inscriptions is first attested as late as 698, on
St. Cuthbert's coffinSt. Cuthbert's coffin is a wooden coffin opened during the Reformation in Durham Cathedral, dated to AD 698, the year of the death of Saint Cuthbert. Among other objects, still mostly in the Cathedral Museum, it contained the Stonyhurst Gospel...
; before that, the single-barred Scandinavian variant was used.
In England the futhorc was further extended to 28 and finally to 33 runes, and runic writing in England became closely associated with the Latin scriptoria from the time of Anglo-Saxon Christianization in the 7th century. The futhorc started to be replaced by the
Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
from around the 9th century. In some cases, texts would be written in the Latin alphabet but runes would be used in place of the word it represented, and the þorn and
wynnWynn was a letter of the Old English alphabet. It was used to represent the sound ....
came to be used as extensions of the Latin alphabet. By the Norman Conquest of 1066 it was very rare and disappeared altogether shortly thereafter. From at least five centuries of use, fewer than 200 artifacts bearing futhorc inscriptions have survived.
Letters
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem (
CottonThe Cotton or Cottonian library was the library compiled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton , an antiquarian and bibliophile. Cotton's library included his collection of books, manuscripts, coins and medallions in his personal estate. The materials comprised the books and artifacts retrieved after the...
Otho B.x.165) has the following runes, listed with their Unicode glyphs, their names, their transliteration and their approximate phonetic value in
IPAThe International Phonetic Alphabet
["The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...]
notation where different from the transliteration:
- {{runic|ᚠ}} feoh
The Fe rune
represents the f-sound in the Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon runic alphabets...
"wealth" f [f], [v]
- {{runic|ᚢ}} ur
The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark u rune is *Ūruz meaning "wild ox" or *Ûram "water". It may have been derived from the Raetic alphabet character u as it is similar in both shape and sound value...
"aurochs" u
- {{runic|ᚦ}} þorn
Thorn, or þorn , is a letter in the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic alphabets. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th. The letter originated from the rune in the Elder Fuþark, called thorn in the Anglo-Saxon and thorn or thurs in the Scandinavian rune...
"thorn" þ, ð [θ], [ð]
- {{runic|ᚩ}} ós
The a-rune , Younger Futhark was probably named after the Æsir, in Proto-Germanic *Ansuz.The shape of the rune is likely from Neo-Etruscan a , like Latin A ultimately from Phoenician Aleph....
"[a] god" ó
- {{runic|ᚱ}} rad
*Raidô "ride, journey" is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the r- rune of the Elder Futhark . The name is attested for the same rune in all three rune poems, Norwegian Ræið Icelandic Reið, Anglo-Saxon Rad, as well as for the corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet ...
"ride" r
- {{runic|ᚳ}} cen
The k-rune is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning "ulcer". The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Kaunan. It is also known as Kenaz , based on its Anglo-Saxon name.The Elder Futhark shape is likely directly based on Old Italic c / Latin C...
"torch" c [k]
- {{runic|ᚷ}} gyfu
Gyfu is the name for the g-rune in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning "gift" or "generosity":The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is g, called giba. The same rune also appears in the Elder Futhark, with a suggested Proto-Germanic name *gebô "gift". J. H...
"gift" {{latinx|ȝ}} [g], [j]
- {{runic|ᚹ}} wynn
Wynn was a letter of the Old English alphabet. It was used to represent the sound ....
"joy" w, {{latinx|ƿ}} [w]
- {{runic|ᚻ}} hægl
*Haglaz or *Hagalaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the h-rune , meaning "hail" .In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as haegl and in the Younger Futhark as hagall The corresponding Gothic letter is h, named hagl.The Elder Futhark letter has two variants, single-barred and...
"hail (precipitation)" h
- {{runic|ᚾ}} nyd
*Naudiz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the n-rune , meaning "need, distress". In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as nyd, in the Younger Futhark as , Icelandic naud and Old Norse nauðr. The corresponding Gothic letter is ...
