The Three Ancient Rune Poems: Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian & Icelandic
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By Nicole Lau
The Elder Futhark's 24 runes did not come with instruction manuals. What survived from the ancient Norse and Germanic world are three remarkable poems — the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poem — each offering a stanza for each rune, each revealing a different facet of the rune's original meaning and cultural context. These three poems are among the most important primary sources for runic understanding, and studying them together reveals the depth, complexity, and sometimes surprising nature of the runes as the ancient peoples understood them.
Why Three Poems?
The three rune poems were composed at different times, in different places, and for different purposes. The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (Old English, likely 8th-10th century CE) covers 29 runes of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. The Norwegian Rune Poem (Old Norse, likely 13th century CE) covers 16 runes of the Younger Futhark. The Icelandic Rune Poem (Old Norse, likely 15th century CE) also covers 16 Younger Futhark runes. Together, these three poems give us the closest thing we have to the original Norse understanding of runic meaning.
The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem survives in a single manuscript (Cotton Otho B.x) partially destroyed in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731. It is the longest and most detailed of the three poems, with each rune receiving a stanza of 3-5 lines describing its name-word's qualities in the physical world.
Key stanzas:
Fehu: "Wealth is a comfort to all men; yet must every man bestow it freely."
Uruz: "The aurochs is proud and has great horns; it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns; a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle."
Thurisaz: "The thorn is exceedingly sharp, an evil thing for any knight to touch, uncommonly severe on all who sit among them."
Ansuz: "The mouth is the source of all language, a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men."
Raidho: "Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads on the back of a stout horse."
Kenaz: "The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame; it always burns where princes sit within."
Gebo: "Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity."
Wunjo: "Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety, and has prosperity and happiness."
Hagalaz: "Hail is the whitest of grain; it is whirled from the vault of heaven and then it melts into water."
Nauthiz: "Trouble is oppressive to the heart; yet often it proves a source of help and salvation to the children of men."
Isa: "Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery; it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems."
Jera: "Summer is a joy to men, when God suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits for rich and poor alike."
Eihwaz: "The yew is a tree with rough bark, hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots, a guardian of flame."
Perthro: "Peorth is a source of recreation and amusement to the great, where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall."
Algiz: "The Eolh-sedge grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound, covering with blood every warrior who touches it."
Sowilo: "The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers when they journey away over the fishes' bath."
Tiwaz: "Tir is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes; it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails."
Berkano: "The birch bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth suckers. Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned its lofty crown."
Ehwaz: "The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors, a steed in the pride of its hoofs."
Mannaz: "The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen; yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow."
Laguz: "The ocean seems interminable to men, if they venture on the rolling bark and the waves of the sea terrify them."
Ingwaz: "Ing was first seen by men among the East-Danes, till, followed by his chariot, he departed eastwards over the waves."
Dagaz: "Day, the glorious light of the Creator, is beloved of men, a source of hope and happiness to rich and poor."
Othala: "An estate is very dear to every man, if he can enjoy there in his house whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity."
The Norwegian Rune Poem
The Norwegian Rune Poem covers 16 Younger Futhark runes and is the most cryptic of the three, with each rune receiving a gnomic stanza that often presents a paradox rather than a straightforward description. It is notable for its darkness and honesty about the harsh realities of Norse life.
Key stanzas:
Fehu: "Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen; the wolf lives in the forest."
Thurisaz: "Giant causes anguish to women; misfortune makes few men cheerful."
Nauthiz: "Constraint gives scant choice; a naked man is chilled by the frost."
Isa: "Ice we call the broad bridge; the blind man must be led."
Tiwaz: "Tyr is a one-handed god; often has the smith to blow."
Berkano: "Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub; Loki was fortunate in his deceit."
Mannaz: "Man is an augmentation of the dust; great is the claw of the hawk."
The Icelandic Rune Poem
The Icelandic Rune Poem, likely composed in the 15th century, presents each rune with three kennings (poetic compound descriptions) rather than a narrative stanza. It is the most abstract and philosophical of the three, presenting the runes as cosmic principles.
Key stanzas:
Fehu: "Wealth / source of discord among kinsmen / and fire of the sea / and path of the serpent."
