Category Archives: Sitting to Battle

Stanza 14: The Game

ᛈ byþ symble plega. and hlehter
wlancum ðar wigan sittaþ
on beor sele bliþe æt somne ᛬᛫

It is a feast game and laughter
For proud sitting to battle… More

Stanza 16: Sun

ᛋ semannum symble biþ on hiht
ðonn hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ
oþ hibrim hengest bringeþ to lande ᛬᛫

For mariners, it is always hoped upon
When they ferry… More

Translating Sigel

The answer to this riddle is the sun, though when you read it it could be something else related to seafaring. Semannum, more commonly spelled sæmanum, means mariners, plural, people… More

Translating Peorð

Nobody knows what this is for certain. The only time we ever see the word peorð in Old English is in lists of rune names, so we only know what the Rune Poem riddle says, that it is what it is… More

How to Navigate by the Sun

I do not advise navigating by the sun. It’s a mathematical mess with all parts in motion, the sun, the sea, you. Pure chaos. If you must get in a boat, stick to the coastline where… More

S is for Saxon

People hear Anglo Saxon and assume it means a genetically white person living in any time period from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain to our own. Some use the term Anglo Saxon… More

Battle

… More

L-a

S-g is m-g

W-t c-n it be?

N-y k-s

So d-t l-k at me.… More

Sitting to Battle

Imagine yourself sitting in a beer hall with the rune carvers, playing a game requiring strategy, skill, luck. You are feeling wlanc, proud, boastful. What are you boasting about?… More

X≠Y≠Z: Settlers

Y: I wanted to play Monopoly.

X: Monopoly is stupid, there’s no skill in Monopoly.

Y: There is skill.

X: No, it’s just luck. It’s boring and old, it’s what … More

Alphybettyformed Verbage
A is always for apple. B is for a lot of stuff. Ball, bear, boat, banana, so many B things. Very early we learn from the one to the infinite is but a step.

The Old English Rune Poem is an alphabet book. It looks like an alphabet book, but like a modern alphabet book there’s infinitely more to it, if you look close. Every stanza of the poem describes a letter, a rune. In Old English the word rune means secret. The secret is these letters weren’t just for writing. In secret, when nobody was looking, people could carve the runes into bits of wood and cast lots with them. Find out their fates. Answer a few questions. Solve some problems. They could do this because each stanza of the Rune Poem, gives a little bit of wisdom, a little picture of life, sometimes a warning. Always in the form of a riddle. The Rune Poem is a collection of riddles that could divine the future.

This poem has another secret hidden in its folds that fascinates me. There’s a riddle in this collection of alphabet riddles, deep in its structure. Take the letters, cut them apart from each other, carve them into bits of wood if that helps you, and line them up in a row. Now fold your line in half so number 1 is next to 29, 2 next to 28, etc. Make the pairs and read them together. They match each other. They sing duets about light, renewal, a song of home and exile. A song of the water cycle. A beautiful weapon is one thing but a thorn can really hurt you. Some things are dependable. Everything is temporary. The runes sing these things to themselves in the mirror, duet by duet, until you get to the clue, the key to the secret, number 15 in the middle -- Helix, standing alone all twisted, singing we should twine this poem aound itself and look at it again.

-- Vern Tonkin

© 2022

Category Archives: Sitting to Battle

Stanza 14: The Game

Stanza 16: Sun

Translating Sigel

Translating Peorð

How to Navigate by the Sun

S is for Saxon

Battle

L-a

Sitting to Battle

X≠Y≠Z: Settlers

Always

P is for Poetry

How to Play the Game

Rune Casting: Peorþ

Rune Casting: Sigel

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