"need, distress" n
- {{runic|ᛁ}} is
*Isaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the i-rune , meaning "ice". In the Younger Futhark it is called Iss in Icelandic and isa in Old Norse. As rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is called is....
"ice" i
- {{runic|ᛄ}} ger
*Jēran or *Jēraz "harvest, year" is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the j-rune of the Elder Futhark.-Etymology:Proto-Germanic *jē
2ran is cognate with Avestan yāre "year", Greek "year"...
"year, harvest" j
- {{runic|ᛇ}} eoh
Eiwaz or Eihaz was a Proto-Germanic word for "yew", and the reconstructed name of the rune ....
"yew" eo
- {{runic|ᛈ}} peorð
' is the rune denoting the sound p in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet, in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem named peorð. It does not appear in the Younger Futhark. In the poem, it is glossed with the enigmatic:...
p
- {{runic|ᛉ}} eolh
*Algiz, sometimes *Elhaz, is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name for the rune, representing the Proto-Germanic terminal -z . The reconstructed word *algiz is based on the name of the Anglo-Saxon eolh which is of the same shape but represented a different sound...
"elk-sedge" x
- {{runic|ᛋ}} sigel
Sól or Sunna is the Sun personified in Germanic mythology. One of the two Old High German Merseburg Incantations, written in the 9th or 10th century CE, attests that Sunna is the sister of Sinthgunt...
"Sun" s [s], [z]
- {{runic|ᛏ}} Tiw
The t-rune is named after Tyr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz-Rune poems:Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems...
"Tiw" t
- {{runic|ᛒ}} beorc
*Berkanan is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the b rune , meaning "birch". In the Younger Futhark it is called Bjarken in the Icelandic rune poem and Bjarkan in the Norwegian rune poem. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem it is called beorc...
"birch" b
- {{runic|ᛖ}} eh
*Ehwaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark e rune , meaning "horse"...
"horse" e
- {{runic|ᛗ}} mann "man" m
- {{runic|ᛚ}} lagu "lake" l
- {{runic|ᛝ}} ing
Yngvi, Yngvin, Ingwine, Inguin are names that relate to an older theonym Ing and which appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr ....
"Ing (a hero)" ŋ
- {{runic|ᛟ}} éðel
The Elder Futhark Odal rune represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *ôþalan. The corresponding Gothic letter is o, called oþal. Variations of the name include Othila and Othala...
"estate" œ
- {{runic|ᛞ}} dæg
The d rune is called Daeg "day" in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem. The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet d is called dags. This rune stave is also part of the Elder Futhark, with a reconstructed Proto-Germanic name *dagaz....
"day" d
- {{runic|ᚪ}} ac "oak" a
- {{runic|ᚫ}} æ
Æ is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of many languages, including, among others, Danish and Norwegian...
sc "ash-tree" æ
- {{runic|ᚣ}} yr "bow" y
- {{runic|ᛡ}} ior
The abbreviation IOR may refer to:* Index of refraction* Istituto per le Opere di Religione , the "Vatican Bank"* Interoperable Object Reference, a reference to a CORBA or RMI-IIOP object...
"eel" ia, io
- {{runic|ᛠ}} ear
The Ear rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc is a late addition to the alphabet. It is, however, still attested from epigraphical evidence, notably the Thames scramasax, and its introduction thus cannot postdate the 9th century...
"grave" ea
The first 24 of these directly continue the Elder Futhark letters, extended by five additional runes, representing long vowels and diphthongs (
á, æ, ý, ia, ea), comparable to the five
forfedaThe Forfeda are the "additional" letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. The most important of these are five forfeda which were arranged in their own aicme or class, and were clearly invented in the Old Irish period, several centuries after the peak of Ogham usage...
of the
OghamOgham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to represent the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic ancestor of Welsh...
alphabet.
