The first thing one may notice is the term "Rune" is not translated in the old English the same by different translation authors.
Here I have tried to find as many Rune related concepts as possible. Not all meaning Runic Glyphs and Staves.
TDK
The Rune Types:
Hell-Runes
ríce tó rúne·
beadurúne battle-runes
rúnstafas rune-staves - Sword Hilt Runes
Death-rune.
And in "Havamal" we see Rune Spells: My runes are strong.
Rune Writing - RUNES WERE WRIT
Reading or deciphering of runes "rathen"
| Þæt wæs wraéc micel wine Scyldinga, |
170
| That was great misery for the Friend of the Scyldings, |
| módes brecða. Monig oft gesæt | a breaking of his spirit. Many often sat | |
| ríce tó rúne· raéd eahtedon· | the mighty at counsel; pondered a plan, | |
| hwæt swíðferhðum sélest waére | what by strong-minded men would be best, | |
| wið faérgryrum tó gefremmanne· | against the sudden horror, to do; |
VIII
| ||||
| Hunferð maþelode Ecgláfes bearn |
| |||
| þe æt fótum sæt fréan Scyldinga· | who sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings; | |||
| onband beadurúne --wæs him Béowulfes síð |
501
| he unbound battle-runes --for him was the venture of Beowulf, | ||
| módges merefaran micel æfþunca | brave seafarer's, a source of great displeasure, | |||
| forþon þe hé ne úþe þæt aénig óðer man | because he did not grant that any other man | |||
| aéfre maérða þon má middangeardes | ever glorious deeds the more on middle-earth | |||
| gehédde under heofenum þonne hé sylfa--: | heeded under the heavens than he himself--: |
| þurh wæteres wylm waldend sealde-- |
1693
| through the surging of waters the Ruler granted-- |
| swá wæs on ðaém scennum scíran goldes | also was on the sword-hilt of shining gold | |
| þurh rúnstafas rihte gemearcod | in rune-staves rightly marked, | |
| geseted ond gesaéd hwám þæt sweord geworht | it was set down and said, for whom the sword wrought, | |
| írena cyst aérest waére |
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OLD ENGLISH POETRY TRANSLATIONS INTO ALLITERATIVE VERSE
WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES By J. DUNCAN SPAETH
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
BEOWULF THE MYTH OF THE SHEAF-CHILD :
Sword Runes:
15 On the polished gold of the guard of the hilt,
Runes were writ that rightly told,
To him that read them, for whom that weapon,
Finest of sword-blades, first was made,
The splendid hilt with serpents entwined.
Hell Runes:
20 The fell destroyer kept feeding his rage On young and old. So all night long He prowled o'er the fen and surprised his victims, Death-shadow dark. (The dusky realms Where the hell- runes haunt are hidden from men.)
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SAINTS' LEGENDS
ELENE:
Death Rune:
Death Rune:
5 Their banners they raised, and banded together.
They massed their ranks and marched to war.
The wolf of the weald his war-song chanted,
Howled his death-rune. Hoarsely screamed
The wet-winged eagle o'er the wake of the foe.
