Anglo-Saxon runes
Anglo-Saxon runes are runes used by the early Anglo-Saxons as an alphabet in their writing. The characters are known collectively as the futhorc , from the Old English sound values of the first six runes. The futhorc was a development from the 24-character Elder Futhark. Since the futhorc runes are thought to have first been used in Frisia before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, they have also been called Anglo-Frisian runes. They were likely used from the 5th century onward, recording Old English and Old Frisian.
They were gradually supplanted in Anglo-Saxon England by the Old English Latin alphabet introduced by Irish missionaries. Futhorc runes were no longer in common use by the eleventh century, but the Byrhtferth Manuscript indicates that fairly accurate understanding of them persisted into at least the twelfth century.
History
There are competing theories about the origins of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in Frisia and from there later spread to Britain. Another holds that runes were first introduced to Britain from the mainland where they were then modified and exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses, and a definitive answer may come from further archaeological evidence.The early futhorc was nearly identical to the Elder Futhark, except for the split of ansuz rune| a into three variants āc, æsc and ōs, resulting in 26 runes. This was done to account for the new phoneme produced by the Ingvaeonic split of allophones of long and short a. The earliest ōs rune is found on the 5th-century Undley bracteate. āc was introduced later, in the 6th century. The double-barred hægl characteristic of continental inscriptions is first attested as late as 698, on St Cuthbert's coffin; before that, the single-barred variant was used.
In England the futhorc expanded. 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 alphabet from around the 7th century, but it was still sometimes used up until the 10th or 11th century. In some cases, texts would be written in the Latin alphabet, and þorn and ƿynn 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 artefacts bearing futhorc inscriptions have survived.
Several famous English examples mix runes and Roman script, or Old English and Latin, on the same object, including the Franks Casket and St Cuthbert's coffin; in the latter, three of the names of the Four Evangelists are given in Latin written in runes, but "LUKAS" is in Roman script. The coffin is also an example of an object created at the heart of the Anglo-Saxon church that uses runes. A leading expert, Raymond Ian Page, rejects the assumption often made in non-scholarly literature that runes were especially associated in post-conversion Anglo-Saxon England with Anglo-Saxon paganism or magic.
Letters
The letter sequence and letter inventory of futhorc, along with the actual sounds made by those letters could vary depending on location and time. That being so, an authentic and unified list of runes is not possible.Rune inventory
The sequence of the runes above comes from the surviving modern copy of the Anglo-Saxon rune poem which was based on the now-destroyed Cotton Otho B.x.165 manuscript. The first 24 of these runes directly continue the elder futhark letters, and do not deviate in sequence. The next 5 runes represent additional vowels, comparable to the five forfeda of the ogham alphabet.While the rune poem and some manuscripts present ᛡ as "ior", and ᛄ as "ger", epigraphically both are variants of ger. R. I. Page designated ior a pseudo-rune.
| Image | UCS | Name | Name meaning | Transliteration | IPA |
| calc | chalk? chalice? sandal? | k | /k/ | ||
| k̄ | /k/ | ||||
| gar | spear | ḡ | /g/, | ||
| cweorð | q | /k/? | |||
| stan | stone | N/A | /st/ | ||
| N/A | ę, ᴇ | /ǝ/? | |||
| N/A | ᶖ | /eo/? /io/? |
The runes above were not included in the rune poem. Calc appears in manuscripts, and epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross, the Bramham Moor Ring, the Kingmoor Ring, and elsewhere. Gar appears in manuscripts, and epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross and probably on the Bewcastle Cross. The unnamed ᛤ rune only appears on the Ruthwell Cross, where it seems to take calc's place as /k/ where that consonant is followed by a secondary fronted vowel. Cweorð and stan only appear in manuscripts. The unnamed ę rune only appears on the Baconsthorpe Grip. The unnamed ᶖ rune only appears on the Sedgeford Handle.
