Category Archives: Light

Stanza 6: Torch

ᚳ byþ cwicera gehwam         cuþ on fyre
blac and beorhtlic         byrneþ oftust
ðær hi æþelingas         inne restaþ
᛬᛫

It is to the living who know it by its fire
Shining and bright,… More

Stanza 24: Day

byþ drihtnes sond.         deore mannum.
mære metodes leoht.         myrgþ and to hiht
eadgum and earmum.         eallum brice
᛬᛫

It is the envoy of God, dear to the people
The light… More

Translating Dæg

The word drihtnes appears twice in the rune poem, here and in stanza one, feoh, wealth. It means God, but in the sense of God as a lord, God the leader, the one in charge. God has other jobs:… More

Translating Cen

Cen is a rare word in Old English. It’s a torch here in the Rune Poem, and Cynewulf uses it to mean torch in his games with runes. Cynewulf: an Old English poet and fascinating person… More

How to Burn the Cotton Library

Collect every medieval manuscript you can get your hands on, the best ones, the really beautiful and important ones. Make a who’s who of the famed and the fabulous and gather … More

D is for Dark

Are you awake? You up? Shh. Go back to sleep. Too much light in the room, I know. Go back to sleep at a darker time. Go back to sleep about a millennium and a half ago. That better? See? You … More

How to make a Torch

Find a pine tree, a nice sticky one full of resin, that stuff will burn in rain. Look for dead branches, go for one near the base of the tree and cut it off as close to the trunk as possible.… More

Or are you both?

Light is a transverse wave and an electromagnetic wave. Light is a vibrating electric field creating a vibrating magnetic field, creating a vibrating electric field. Light is … More

Light

The Day and Torch stanzas are as similar as night and day and everybody knows it. The living (cwicera) know (cuþ) it in the torch stanza, you’d have to be dead not to, and it’s… More

Night Riddle

 

 

 … More

X≠Y≠Z: Contraries and Negations

Shh. Watch them. See them? X and Y are fighting again. Thank God for it because strife holds the world together. We need this to happen, though these two do drive Z to murder. There they… More

C is for Computer

Look at that screen in your face, envoy of light. Messenger and message, firing sense and nonsense changing everything, has already. The bright light of the world and all its darkness… More

How to Burn it All Down

You want to burn it all down, even the unburnable. Good. To burn it all down you’ll need a focus. Find out what it is that’s really pissing you off most, bring that bitterest… More

Rune Casting: Dæg

You are getting a message. Pay attention to the messenger because in the clear light of day your messenger is the message. There’s nothing subtle about it either, a massive spotlight… More

Rune Casting: Cen

Things can get pretty dark sometimes. I get it. The gloom comes in and anything shining or warm, the bright things, go dim. All the luster to anything recedes.  Be at ease, there’s… More

Originally the letter C made a hard sound in Old English, like a K, but because everything is temporary, over time C developed a second sound depending upon its immediate neighbors:… More

D. Voiced alveolar dental stop. You use your voice and soft palate to make the sound, make your breath stop against your teeth. Leave your larynx out of it and you make a T.  D was sometimes… More