Anglo-Saxon runes

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British Museum Malton Pin.jpg
Languages Old English and Old Frisian
Time period
5th through 11th centuries
Parent systems
Sister systems
Younger Futhark

Anglo-Saxon runes are runes used by the early Anglo-Saxons as an alphabet in their writing. The characters are known collectively as the futhorc (or fuþorc), from the Old English sound values of the first six runes. The futhorc was a development from the 24-character Elder Futhark. Since the futhorc runes are thought to have first been used in Frisia before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, they have also been called Anglo-Frisian runes.[1] They were likely used from the 5th century onward, recording Old English and Old Frisian.

They were gradually supplanted in Anglo-Saxon England by the Old English Latin alphabet introduced by Irish missionaries. Futhorc runes were no longer in common use by the eleventh century, though manuscripts show that fairly accurate understanding of them persisted into at least the twelfth century.




In England the futhorc expanded. Runic writing in England became closely associated with the Latin scriptoria from the time of Anglo-Saxon Christianization in the 7th century. The futhorc started to be replaced by the Latin alphabet from around the 7th century, but it was still sometimes used up until the 10th or 11th century. In some cases, texts would be written in the Latin alphabet, and þorn and ƿynn came to be used as extensions of the Latin alphabet. By the Norman Conquest of 1066, it was very rare and disappeared altogether shortly thereafter. From at least five centuries of use, fewer than 200 artefacts bearing futhorc inscriptions have survived.



A chart showing 30 Anglo-Saxon runes
A rune-row showing variant shapes.

The letter sequence and letter inventory of futhorc, along with the actual sounds made by those letters could vary depending on location and time. That being so, an authentic and unified list of runes is not possible.

Rune inventory

Image UCS Name Name meaning Transliteration IPA
Rune-Feoh.png feoh wealth f [f], [v]
Rune-Ur.png ūr aurochs u [u], [uː]
Rune-Thorn.png þorn thorn þ [θ], [ð]
Runic letter os.svg ōs god, or mouth (Latin) o [o], [oː]
Rune-Rad.png rād riding r [r]
Rune-Cen.png cēn torch c [k], [], []
Rune-Gyfu.png gyfu gift g [ɡ], [ɣ], [j], [x]?, [gʲ]?
Rune-Wynn.png ƿynn mirth w [w]
Rune-Hægl.png hægl hail (precipitation) h [h], [x], [ç]
Rune-Nyd.png nȳd need (plight) n [n]
Rune-Is.png īs ice i [i], [iː]
Runic letter ger.svg gēr year (harvest) j [j]
Rune-Eoh.png ēoh yew-tree ï, ʒ [iː]? [x], [ç]
Rune-Peorð.png peorð (unknown) p [p]
Rune-Eolh.png eolh elk-sedge? x [ks]
Rune-Sigel.png sigel sun s [s], [z]
Rune-Tir.png Tī, Tīr Tiw? Mars?[3] t [t]
Rune-Beorc.png beorc birch-tree b [b]
Rune-Eh.png eh horse e [e], [eː]
Rune-Mann.png mann man m [m]
Rune-Lagu.png lagu lay (lake) l [l]
Rune-Ing.png Ing Ing (Ingui-Frea)? ŋ [ŋg], [ŋ]
Rune-Eðel.png ēðel ethel (estate, homeland) œ [ø]? [eː]?
Rune-Dæg.png dæg day d [d]
Runic letter ac.svg āc oak-tree a [ɑ], [ɑː]
Runic letter ansuz.svg æsc ash-tree æ [æ], [æː]
Rune-Yr.png ȳr bow? y [y], [yː]
Rune-Ior.png īor eel? ia, io [iɑ, io]? [iɑː, ioː]?
Rune-Ear.png ēar grave? ea [æɑ], [æːɑ]

The sequence of runes given above comes from the Anglo-Saxon rune poem (Cotton Otho B.x.165). The first 24 of these runes directly continue the elder futhark letters, and do not deviate in sequence (though ᛞ and ᛟ often swap places in both elder futhark and futhorc rune-rows). The next 5 runes represent additional vowels (a, æ, y, io, ea), comparable to the five forfeda of the ogham alphabet.