There is little doubt that calc and gar are modified forms of cen and gyfu, and that they were invented to address the ambiguity which arose from /k/ and /g/ spawning palatalized offshoots. R. I. Page designated cweorð and stan pseudo-runes, noting their apparent pointlessness, and speculating that cweorð was invented merely to give futhorc an equivalent to Q. The ę rune is likely a local innovation, possibly representing an unstressed vowel, and may derive its shape from ᛠ. The unnamed ᶖ rune is found in a personal name, where it stands for a vowel or diphthong. Anglo-Saxon expert Gaby Waxenberger speculates that ᶖ may not be a true rune, but rather a bindrune of ᛁ and ᚩ, or the result of a mistake.
Combinations and digraphs
Sundry runic combinations are found in the futhorc corpus. For example, the sequence ᚫᚪ appears on the Mortain Casket where ᛠ could theoretically have been used.| Combination | IPA | Word | Meaning | Attestation |
| ᚩᛁ | /oi/ | ]oin | Lindisfarne Stone II | |
| ᚷᚳ | , | blagcmon | Maughold Stone I | |
| ᚷᚷ | ~ | eggbrect | ||
| ᚻᚹ | /ʍ/ | gehwelc | each | Honington Clip |
| ᚻᛋ | /ks/ | wohs | to wax | Brandon Antler |
| ᚾᚷ | /ŋg/ | hring | ring | Wheatley Hill Silver-Gilt Finger-Ring |
| ᛁᚷ | /ij/ | modig | proud/bold/arrogant | Ruthwell Cross |
| ᛇᛡ | ~/ij/ | hælïj | holy | Gandersheim Casket |
| ᛇᛋ | /ks/ | BennaREïs | king Benna | |
| ᛋᚳ | /sk/, /ʃ/ | fisc | fish | Franks Casket |
| ᛖᚩ | /eo/, /eːo/ | eoh | Kirkheaton Stone | |
| ᛖᚷ | /ej/ | legdun | laid | Ruthwell Cross |
| ᛖᛇ | ~/ej/, | eateïnne | Thornhill Stone II | |
| ᛖᚪ | /æɑ/, /æːɑ/ | eadbald | Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano Graffiti | |
| ᚪᚢ | ~/ɑu/ | saule | soul | Thornhill Stone III |
| ᚪᛁ | /ɑi/ | desaiona | ||
| ᚪᛡ | /ɑj/ | fajhild | Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros Graffiti | |
| ᚫᚢ | ~/æu/ | dæus | deus | Whitby Comb |
| ᚫᚪ | /æɑ/, /æːɑ/ | æadan | Mortain Casket |
.
Usage and culture
A rune in Old English could be called a "rúnstæf", or simply "rúne".Futhorc inscriptions hold diverse styles and contents. Ocher has been detected on at least one English runestone, implying its runes were once painted. Bind runes are not uncommon in futhorc, and were seemingly used most often to ensure the runes would fit in a limited space. Futhorc logography is attested to in a few manuscripts. This was done by having a rune stand for its name, or a similar sounding word. In the sole extant manuscript of the poem Beowulf, the ēðel rune was used as a logogram for the word ēðel. Both the Hackness Stone and Codex Vindobonensis 795 attest to futhorc Cipher runes. In one manuscript a writer seems to have used futhorc runes like Roman numerals, writing ᛉᛁᛁ⁊ᛉᛉᛉᛋᚹᛁᚦᚩᚱ, which likely means "12&30 more".
There is some evidence of futhorc rune magic. Sword pommels have been found in England which seem to bear ᛏ runes which may be akin to magical runes spoken of in Norse myth. The possibly magical alu sequence seems to appear on an urn found at Spong Hill in spiegelrunes. In a tale from Bede's Ecclesiastical History, a man named Imma cannot be bound by his captives and is asked if he is using "litteras solutorias" to break his binds. In one Old English translation of the passage, Imma is asked if he is using "drycraft" or "runestaves" to break his binds. Furthermore, futhorc rings have been found with what appear to be enchanted inscriptions for the stanching of blood.