ThornThorn, or þorn , is a letter in the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic alphabets. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th. The letter originated from the rune in the Elder Fuþark, called thorn in the Anglo-Saxon and thorn or thurs in the Scandinavian rune...
and
WynnWynn was a letter of the Old English alphabet. It was used to represent the sound ....
were introduced into the Latin
English alphabetThe modern English alphabet is a Latin-based alphabet consisting of 26 letters – the same letters that are found in the Basic modern Latin alphabet:
The exact shape of printed letters varies depending on the typeface...
to represent [θ] and [w], but the they were replaced with
th and
wW is the twenty-third letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled double-u; the plural is double-ues, though this is rare.-History:...
in
Middle EnglishMiddle English is the name given by historical linguists to the diverse forms of the English language in use between the late 11th century and about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing...
.
The letter sequence, and indeed the letter inventory is not fixed. Compared to the letters of the rune poem given above,
- f u þ o r c {{latinx|ȝ}} w h n i j eo p x s t b e m l ŋ œ d a æ y io ea
the
Thames scramasaxThe Thames scramasax is a 9th century weapon, recovered from the Thames at Battersea, London. It bears a Futhorc inscription. The row of 28 runes;
...
has 28 letters, with a slightly different order, and
edhel missing:
- f u þ o r c {{latinx|ȝ}} w h n i io eo p x s t b e ŋ d l m j a æ y ea
The Vienna Codex has also 28 letters;
the
Ruthwell CrossThe Ruthwell Cross is an important Anglo-Saxon cross, also known as a preaching cross, dating back to the eighth century, when Ruthwell was part of the kingdom of Northumbria. Anglo-Saxon crosses are closely related to the contemporary Irish high crosses, and both are part of the Insular art...
inscription has 31 letters;
CottonThe Cotton or Cottonian library was the library compiled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton , an antiquarian and bibliophile. Cotton's library included his collection of books, manuscripts, coins and medallions in his personal estate. The materials comprised the books and artifacts retrieved after the...
Domitian A.ix (11th century) has another four additional runes:
- 30. {{runic|ᛢ}} cweorð kw, a modification of peorð
- 31. {{runic|ᛣ}} calc "chalice" k (when doubled appearing as kk)
- 32. {{runic|ᛥ}} stan "stone" st
- 33. {{runic|ᚸ}} gar "spear" g (as opposed to palatalized {{runic|ᚷ}} {{latinx|ȝ}})
These four additional letters are not found epigraphically (the
stan shape is found on the
Westeremden yew-stickThe Westeremden yew-stick is a yew-wood stick found in Westeremden B, in the Groningen province, in 1917, bearing a Old Frisian Futhorc inscription.* , a Spiegelrune of , similar to a variant of stan, transliterated as B below...
, but likely as a
Spiegelrune). Cotton Domitian A.ix reaches thus a total of
33 letters, according to the transliteration introduced above arranged in the order
- f u þ o r c {{latinx|ȝ}} w h n i j eo p x s t b e m l ŋ d œ a æ y ea io cw k st g
In the manuscript, the runes are arranged in three rows, glossed with Latin equivalents below (in the third row above) and with their names above (in the third row below). The manuscript has traces of corrections by a 16th century hand, inverting the position of
m and
d. Eolh is mistakenly labelled as
sigel, and in place of sigel, there is a
kaunThe k-rune is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning "ulcer". The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Kaunan. It is also known as Kenaz , based on its Anglo-Saxon name.The Elder Futhark shape is likely directly based on Old Italic c / Latin C...
like letter {{runic|ᚴ}}, corrected to proper sigel {{runic|ᛋ}} above it. Eoh is mis-labelled as eþel. Apart from
ing and
ear, all rune names are due to the later scribe, identified as Robert Talbot (died 1558).