While the rune poem and some manuscripts present ᛡ as "ior", and ᛄ as "ger", epigraphically both are variants of ger. R. I. Page designated ior a pseudo-rune.[4]

Image UCS Name Name meaning Transliteration IPA
Rune-calc.png calc chalice? sandal? k [k]
Rune-DoubleCalc.png (unknown) (unknown) [k]?
Runic letter gar.svg gar spear [g], [ɣ]
Rune-Cweorð.png cweorð (unknown) q [k]? [cw]?
Rune-Stan.png stan stone st [st]
Rune FromBaconsthorpe.png N/A (unknown) (unknown) ę [ǝ]?
Rune FromSedgeford.png N/A (unknown) (unknown) [eo]? [io]?

The runes above (in no particular order) were not included in the rune poem. Calc appears in manuscripts, and epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross, the Bramham Moor Ring, the Kingmoor Ring, and elsewhere. Gar appears in manuscripts, and epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross and probably on the Bewcastle Cross.[5] The unnamed ᛤ rune only appears on the Ruthwell Cross, where it seems to take calc's place as /k/ where that consonant is followed by a secondary fronted vowel. Cweorð and stan only appear in manuscripts. The unnamed ę rune only appears on the Baconsthorpe Grip. The unnamed ᶖ rune only appears on the Sedgeford Handle.

There is little doubt that calc and gar are modified forms of cen and gyfu, and that they were invented to address the ambiguity which arose from /k/ and /g/ spawning palatalized offshoots.[6] R. I. Page designated cweorð and stan pseudo-runes, noting their apparent pointlessness, and speculating that cweorð was invented merely to give futhorc an equivalent to Q.[7] The ę rune is likely a local innovation, possibly representing an unstressed vowel, and may derive its shape from ᛠ.[8] The unnamed ᶖ rune is found in a personal name (bᶖrnferþ), where it stands for a vowel or diphthong. Anglo-Saxon expert Gaby Waxenberger speculates that ᶖ may not be a true rune, but rather a bindrune of ᛁ and ᚩ, or the result of a mistake.[9]


Sundry runic combinations are found in the futhorc corpus. For example, the sequence ᚫᚪ appears on the Mortain Casket where ᛠ could theoretically have been used.

Combination IPA Word Attestation
ᚷᚳ [dʒ]? blagcmon Maughold Stone
ᚻᛋ [xs] or [ks] wohs Brandon Antler
ᚾᚷ [ŋg] or [ŋ] hring Wheatley Hill Silver-Gilt Finger-Ring
ᛁᚷ [ij] modig Ruthwell Cross
ᛇᛋ? [xs]? BennaREïs? (a coin of Beonna of East Anglia)
ᛋᚳ [sk], [ʃ] fisc Franks Casket
ᛖᚩ [eo], [eːo] eoh Kirkheaton Stone
ᛖᚷ [ej] or [eɪ] legdun Ruthwell Cross
ᛖᛇ [eɪ]? eateɨnne (Eadthegn?) Thornhill Stone 2
ᛖᚪ [æɑ], [æːɑ] eadbald Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano Graffiti
ᚪᛁ [ai]? desaiona (gibberish?) (a gold shilling from Suffolk)
ᚫᚢ [eu]? [æu]? dæus (Latin deus) Whitby Comb
ᚫᚪ [æɑ], [æːɑ] æadan Mortain Casket

Usage and Culture

A rune in Old English could be called a "rúnstæf" ("mystery letter" or "whisper letter"), or simply "rúne".

Futhorc inscriptions hold diverse styles and contents. Ocher has been detected on at least one English runestone, implying its runes were once painted. Bind runes are not uncommon in futhorc (relative to its small corpus), and were seemingly used most often to ensure the runes would fit in a limited space.[10] Futhorc logography is attested to in a few manuscripts. This was done by having a rune stand for its name, or a similar sounding word. In the sole extant manuscript of the poem Beowulf, the ēðel rune was used as a logogram for the word ēðel (meaning "homeland", or "estate").[11] Both the Hackness Stone and Codex Vindobonensis 795 attest to futhorc Cipher runes.[12] In one manuscript (Corpus Christi College, MS 041) a writer seems to have used futhorc runes as Roman numerals, writing what looks like ᛉᛁᛁᛉᛉᛉ, which may mean 12&30.[13]

