The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, or alphabet, is a set of runes which were used as a writing system before the adoption of the Latin alphabet. The characters are formed from straight lines to make them easier to carve into wood, or occasionally metal or stone; ink and parchment were not generally used for writing before the arrival of the Christian Church.

The futhorc, named after the first six letters of the sequence, differs from the Futhark of the Norse. There were different runic alphabets in use around northern Europe, including versions used by the Northern Germanic peoples. Each character in the series had its own meaning, and as a result could condense messages or charms into few characters. In general the characters represent quite simple, day-to-day objects, such as trees, weather or animals. It is suggested that the names are more likely describing the shape of the character to help memorise it.

The word “rūn” (meaning “rune”) referred to both the characters and also meant “secret”, and the related verb “rūnian” means “to whisper”. Runes could be used for charms and spells but were also probably mostly used for more mundane purposes such as brief messages, memorials or records. Although there is an idea that they were related to magic and divination, in fact this is not particularly supported in the Anglo-Saxon evidence, and runes are most widely attested in Christian sources which implies such a link was not explicit at the time; runes could be used to write charms, but not all writing in runes was magical.

Surviving runic inscriptions

The earliest runes in England have been found on a cremation urn in Norfolk and dated to the 4^th-5^th centuries. When coins later began to be produced runic lettering was used on some of them. Later still runes were used more widely in commemorations such as the memorial stones from Lindisfarne and Hartlepool, on stone crosses and even St Cuthbert’s coffin.

The Frank’s Casket is an early 8^th century whalebone chest with carved panels on the sides and lid depicting stories from Roman, Jewish, Christian and Germanic tradition. It has inscriptions in Old English and Latin using both Latin and runic characters, including an entire riddle.

Read more about the Franks Casket.

The Ruthwell Cross, standing at 6m high, is an important Northumbrian sculpture, also dating to the 8^th century. It has four extracts from the early Christian poem “The Dream of the Rood” carved on its sides in runes and linked to the images on the panels depicting key scenes from the Crucifixion. It is not unique in having runes inscribed on it, as runes also appear on the Bewcastle Cross for example; however, the lengthy extracts from a poem are unique in this context.

A particularly unusual find was a 10^th century scramseax, or long –knife, found in the Thames and referred to as “Beagnoth’s seax”. The blade has Beagnoth’s name and a copy of the futhorc inscribed along it.

Read more about Beagnoth’s seax.

Runes also occur in various manuscripts as shorthand for whole words; they also are used in Cynewulf’s poems. Cynewulf is one of the few named poets (we also know of Caedmon) from the Anglo-Saxon period and we know his name because he left his signature in runes among some of his poems. He wrote verses so that he was able include the words represented by the futhorc characters which spelled his name. He may have done this in order for his name to be remembered so that later people would pray for his soul. Four poems have been identified as his, and they are known by the modern names of: The Fates of the Apostles; Elene; Christ II; and Juliana.

Another poem, The First Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn, also includes runes but here they are used more to represent letters rather than words.

Finally, some of the riddles from the Exeter Book also use runes as clues to help the audience solve them. However, it is fair to say that debate continues as to many of the solutions to the riddles – and perhaps they were never intended to have a single answer.

 You can read more about the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem to find out what the individual characters represented.

The Old English poem “Deor” is unique in that it has a repeating refrain “þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg” (That passed away, and so may this). It also describes five disastrous events in history or mythology, which would have been familiar to the audience, and which are used to demonstrate that terrible situations can be overcome. The poet then explains his own difficulty – he has been replaced in his lord’s favour by a rival.

The five stories mentioned in the poem are:

1. Weland was the mythical smith-god disabled by King Niðhad upon whom Weland took terrible revenge which included the rape of Beadohild, the king’s daughter and the murder of his sons, before escaping. He is depicted on the 7^th century Northumbrian Franks Casket;
2. Beadohild’s own story in which she is said to have given birth to the hero Widia;
3. Mæthilde was rescued from drowning by the harpist Geat following her capture by the demonic River King;
4. The reference to Þeodric is more difficult to interpret; it may be the king or his people who are suffering. The poem could refer to one of the many kings by that name. One option is that is means Þeodric the Great who ruled for 33 years at Ravenna, where he was a strong king but also a heretic in the eyes of the Roman Church. He was responsible for the death of the admired philosopher Boethius (whose work King Alfred believed was one of those “most needful for men to know”);
5. Eormanric, King of the Goths, died in 375 CE. He appears as a cruel tyrant in a number of stories. Widia is said to have fought for him against Þeodric (the Great).

After this reference there is a more philosophical passage, quite Christian in nature, about the hardships of life.

Finally we discover that Heorrenda is the one who has replaced Deor. He was a poet who helped King Heoden to marry Hild and Deor was (until now) the poet of the same people, the Heodeningas.

You can listen to a reading of the poem and read the text and translation below.

Leofwin2010’s version (abridged) of Deor

Wēlund him be wurman wræces cunnade,      Welund of the Wurmas suffered woe,
ānhydig eorl eorfoþa drēag,                                  Proud lord, he suffered  torments long,
hæfde him tō gesiþþe sorge and longaþ,           Sorrow and longing were his company,
wintercealde wræce; wēan oft onfond               Exile cold as winter. Hardship was his lot
þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg.                             That passed away, and so may this.

Þēodric āhte þrītig wintra                                        Theodric ruled for thirty years
Maeringa burg; þæt wæs monegum cūþ.           In the Mearings’ city. That was well-known
þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg.                              That passed away, and so may this.

we geāscodan Eormanrīces                                    We’ve heard much ofthe wolvish nature
wylfenne geþōht; āhte wīde folc                           Of king Ermanaric who long ruled
Gotena rīces. Þæt wæs grim cyning.                    The gothic realms: that was a cruel king.
þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg.                              That passed away, and so may this.  ic bi mē sylfum secgan wille,                                 I wish to speak about myself
þæt ic hwīle wæs heodeninga scop,                     Once I was minstrel of the Heodenings,
dryhtne dyre. mē wæs Dēor noma.                      Dear to my patron, my name was Deor.
āhte ic fela wintra folgað tilne,                               Many years I had a fine position
holdne hlāford, oþþæt heorrenda nū,                 And a loyal lord, until Heorrenda now,
lēodcræftig monn, londryht geþāh                       That skilful poet, has received my lands,
þæt mē eorla hlēo aer gesealde.                             Which once my noble lord gave to me.
þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg.                               That passed away, and so may this