| feoh |
ur |
þorn |
os |
rað |
cen |
gifu |
wen |
hegel |
neað |
inc |
geu{a}r |
sigel |
peorð |
|
ᛋ sig |
| ᚠ |
ᚢ |
ᚦ |
ᚩ |
ᚱ |
ᚳ |
ᚷ |
ᚹ |
ᚻ |
ᚾ |
ᛁ |
ᛄ |
ᛇ |
ᛈ |
ᛉ |
ᚴ |
| f |
u |
ð |
o |
r |
c |
g |
uu |
h |
n |
i |
ge |
eo |
p |
x |
s |
| tir |
berc |
eþel |
deg |
lagu |
mann |
|
ᛙ pro |
ac |
ælc |
yr |
|
| ᛏ |
ᛒ |
ᛖ |
ᛗ |
ᛚ |
ᛝ |
ᛞ |
ᛟ |
ᚪ |
ᚫ |
ᚣ |
ᛡ |
| t |
b |
e |
m{d} |
l |
ing |
ð{m} |
œ |
a |
æ |
y |
ear |
{orent.}
io |
{cur.}
q |
{iolx}
k |
{z}
sc{st} |
{&}
g |
| ᛠ |
ᛢ |
ᛣ |
ᛥ |
ᚸ |
|
|
ᛘ |
| ior |
cweorð |
calc |
stan |
ear |
Another futhorc row is found in Cotton Galba A.ii.
Walahfrid Strabo records a futhorc row of 42 runes.
Inscription corpus
The Old English and Old Frisian Runic Inscriptions database project at the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany aims at collecting the genuine corpus of Old English inscriptions containing more than two runes in its paper edition, while the electronic edition aims at including both genuine and doubtful inscriptions down to single-rune inscriptions. The corpus of the paper edition encompasses about one hundred objects (including stone slabs, stone crosses, bones, rings, brooches, weapons, urns, a writing tablet, tweezers, a sun-dial, comb, bracteates, caskets, a font, dishes, and graffiti). The database includes, in addition, 16 inscriptions containing a single rune, several runic coins, and 8 cases of dubious runic characters (runelike signs, possible Latin characters, weathered characters). Comprising fewer than 200 inscriptions, the corpus is slightly larger than that of Continental Elder Futhark (about 80 inscriptions, ca. 400–700), but slightly smaller than that of the Scandinavian Elder Futhark (about 260 inscriptions, ca. 200–800).
Runic finds in England cluster along the east coast with a few finds scattered further inland in Southern England. Frisian finds cluster in West Frisia. Looijenga (1997) lists 23 English (including two 7th c. Christian inscriptions) and 21 Frisian inscriptions predating the 9th century.
Frisian
- Ferwerd combcase, 6th c.; me uræ
- Amay comb, ca. 600; eda
- Oostyn comb, 8th c.; aib ka[m]bu / deda habuku (with a triple-barred h)
- Toornwerd comb, 8th c.; kabu
- Skanomody solidus
The solidus was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans, and a weight measure for gold more generally, corresponding to 4.5 grams.- Roman and Byzantine coinage :...
, 575–610; skanomodu
- Harlingen solidus, 575–625, hada (two ac runes, double-barred h)
- Schweindorf solidus, 575–625, wela[n]du "Weyland
In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith is a legendary smith. In Old Norse sources, Völundr appears in Völundarkviða, a poem in the Poetic Edda, and in Þiðrekssaga, and his legend is also depicted on the Ardre image stone VIII...
" (or þeladu; running right to left)
- Folkestone tremissis
Tremissis was a currency of the Late Ancient Rome, equal to one-third of solidus. Tremissis coins continued to be minted by descendants to the Roman Empire, such as Anglo-Saxon Britain or the Eastern Roman Empire.-External links:*...
, ca. 650; æniwulufu
- Midlum sceat
Sceattas were small, thick silver coins minted in England, Frisia and Jutland in Anglo-Saxon times, commonly referred to as the Dark Ages.-History:...
