Symbolic Meanings of the “Rune Poems”

Symbolic Meanings of the “Rune Poems”

John Anderson

The word “rune” describes the letters of a variety of related Germanic alphabets, including the Anglo-Saxon futhorc and the Viking-Age “younger futhark.” Such letters have a reputation for playing a magical, divinatory, or at least symbolic role in these cultures. One of the best-known sources of symbolic information on runes are the Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian, and Icelandic “Rune Poems,” dating from the eighth to fifteenth centuries. To what extent do these poems represent traditional, pre-Christian beliefs about runes? This paper uses ethnopoetic analysis in the tradition of Dell Hymes and Joel Sherzer to understand the cultural context of the Rune Poems, and employs the comparative method to compare the Rune Poems to each other and to older related texts, such as the mythological poems of the Elder Edda. Similarities found in this way suggest that there was a set of common traditions that the rune poets drew from, rather than an original rune poem that inspired all three, which attributed sets of commonly agreed meanings to each of the runes individually. The practice of making rune poems likely began as an instructional tool for teaching beginners the sounds, shapes, names, or symbolism of the runes. Future research into this topic may inquire after the meanings of the symbols, riddles, and proverbs contained in the individual stanzas of the Rune Poems.