There are a few attestations of futhorc rune magic. The Buckland Spear and Holborough Spear share similar symbols which have been interpreted as stylized t-runes (though others interpret them as arrows), perhaps akin to the victory runes spoken of in Norse myth.[14] The alu sequence seems to appear on an urn found at Spong Hill in cryptic spiegelrunes. In a tale from Bede's Ecclesiastical History (written in Latin), a man named Imma cannot be bound by his captives and is asked if he is using "litteras solutorias" (loosening letters) to break his binds. In one Old English translation of the passage, Imma is asked if he is using magic or runestaves to break his binds.[15] Furthermore, futhorc rings have been found with what appear to be enchanted inscriptions for the stanching of blood.[16]

Inscription corpus






Currently known inscriptions in Anglo-Frisian runes include:

Related manuscript texts

See also


  2. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1989), "Roman and Runic on St Cuthbert's Coffin", in Bonner, Gerald; Rollason, David; Stancliffe, Clare (eds.), St. Cuthbert, his Cult and his Community to AD 1200, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 257–63, ISBN 978-0-85115-610-1.
  3. ^ Osborn, Marijane (2010), Tir as Mars in the Old English Rune Poem, University of California, Davis: ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews.
  4. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 41–42.
  5. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1998), Runes and Runic Inscriptions : Collected Essays On Anglo-Saxon and Viking Runes, Boydell, pp. 38, 53.
  6. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 45–47.
  8. ^ Hines, John (2011), Anglia - Zeitschrift fr englische Philologie, Volume 129, Issue 3-4, pp. 288–289.
  9. ^ Waxenberger, Gaby (2017), Anglia - Zeitschrift fr englische Philologie, Volume 135, Issue 4, pp. 627–640.
  10. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 139, 155.
  11. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 186–199.
  12. ^ Kilpatrick, Kelly (2013), Latin, Runes and Pseudo-Ogham: The Enigma of the Hackness Stone, pp. 1–13.
  13. ^ Birkett, Thomas (2012), Notes and Queries, Volume 59, Issue 4, Boydell, pp. 465–470.
  14. ^ Middleton & Tum, Andrew & Julia (2006), Radiography of Cultural Material, Elsevier, p. 171.
  15. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 111–112.
  16. ^ Page, Raymond Ian (1999), An introduction to English runes (2nd ed.), Woodbridge: Boydell, pp. 93, 112–113.
  17. ^ Looijenga, Tineke (1 January 2003). Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions. ISBN 978-9004123960.
  18. ^ Flickr (photograms), Yahoo!
  19. ^ "Silver knife mount with runic inscription", British Museum.
  21. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (2002), "The Brandon Antler Runic Inscription", Neophilologus, Ingenta connect, 86: 129–31, doi:10.1023/A:1012922118629, archived from the original on 6 June 2011, retrieved 4 June 2010.


  • Bammesberger, A, ed. (1991), "Old English Runes and their Continental Background", Anglistische Forschungen, Heidelberg, 217.
  • ——— (2006), "Das Futhark und seine Weiterentwicklung in der anglo-friesischen Überlieferung", in Bammesberger, A; Waxenberger (eds.), Das fuþark und seine einzelsprachlichen Weiterentwicklungen, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 171–87, ISBN 978-3-11-019008-3.
  • Hines, J (1990), "The Runic Inscriptions of Early Anglo-Saxon England", in Bammesberger, A (ed.), Britain 400–600: Language and History, Heidelberg, pp. 437–56.
  • Kilpatrick, K (2013), Latin, Runes and Pseudo-Ogham: The Enigma of the Hackness Stone, pp. 1–13
  • Page, Raymond Ian (1999). An Introduction to English Runes. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-768-9.
  • Middleton & Tum, Andrew & Julia (2006). Radiography of Cultural Material. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7506-6347-2.

Further reading

  • Looijenga, Tineke (September 2003). Texts & Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions (Northern World, 4). Brill. ISBN 978-9004123960.

External links

  • Transliteration from Latin alphabet to Anglo-Saxon runes
  • Anglo-Saxon Runic Texts at Georgetown Univ
  • Nytt om runer[permanent dead link]
  • Early Runic Inscriptions in England
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