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Runes and Runic Inscriptions: Collected Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Viking Runes
Of outstanding value to both runologist and Anglo-Saxonist alike. EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE Discussion of the forms of the runic alphabet and interpretations of individual inscriptions, with consideration of wider matters on which runes throw light - magic, paganism and literacy.
How, where and why runes were used is still often mysterious; they continue to set puzzles for those who study them, among whom few are better known than the author of this book. Here he investigates evidence from Anglo-Saxon runic coins to Manx inscribed stones, including many of the known Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions (notably the Ruthwell cross and the Franks casket) and manuscripts, and looks in passing at some Scandinavian material, both in Great Britain and elsewhere. In addition to these detailed descriptions of inscriptions, and of the runic futhorc, or alphabet, on which they are based, Page also considers wider issues on which runes throw light: magic, paganism and literacy. Archaeologists, historians and others will find this a uniquely useful and authoritative volume on Anglo-Saxon runes.
The late R.I. PAGE was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor ofAnglo-Saxon, Cambridge University.
How, where and why runes were used is still often mysterious; they continue to set puzzles for those who study them, among whom few are better known than the author of this book. Here he investigates evidence from Anglo-Saxon runic coins to Manx inscribed stones, including many of the known Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions (notably the Ruthwell cross and the Franks casket) and manuscripts, and looks in passing at some Scandinavian material, both in Great Britain and elsewhere. In addition to these detailed descriptions of inscriptions, and of the runic futhorc, or alphabet, on which they are based, Page also considers wider issues on which runes throw light: magic, paganism and literacy. Archaeologists, historians and others will find this a uniquely useful and authoritative volume on Anglo-Saxon runes.
The late R.I. PAGE was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor ofAnglo-Saxon, Cambridge University.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
R.I. Page
23 books10 followersRaymond Ian Page (1924–2012) was a British historian of Anglo-Saxon England and the Viking Age. As a renowned runologist, he specialised in the study of Anglo-Saxon runes.
[From Wikipedia]
[From Wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 9, 2013
Raymond Page was an Anglo Saxonist who specialised in Anglo Saxon Runeology and who wrote the now standard study of English Runes in An Introduction to English Runes.
This collection of papers all mainly focus on Page's Runic studies and reprints some important but hard to find essays, in particular Northumbrian æfter (= memory of) + accusative, An early drawing of the Ruthwell cross and Language and dating in Old English inscriptions. Page describes himself as a skeptical Runeologist, so the reader will not find Page indulging in any kind of speculation on using Runes for the magical purpose of becoming some Asatru love god or other such new ageist rubbish. What the reader will find is philologically based linguistic studies of what remains of Runic inscriptions in Great Britain, whether preserved on parchment, stone or coins.
Content
Quondam et futurus
Northumbrian æfter (= memory of) + accusative
An early drawing of the Ruthwell cross
Language and dating in Old English inscriptions
The Bewcastle cross
The Old English rune ear
A note on the transliteration of Old English runic inscriptions
The use of double runes in Old English
Anglo-Saxon runes and magic
Ralph Thoresby's runic coins
The Old English rune eoh, íh, "yew-tree"
The runic solidus of Schweindorf, Ostfriesland, and related runic solidi
Runes and non-runes
How long did the Scandinavian language survive in England? The epigraphical evidence
Anglo-Saxon texts in early modern transcripts: 1. The Anglo-Saxon Runic Poem
Some thoughts on Manx runes
The Manx rune-stones
On the transliteration of English runes
New runic finds in England
A sixteenth-century runic manuscript
Runeukyndige risteres skriblerier. The English evidence
Roman and runic on St Cuthbert's coffin
Dating Old English inscriptions: the limits of inference
The Published Writings of R. I. Page to 1994
This collection of papers all mainly focus on Page's Runic studies and reprints some important but hard to find essays, in particular Northumbrian æfter (= memory of) + accusative, An early drawing of the Ruthwell cross and Language and dating in Old English inscriptions. Page describes himself as a skeptical Runeologist, so the reader will not find Page indulging in any kind of speculation on using Runes for the magical purpose of becoming some Asatru love god or other such new ageist rubbish. What the reader will find is philologically based linguistic studies of what remains of Runic inscriptions in Great Britain, whether preserved on parchment, stone or coins.
Content
Quondam et futurus
Northumbrian æfter (= memory of) + accusative
An early drawing of the Ruthwell cross
Language and dating in Old English inscriptions
The Bewcastle cross
The Old English rune ear
A note on the transliteration of Old English runic inscriptions
The use of double runes in Old English
Anglo-Saxon runes and magic
Ralph Thoresby's runic coins
The Old English rune eoh, íh, "yew-tree"
The runic solidus of Schweindorf, Ostfriesland, and related runic solidi
Runes and non-runes
How long did the Scandinavian language survive in England? The epigraphical evidence
Anglo-Saxon texts in early modern transcripts: 1. The Anglo-Saxon Runic Poem
Some thoughts on Manx runes
The Manx rune-stones
On the transliteration of English runes
New runic finds in England
A sixteenth-century runic manuscript
Runeukyndige risteres skriblerier. The English evidence
Roman and runic on St Cuthbert's coffin
Dating Old English inscriptions: the limits of inference
The Published Writings of R. I. Page to 1994
March 13, 2021
The book feels like a collection of articles, than an academic scholar was forced to publish, to be seen as scholar. In another words it's very hard to read - it took me years to go through. On the other hand there are "pearls" in the text, you just need to find them
January 2, 2024
Good entry point into the scholarly treatment of Anglo-Saxon runes. A comprehensive collection of summaries and explanations of varied academic perspectives and insights. Plenty of key information about Scandinavian runes is included when it helps explain Anglo-Saxon runes
July 31, 2014
This is a collection of papers over many years by the noted runologist R. I. Page.
It actually deserves 5 stars for its scholarship, but I lowered the rating because, frankly, a good part of it was a chore to read. This is not a book for the general reader interested in runes, but a book for specialists. Someone like myself, who is interested in runes and may know a thing or two about them, would have trouble with material that the amateur is not trained in. For example, if you don't know much about philology and linguistics, something professional runologists have to know about, then be prepared to get assaulted by genitives, datives, demonstratives, etc.
The author's writing can also be a bit terse at times, and he is also not going to waste time spoon feeding the reader: if he quotes another writer at length that wrote in a foreign language, he will not translate.
This is also no place for the occult runologist; Page has little patience for those. He can also be a little sarcastic to those who disagree with him without a good reason, which can come across as funny also.
But still, I'm glad I read this book. Despite the above, (and parts of the above I'd rather stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails than reread), I still learned a lot.
It actually deserves 5 stars for its scholarship, but I lowered the rating because, frankly, a good part of it was a chore to read. This is not a book for the general reader interested in runes, but a book for specialists. Someone like myself, who is interested in runes and may know a thing or two about them, would have trouble with material that the amateur is not trained in. For example, if you don't know much about philology and linguistics, something professional runologists have to know about, then be prepared to get assaulted by genitives, datives, demonstratives, etc.
The author's writing can also be a bit terse at times, and he is also not going to waste time spoon feeding the reader: if he quotes another writer at length that wrote in a foreign language, he will not translate.
This is also no place for the occult runologist; Page has little patience for those. He can also be a little sarcastic to those who disagree with him without a good reason, which can come across as funny also.
But still, I'm glad I read this book. Despite the above, (and parts of the above I'd rather stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails than reread), I still learned a lot.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews