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       #Post#: 23--------------------------------------------------
       The Old English Rune Poem 
       By: Raeburne Date: October 24, 2014, 10:50 am
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       Feoh
       Wealth is a comfort to all men;
       yet must every man bestow it freely,
       if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.
       Ur
       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.
       Thorn
       The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
       an evil thing for any knight to touch,
       uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.
       Os
       The mouth is the source of all language,
       a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,
       a blessing and a joy to every knight.
       Rad
       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.
       Cen
       The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright
       flame;
       it always burns where princes sit within.
       Gyfu
       Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's
       dignity;
       it furnishes help and subsistence
       to all broken men who are devoid of aught else.
       Wynn
       Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety,
       and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.
       Haegl
       Hail is the whitest of grain;
       it is whirled from the vault of heaven
       and is tossed about by gusts of wind
       and then it melts into water.
       Nyd
       Trouble is oppressive to the heart;
       yet often it proves a source of help and salvation
       to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.
       Is
       Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;
       it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;
       it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.
       Ger
       Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
       suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits
       for rich and poor alike.
       Eoh
       The yew is a tree with rough bark,
       hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,
       a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate.
       Peordh
       Peorth is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,
       where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.
       Eolh
       The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;
       it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,
       covering with blood every warrior who touches it.
       Sigel
       The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers
       when they journey away over the fishes' bath,
       until the courser of the deep bears them to land.
       Tir
       Tiw 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.
       Beorc
       The poplar bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth
       suckers,
       for it is generated from its leaves.
       Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned
       its lofty crown which reaches to the skies.
       Eh
       The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors.
       A steed in the pride of its hoofs,
       when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;
       and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless.
       Mann
       The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen;
       yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow,
       since the Lord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the
       earth.
       Lagu
       The ocean seems interminable to men,
       if they venture on the rolling bark
       and the waves of the sea terrify them
       and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle.
       Ing
       Ing was first seen by men among the East-Danes,
       till, followed by his chariot,
       he departed eastwards over the waves.
       So the Heardingas named the hero.
       Ethel
       An estate is very dear to every man,
       if he can enjoy there in his house
       whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.
       Dæg
       Day, the glorious light of the Creator, is sent by the Lord;
       it is beloved of men, a source of hope and happiness to rich and
       poor,
       and of service to all.
       Ac
       The oak fattens the flesh of pigs for the children of men.
       Often it traverses the gannet's bath,
       and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faith
       in honourable fashion.
       Æsc
       The ash is exceedingly high and precious to men.
       With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance,
       though attacked by many a man.
       Yr
       Yr is a source of joy and honour to every prince and knight;
       it looks well on a horse and is a reliable equipment for a
       journey.
       Ior
       Iar is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;
       it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in
       happiness.
       Ear
       The grave is horrible to every knight,
       when the corpse quickly begins to cool
       and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.
       Prosperity declines, happiness passes away
       and covenants are broken.
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