, ca. 750; æpa
- Rasquert swordhandle (whalebone handle of a symbolic sword), late 8th c.; ekumæditoka, perhaps "I, Oka, not mad" (compare ek unwodz from the Danish corpus)
- Arum sword, a yew-wood miniature sword, late 8th c.; edæboda
- Westeremden A, a yew weaving-slay; adujislume[þ]jisuhidu
- Westeremden B, a yew-stick
The Westeremden yew-stick is a yew-wood stick found in Westeremden B, in the Groningen province, in 1917, bearing a Old Frisian Futhorc inscription.* , a Spiegelrune of , similar to a variant of stan, transliterated as B below...
, 8th c.; oph?nmuji?adaamluþ / :wimœ?ahþu?? / iwio?u?du?ale
- Britsum yew-stick; þkniaberetdud / ]n:bsrsdnu; the k has Younger Futhark shape and probably represents a vowel.
- Hantum whalebone plate; [.]:aha:k[; the reverse side is inscribed with Roman ABA.
- Bernsterburen whalebone staff, ca. 800; tuda æwudu kius þu tuda
- Hamwick horse knucklebone, dated to between 650 and 1025; katæ (categorised as Frisian on linguistic grounds, from *kautōn "knucklebone")
- Wijnaldum B gold pendant, ca. 600; hiwi
- Kantens combcase, early 5th c.; li
- Hoogebeintum comb, ca. 700; […]nlu / ded
- Wijnaldum A antler piece; zwfuwizw[…]
English
- Ash Gilton (Kent) gilt silver sword pommel, 6th c.; […]emsigimer[…]
- Chessel Down I (Isle of Wight), 6th c.; […]bwseeekkkaaa
- Chessel Down II (Isle of Wight) silver plate (attached to the scabbard mouthpiece of a ring-sword), early 6th c.; æko:?ori
- Boarley (Kent) copper disc-brooch, ca. 600; ærsil
- Harford (Norfolk) brooch, ca. 650; luda:gibœtæsigilæ "Luda repaired the brooch"
- West Heslerton
West Heslerton is a small village in North Yorkshire, England, located 10 kilometres southeast of Pickering.The village is the site of one of Britain's largest archaeological excavations, that of a large settlement which seems to have been occupied for several centuries until about 800 AD...
(North Yorkshire) copper cruciform brooch, early 6th c.; neim
- Loveden Hill (Lincolnshire) urn; 5th to 6th c.; reading uncertain, maybe sïþæbæd þiuw hlaw "the grave of Siþæbæd the maid"
- Spong Hill
Spong Hill is the largest Early Saxon cemetery excavated in England with 2259 cremations and 57 inhumations. The site at Spong Hill consisted of two cemeteries, a large cremation cemetery and a smaller, 6th century cemetery of 57 inhumations...
(Norfolk), three cremation urns, 5th c.; decorated with identical runic stamps, reading aluAlu is a Germanic charm word appearing on numerous runic inscriptions found in Central and Northern Europe dating from between 200 and 800 CE...
(in Spiegelrunen).
- Kent II coins (some 30 items), 7th century; reading pada
- Kent III, IV silver sceattas, ca. 600; reading æpa and epa
- Suffolk gold shillings (three items), ca. 660; stamped with desaiona
- Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus
The Caistor-by-Norwich astralagus is a roe deer astragalus found in Norfolk, bearing a 5th c. Elder Futhark inscription, reading raïhan "roe". The inscription is the earliest found in England, and predates the evolution of the specifically Anglo-Frisian Futhorc and may be a Scandinavian import...
, 5th c.; possibly a Scandinavian import, in Elder Futhark transliteration reading raïhan "roe"
- Watchfield (Oxfordshire) copper fittings, 6th c.; Elder Futhark reading hariboki:wusa (with a probably already fronted to æ)
- Wakerley (Northamptonshire) copper brooch, 6th c.; buhui
- Dover (Kent) brooch, ca. 600; þd bli / bkk
- Upper Thames Valley gold coins (four items), 620s; benu:tigoii; benu:+:tidi
- Willoughby-on-the-Wolds (Nottinghamshire) copper bowl, ca. 600; a
- Cleatham (South Humbershire) copper bowl, ca. 600; […]edih
- Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as...