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Notes:
P203-204
hey all slept in the bowers. 6.—15. REFUSING TO END THE FEUD. In the Battle of Maldon the heathen pirates "Danes," offer to desist from their raids if the English will pay ransom, but Byrhtnoth refuses to buy indemnity by enforced tribute. Here the Danes are represented as willing to pay Grendel to let them alone. But Grendel would neither make and keep a treaty nor pay indemnity (wergild) for the damage he had done.— 24. HELL-RUNES. Runes were the letters used by the Ger manic peoples before writing became general. They were probably modifications of the Latin letters for the sake of more easily carving them on wood, curved lines being straightened, and lines running with the grain being made diagonal so as to prevent the splitting of the wood, e.g. F = V'. "Write" means to carve or cut; Beowulf in his last fight "writes" the dragon in two, a sword-writing mightier than the pen's. The runes were used for inscriptions on swords, drinking-horns, etc. and inspired the sense of magic and mystery that letters always have for the unlettered, so that "rune" came to mean "mystery." This sense was emphasized by the use of rune-staves (Germ. buch-stabe) in reading omens. Hence the transition to magic witch craft was easy. Hel-rune for "witch" occurs in O. E. glosses, and Jordanes tells that Filimer king of the Goths, found witches among his people, quas Haliu-runnas cognominat. See the examples of runes given in the note on Cynewulf, p. 233.—31. THAT HE MIGHT NOT VISIT HIS GOODLY THRONE. A difficult passage. The "he" is generally understood to refer to Grendel who was prevented from touching the seat of Hrothgar—no he bone gift-stol gretan moste
P203-204
hey all slept in the bowers. 6.—15. REFUSING TO END THE FEUD. In the Battle of Maldon the heathen pirates "Danes," offer to desist from their raids if the English will pay ransom, but Byrhtnoth refuses to buy indemnity by enforced tribute. Here the Danes are represented as willing to pay Grendel to let them alone. But Grendel would neither make and keep a treaty nor pay indemnity (wergild) for the damage he had done.— 24. HELL-RUNES. Runes were the letters used by the Ger manic peoples before writing became general. They were probably modifications of the Latin letters for the sake of more easily carving them on wood, curved lines being straightened, and lines running with the grain being made diagonal so as to prevent the splitting of the wood, e.g. F = V'. "Write" means to carve or cut; Beowulf in his last fight "writes" the dragon in two, a sword-writing mightier than the pen's. The runes were used for inscriptions on swords, drinking-horns, etc. and inspired the sense of magic and mystery that letters always have for the unlettered, so that "rune" came to mean "mystery." This sense was emphasized by the use of rune-staves (Germ. buch-stabe) in reading omens. Hence the transition to magic witch craft was easy. Hel-rune for "witch" occurs in O. E. glosses, and Jordanes tells that Filimer king of the Goths, found witches among his people, quas Haliu-runnas cognominat. See the examples of runes given in the note on Cynewulf, p. 233.—31. THAT HE MIGHT NOT VISIT HIS GOODLY THRONE. A difficult passage. The "he" is generally understood to refer to Grendel who was prevented from touching the seat of Hrothgar—no he bone gift-stol gretan moste
P215
49. 24. THE LIFELESS BODY SPRANG FROM THE BLOWS, etc. Not an act of wanton revenge, but probably in order to prevent Grendel's double or ghost from haunting the hall. 53.—16. RUNES WERE WRIT. Literally: Through rune- staves it was rightly marked, set and said, for whom the sword, etc. "Read" is the regular word that denotes de ciphering of runes. (Cf. German "rathen," and see note on Hell-rune.) —31. NOT HEREMOD THUS, etc. Like Ermanric among the Goths, Heremod became for the Danes the stock example of a bad and cruel king. He is here introduced as the anti-type of the good king, just as for readers of the poem Beowulf himself was the type of the noble king and hero. See Chadwick Origins, 148 ff.
P232-236
The Authorship of the Elene. At the close of the poem the name "Cynewulf" is woven into the verse in runic char acters. The same name, similarly signed, is found in three other poems, Crist, Juliana, and the Fates of the Apostles. (See note on Cynewulf's Crist, p. 239). Immediately pre ceding the runic insertion there is a passage in which the poet gives some account of himself. As this autobiographic epilog, though not a part of the narrative proper, is at tached to Elene, and as it is our chief source of informa tion concerning Cynewulf himself, we give it here in trans lation, reproducing the combination of rime and alliteration in which it is written. (The so-called Rime-poem uses the same device, which is frequent in Scandinavian alliterative verse.)
