ᛒ byþ bleda leas. bereþ efne swa ðeah
tanas butan tudder. biþ on telgum wlitig.
heah on helme hrysted fægere.
geloden leafum lyfte getenge ᛬᛫
It is without bloom, though even so it bears
Twigs for divination without offspring. It is beautiful on its boughs
High on top, fairly ornamented
Its leaves might spring up to press upon the sky.
This stanza’s riddle is about a tree. There lives a whole forest of important trees in the Rune Poem; this one is hrysted fægere, beautifully adorned, fair and decorative with leaves lyfte getenge, pressing against the sky.
Why is this tree important? You can tell the future with this tree, that’s why. It has tanas, twigs for divination. There are lots of words for a twig including twig, also gerd, croh, hris, læl, spranca, sprota, spæc, sumorloda, telga. This particular word for twig, tanas, tan, is the only one that specifies they are used for divining the future. Tanas are special twigs, prophetic twigs. Which trees produces twigs so special you could carve a rune into them and find out what’s coming? Who would know that? You know who knows that, Tacitus knows that, that’s who. He visited the people who lived north of Rome, all the … More
Your effort won’t bear the fruit you want. It will feed you well, though, and you will see the beauty that comes from your patience. Hold yourself upright (flexibly, remain bendable) press yourself to the sky and see your future, here already.
Voiced bilabial stop. Send air into your mouth. Now stop it with your lips and release. Put a little sound into it, vibrate those vocal cords.
Carve a line down, straight as a tree. Now carve two bumps on the right, budding out one side.