/Richborough (Kent) stone, 650 or earlier; […]ahabu[…]i, perhaps *ræhæbul "stag"
- Whitby I (Yorkshire) jet spindle whorl; ueu
- Selsey (West Sussex) gold plates, 6th to 8th c.; brnrn / anmu
- St. Cuthbert's coffin
St. Cuthbert's coffin is a wooden coffin opened during the Reformation in Durham Cathedral, dated to AD 698, the year of the death of Saint Cuthbert. Among other objects, still mostly in the Cathedral Museum, it contained the Stonyhurst Gospel...
(Durham), dated to 698
- Whitby II (Yorkshire) bone comb, 7th c.; [dæ]us mæus godaluwalu dohelipæ cy[ i.e. deus meus, god aluwaldo, helpæ Cy… "my god, almighty god, help Cy…" (Cynewulf
Cynewulf is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets known by name today, and one of four whose work survives today. He is famous for his religious compositions, and is regarded as one of the pre-eminent figures of Old English Christian poetry. Posterity knows of his name by means of runic signatures that...
or a similar personal name; compare also names of God in Old English poetryIn Old English poetry, many descriptive epithets for God were used to satisfy alliterative requirements. These epithets include:...
.)
- the Franks casket
The Franks Casket is a small whalebone chest, carved with narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with Anglo-Saxon runes. The casket is dateable from the language of its inscriptions and other features to the mid-seventh century CE. The casket is densely decorated with images and...
; 7th c.
- the Thames scramasax
The Thames scramasax is a 9th century weapon, recovered from the Thames at Battersea, London. It bears a Futhorc inscription. The row of 28 runes;
...
; 9th c.
- the Ruthwell Cross
The Ruthwell Cross is an important Anglo-Saxon cross, also known as a preaching cross, dating back to the eighth century, when Ruthwell was part of the kingdom of Northumbria. Anglo-Saxon crosses are closely related to the contemporary Irish high crosses, and both are part of the Insular art...
; 8th c., the inscription may be partly a modern reconstruction
- the Brandon antler piece, wohs wildum deoræ an "[this] grew on a wild animal"; 9th century.
- Kingmoor Ring
The Kingmoor Ring is a Viking Age Anglo-Saxon gold ring bearing a Futhorc inscription.It was discovered in June 1817 at Greymoor Hill, Kingmoor, near Carlisle ....
Related manuscript texts
- Codex Vindobonensis 795
The Codex Vindobonensis 795 is a 9th century manuscript.It contains letters and treatises by Alcuin, including a discussion of the Gothic alphabet.It also contains a description of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc....
(9th c.)
- the Anglo-Saxon rune poem
The Rune Poems are three poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Three different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poem.The Icelandic and Norwegian poems list 16...
(CottonThe Cotton or Cottonian library was the library compiled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton , an antiquarian and bibliophile. Cotton's library included his collection of books, manuscripts, coins and medallions in his personal estate. The materials comprised the books and artifacts retrieved after the...
Otho B.x.165)
- Solomon and Saturn
Solomon and Saturn is a work in the corpus of Anglo-Saxon literature. The work is cast in the form of a dialogue full of riddles, in which Solomon, the wisest king of the land of Israel, and Saturn, the eldest of the elder gods of Roman mythology, though identified in the poem as a prince of the...
(Nowell CodexCotton Vitellius A. xv is one of the four major Anglo-Saxon literature codices. It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem Beowulf; in addition to this it contains a fragment of The Life of Saint Christopher, and the more complete texts Letters of Alexander to...
)
External links
{{Runes}}