Ansuz: "God / aged Gautr / and prince of Asgardr / and lord of Valhalla." (Gautr is one of Odin's names)
Nauthiz: "Constraint / grief of the bond-maid / and state of oppression / and toilsome work."
Isa: "Ice / bark of rivers / and roof of the wave / and destruction of the doomed."
Sowilo: "Sun / shield of the clouds / and shining ray / and destroyer of ice."
Tiwaz: "Tyr / god with one hand / and leavings of the wolf / and prince of temples." (leavings of the wolf = Tyr's hand bitten off by Fenrir)
What the Three Poems Reveal
The Paradox of Fehu
All three poems agree that Fehu (wealth) is both a blessing and a source of conflict. The Anglo-Saxon poem emphasizes the obligation to share wealth generously. The Norwegian poem bluntly states that wealth causes discord among kinsmen. The Icelandic poem calls it "fire of the sea" (gold) and "path of the serpent" (the dragon who guards treasure). Together, they reveal that the Norse understanding of wealth was deeply ambivalent.
The Darkness of Nauthiz
The Norwegian poem's stanza — "Constraint gives scant choice; a naked man is chilled by the frost" — is one of the most viscerally honest statements in runic literature. The Icelandic poem's "grief of the bond-maid" adds a social dimension: Nauthiz is the rune of those who have no choice, bound by circumstances beyond their control. This is far more complex than the modern tendency to interpret Nauthiz as merely "creative friction."
The Mystery of Perthro
Perthro appears only in the Anglo-Saxon poem (dropped from the Younger Futhark), and its stanza is one of the most debated in runic scholarship. It has been interpreted as a dice cup, a chess piece, a musical instrument, and a womb. The ambiguity is itself meaningful — Perthro is the rune of mystery, of fate that cannot be fully known.
The Evolution of Kenaz
The shift of Kenaz from "torch" (Anglo-Saxon) to "ulcer" (Norwegian and Icelandic) is one of the most striking examples of runic semantic evolution. Both meanings share the quality of something that burns — the torch burns with light and warmth, the ulcer burns with pain. Working with both meanings gives a more complete understanding of fire's dual nature.
Using the Rune Poems in Practice
Lectio Divina with Rune Stanzas: Choose a rune you are working with, find its stanzas in all three poems, and read them slowly and repeatedly. Let the words sink below intellectual understanding into the body. The poems were designed to be meditated upon, not merely read.
Rune Poem Journaling: For each rune you study, write your own stanza in the style of the three poems. What is this rune's name-word in your life? What paradox does it contain? Writing your own rune poem stanza is one of the most powerful ways to internalize a rune's meaning.
Cross-Poem Comparison for Divination: When a rune appears in a reading, consult all three poems. The Anglo-Saxon poem may reveal the rune's practical dimension. The Norwegian poem may reveal its shadow or harsh truth. The Icelandic poem may reveal its cosmic dimension. Together, they give a three-dimensional understanding of the rune's message.
The Living Tradition
The three rune poems are not museum pieces — they are living documents that continue to teach. Every time a rune reader sits with Nauthiz's "naked man chilled by the frost" or Perthro's mysterious "recreation in the banqueting-hall," they are participating in a tradition of runic contemplation that stretches back over a thousand years.
The poems preserve the runes not as fixed definitions but as living paradoxes — questions that each generation must answer for itself. The ancient Norse understood that the runes could not be reduced to keywords or bullet points. They required poetry. They required language that holds multiple meanings simultaneously, that speaks to the body as well as the mind, that opens rather than closes.
Read the poems. Sit with them. Let them teach you what the runes have always known. For those drawn to this path of paradox and deep contemplation, the Jung and the Archetype guide explores how symbols like the runes bridge the unconscious, while the Tarot Journaling Prompts offer a structure for the kind of deep personal reflection the poems invite. The 30-Day Tarot Practice Workbook helps build a daily practice of symbol study, and the The 52-Week Tarot Journey extends that into a full year of exploration. And for those who feel called to write their own stanzas, the Shadow Work Tarot practice guide supports the kind of honest inner inquiry the runes demand.