Thus weary of the strife of this woful life, (1236) I spun my song, and studied it long. Deeply I pondered, darkly I wondered, When the night-watches fell ; nor knew I well The rood's strange story, till a radiant glory Unlocked by the might of its marvellous light
NOTES 233
The gates of my mind. Guilty I pined, By woe enchained, by wickedness stained, Sorrow-driven, my sins unshriven, Till I learned the way of weaving a lay, In age to uphold my heart consoled. God through his power gave me the dower Of story and song. His spirit was strong My words to unwind, to awaken my mind, Loosen the lays that I lift in his praise With love and delight, while I live among men.1 Not once, but often within me I pondered The cross of glory, ere I came to unfold The marvel rare of the radiant tree As I found it in books in the fulness of time Writ to reveal the victory-token.2
After this come the lines in which Cynewulf has in scribed his name. In reading the runes in this passage it must be remembered that instead of being called by their sounds as in the English (Latin) alphabet, the runes are named after familiar words that begin with their respective sounds, just as in our rimed children's alphabets. Thus "th," indicated by the runic symbol b which became a regu lar letter in the Anglo-Saxon alphabet, was called "thorn." In the signed passage in Elene, the runes play a double role. As letters they spell out the name Cynewulf; as words they fill out the sense of the lines. In an Old English poem that gives the key to rune-words,—a rimed rune alphabet—the rune letters occurring in CYNEWULF are given the following names : hi-C cen, fire, torch ; E?-Y yr, bow ; -J.-N nyd, need; M-E eoh, horse; ^-W wyn, joy (cf. winsome); fVU ur-(ox) (German aur-ochs) ; r*-L lagu, water; f-F feoh, wealth (fee) ; C, Y, and U cannot well have the meaning in Cynewulf's lines that they have in the rune- poem, but he might easily after the manner of the rebus have used them for other words of the same sound (cf. eye, I; hour, our; you, yew). Thus cen, besides meaning "fire" or "torch" might stand for the adjective "cene," keen- hearted; "yr" for the first syllable of "yrmbu," poverty;
xAt this point the rimed portion ends.
2 See note on The Vision of the Cross, p. 241.
234 OLD ENGLISH POETRY
and "ur" for the pronoun "ur" our. Thus interpreted the passage would read as follows, inserting for the letters of Cynewulf's name the meaning they bear in the margin:
C cene Beaten by care-billows, the C droops keen-hearted Though often treasures and appled gold Y yrmbu, poverty He had gained in the mead-hall, he mourns his Y. N nyd, need By 'N companioned he now endures E eoh, horse A narrow fortune, though aforetime his E
Measured the mile-paths, merrily pranced W wyn, joy With jewelled bridle-rein. VV is fled, Gone with the years. Youth is departed, U ur, ours The old-time pride. U. was once The gleam of youth, but the years have gone ;
The prime of life is passed forever, L lagu, water Rushed away, like running L. F feoh, (fee) Like a flowing stream. So fleeting is F
wealth To all under heaven. So earth's bright hues Wane 'neath the welkin like a wind that riseth; Roaring aloud, o'er the land it rages, Sweeps the skies and scours the main, Then suddenly ceasing, silent falls Narrowly penned in its prison cell.
The rune-passage is appended in the original for com parison :
A waes saec ob baet cnyssed cearwelmum, hi drusende beah he medohealle mabmas bege, aeplede gold. R gnornode •f. gefera nearusorge dreah
enge rune, ])aer him M fore milpapas mast, modig braegde, wirum gewlenced. ^ is geswibrad gomen aefter gearum. geogoj) is gecyrred a1d onmedla. fi waes geara geogolAades glaem. nu synt geardagas aefter fyrstmearce forb gewitene, lifwynne geliden, swa ^ toglideji flodas gefysde. f aegwham bib laene under lyfte.
NOTES 235
For a fuller discussion of the rune-passage see Cook's Crist Albion ed. : 151 ff., C. W. Kennedy, Poems of Cyne wulf 7 ff. and C. F. Brown, The Autobiographical Element in the Cynewulfian Rune passages, Englische Studien XXXVIII, 196. Earlier scholars tried to construct a bi ography of Cynewulf out of the allusions in the rune- passage to the "appled gold" in the mead hall, and the "prancing steed," suggesting that he was a wandering min strel, and like the author of Deor's complaint suffered mis fortunes in later life. But Professor Brown has shown that the rune signatures themselves are not autobiographical, and all that remains is the testimony to a profound re ligious experience, a "conversion," the genuineness and depth of which is borne out by the character of the poems to which Cynewulf has signed his name. 95.—5. IN THE CIRCLE OF YEARS. The first two lines are from Professor Kennedy's prose rendering. The date of the battle was 312, and it was actually fought against the generals of Maxentius. Constantine had been proclaimed emperor by the army, at York in 306. The date of Helena's discovery is given as 326. But it was not until the end of the 4th century and in the West that the legend of St. Helena appeared. 97.—20. To CAESAR HIMSELF AS IN SLUMBER HE LAY. The source of Constantine's vision is in the Life of Con stantine by Eusebius Bk. 1, chaps. 28-31. The whole pas sage is translated in Cook's Crist, p. 190. According to Eusebius the vision of the cross in battle came first and the dream after. In Cynewulf's poem nothing is said of the vision on the battle-field. 98.—22. GAVE ORDERS TO MAKE. See the description of Eusebius: "At dawn of day he arose and . . . calling to gether the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat in the midst of them, and described to them the figure of the sign he had seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones. And this representation I have myself had an opportunity of seeing. Now it was made in the following manner: A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross, by means of a piece laid transversely over it. On the top of the whole was fixed a
236 OLD ENGLISH POETRY
crown, formed by the intertexture of gold and precious stones ; and on this, two letters indicating the name of Christ symbolized the Saviour's title by means of its first characters—the letter P (the Greek R) being intersected by X (Gr. Ch) exactly in its centre; and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on his helmet. From the transverse piece which crossed the spear was suspended a kind of streamer of purple cloth covered with a profuse embroidery of most brilliant precious stones." See note 68-13. 101.—n. THEY DROVE O'ER THE FLOOD. Compare the description of the storm in Andreas 1. 369 ff.