Inscription corpus
The Old English and Old Frisian Runic Inscriptions database project at the Catholic University of 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.
The database includes, in addition, 16 inscriptions containing a single rune, several runic coins, and 8 cases of dubious runic characters. Comprising fewer than 200 inscriptions, the corpus is slightly larger than that of Continental Elder Futhark, but slightly smaller than that of the Scandinavian Elder Futhark.
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 lists 23 English and 21 Frisian inscriptions predating the 9th century.
Currently known inscriptions in Anglo-Frisian runes include:
| FRISIAN |
| * Ferwerd combcase, 6th century; me uræ |
| * Amay comb, c. 600; eda |
| * Oostyn comb, 8th century; aib kabu / deda habuku |
| * Toornwerd comb, 8th century; kabu |
| * Skanomody solidus, 575–610; skanomodu |
| * Harlingen solidus, 575–625, hada |
| * Schweindorf solidus, 575–625, weladu "Weyland" |
| * Folkestone tremissis, c. 650; æniwulufu |
| * Midlum sceat, c. 750; æpa |
| * Rasquert swordhandle, late 8th century; ek mædit oka, "I, Oka, not made mad" |
| * Arum sword, a yew-wood miniature sword, late 8th century; edæboda |
| * Westeremden A, a yew weaving-slay; adujislumejisuhidu |
| * Westeremden B, a yew-stick, 8th century; 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:knlu / ded |
| * Wijnaldum A antler piece; zwfuwizw |
| ENGLISH |
| * Ash Gilton gilt silver sword pommel, 6th century; emsigimer |
| * Chessel Down I, 6th century; bwseeekkkaaa |
| * Chessel Down II silver plate, early 6th century; æko:?ori |
| * Boarley copper disc-brooch, c. 600; ærsil |
| * Harford brooch, c. 650; luda:gibœtæsigilæ "Luda repaired the brooch" |
| * West Heslerton copper cruciform brooch, early 6th century; neim |
| * Loveden Hill urn; 5th to 6th century; reading uncertain, maybe sïþæbæd þiuw hlaw "the grave of Siþæbæd the maid" |
| * Spong Hill, three cremation urns, 5th century; decorated with identical runic stamps, reading alu. |
| * Kent II coins, 7th century; reading pada |
| * Kent III, IV silver sceattas, c. 600; reading æpa and epa |
| * Suffolk gold shillings, c. 660; stamped with desaiona |
| * Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus, 5th century; possibly a Scandinavian import, in Elder Futhark transliteration reading raïhan "roe" |
| * Watchfield copper fittings, 6th century; Elder Futhark reading hariboki:wusa |
| * Wakerley copper brooch, 6th century; buhui |
| * Dover brooch, c. 600; þd bli / bkk |
| * Upper Thames Valley gold coins, 620s; benu:tigoii; benu:+:tidi |
| * Willoughby-on-the-Wolds copper bowl, c. 600; a |
| * Cleatham copper bowl, c. 600; edih |
| * Sandwich/Richborough stone, 650 or earlier; ahabui, perhaps *ræhæbul "stag" |
| * Whitby I jet spindle whorl; ueu |
| * Selsey gold plates, 6th to 8th centuries; brnrn / anmu |
| * St. Cuthbert's coffin, dated to 698 |
| * Whitby II bone comb, 7th century; us mæus godaluwalu dohelipæ cy grew on a wild animal"; 9th century. |
| * Kingmoor Ring |
| * the Seax of Beagnoth; 9th century ; the only complete alphabet |
Related manuscript texts
- Codex Vindobonensis 795 — contains a description of Anglo-Saxon runes
- the Anglo-Saxon rune poem
- Cotton MS Domitian A IX
- The Byrhtferth's Manuscript MS 17 — contains
- Codex Sangallensis 878 — contains a presentation of Anglo-Saxon runes
- Solomon and Saturn — contains some runes that stand for the word that names them