The sea grew stormy, stirred was the deep, The home of the whale ; the horned fish played, Gambolled in the waves, and the gray sea-mew Circled greedy; the sky was darkened, The gale waxed stronger, the surges roared, The billows rose, the rigging moaned, They were drenched in brine by the breaking seas, And terror of ocean entered their hearts.
Wedercandel swearc is exactly "the lift grew dark" and onhrered hwalmere is "and gurly grew the sea" of the bal lad of Sir Patrick Spens and with waedo gewaette compare :
O laith, laith were our gude Scots lords To wet their cork-heeled shoon
107.—15. THERE SINCE THAT DAY. Our selection closes with line 1032. Section XIII of the Ms. describes the discovery of the nails used at the crucifixion, and then follows the personal passage discussed in the introductory note to Elene.
P252
. 147.—21. EARNESTLY URGE THEE OVERSEAS. Old English: lustum lasran, baet bu lagu drefde. Professor Blackburn renders: "Earnestly to urge thee to sail the sea." The next four lines follow Professor Blackburn's version closely. The Old English has:
"sibban bu gehyrde on hlibes oran galan geomorne geac on bearwe, ne laet by bec sibban sibes getwaefan, lade gelettan lifgendne monn."
Literally: "When thou hast heard on the cliff's brow, the mournful cuckoo sing in the grove, do not thou then let liv ing man sunder thee from the journey, hinder thee from going." 148.—18. In the original there follow five more lines, containing runes which are supposed to be a cipher or pass word known to the recipient of the letter.
P256
P256
34. WITCH FLY AWAY. In old German, witches are called woodwives, and were supposed to inhabit the wild forest. We must not lay too much stress on the echoes of the Valk- yria myth in our charm. Even before the introduction of Christianity, Germanic folklore had its wicked women and wood-wives, who had nothing to do with the shield-maidens of Norse mythology. The Norse had their "svart-alfar," black or wicked elves, as well as their "Ijos-alfar," light or good elves. "The heathen Teuton saw all round him a
varied race of demons (especially wood-sprites such as O.H.G. haga-zussa, O.E. haegtes, i.e. German hexe, witch, and Goth. haljaruna, O.H.G. helleruna, O.E. hellerune) in their several haunts, against whose malignant power his only resource was zealous devotion to witchcraft."—KAUF- MANN, Northern Mythology, Temple Primers, p. 18. See note on hell-runes, Beowulf, 6-24. In the Havamal, one of the Eddic poems, there is an interesting allusion to just such a "spell" as is preserved in our charm. The poet says :
"A spell I can work when witch-women ride Speeding swift through the air. My runes are strong. I can stop their flight Hurry them naked home Home with bewildered wits."
Other charms he claims to know which have the power of releasing foot from fetter, hand from haft, and of checking an arrow in full flight.
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https://books.google.com/books?id=S46F_Hj8r5MC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=beowulf+poem+and+Hell+Runes&source=bl&ots=iYF1_JlGMG&sig=LQsrwDf0Lwk44ooLR059Glau3YQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXm4DwprXOAhVKL8AKHdkfAMoQ6AEINjAF#v=onepage&q=beowulf%20poem%20and%20Hell%20Runes&f=false
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beowulf
A bit more Modern Translation:
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