Runes and Roman Letters in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts

Symons, Victoria

doi:10.1515/9783110492774

Cited by 7 publications

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“…The Isruna tract is the first tutorial with three runic codes and binary substitutions found in several European manuscripts (9 th -11 th century) which are closely related to the whole literacy of this period (Derolez,1954, pp. 120-169) including riddles in Old English as well as in Scandinavian so-called runic poems (Bauer, 2003;Halsall, 1981) and various riddles based on runic letters like in Exeter book (Codex Exoniensis, MS 3501, 8 th -10 th century) or poetry like with Cynewulf's signatures (Symons, 2016).…”

Section: Organized Crossed Lettersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runic cryptography in early epigraphic period (200-700)

Zimmermann¹

2023

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings

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Runic script is an alphabetic system based on a non-alphabetical order row. The oldest row contained 24 letters but was reduced to 16 in Scandinavia around 800, and enlarged to 28 then 31 letters in England between 7 th and 10 th century (See Düwel, 2008). Runic script also adopted various original encryption systems during Viking and Middle Ages. Recent and very complete studies help us to understand the way they worked, both on social and technical levels. Nevertheless, the very first uses of cryptography are probably far much older and could have even occurred since runic script is first attested, that is in the end of 2 nd century. It should be emphasized that it was based on a visual effect and riddles which goal was to make guess names rather than magical formulae. Indeed, the use of magical formulae is only attested lately, in the medieval times in Scandinavia and England inscriptions, and it is clearly related to Christian prayers and Kabbala (Bauer, 2020). This article aims to provide a chronology and a typology of possible cryptography techniques used with runic script in its earliest period.

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Section: Organized Crossed Lettersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runic cryptography in early epigraphic period (200-700)

Zimmermann¹

2023

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings

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“…The standard overview of Anglo-Saxon runes isPage (1999). On the interaction and status of runes and Roman script, seeFell (1994) and more recently the book length study bySymons (2016), which focuses on the interaction of the two writing systems in manuscript contexts.…”

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confidence: 99%

The page as monument: epigraphical transposition in the runica manuscripta tradition of early Medieval England

Birkett

2022

MTC

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Most surviving runic inscriptions from early medieval England were produced in an ecclesiastical context, and the influence of manuscript writing practices on the runic tradition can clearly be discerned. The manuscript record of runes or runica manuscripta that flourished particularly in the context of Anglo-Saxon missionary activity to the Continent has, however, usually been regarded as a late antiquarian development, largely detached from the epigraphical tradition. In this paper, I argue that not only did manuscript practice clearly influence epigraphy, but also that several uses of runes in manuscripts can be considered as extensions of the epigraphical tradition. Some runica manuscripta also seem to evoke pointedly the monumental tradition, including associations with permanence, public display, and memorialisation. Through the case studies of decorative uses of runes, scribal signatures, and textual interventions in runes, I argue that there is a relatively consistent association between the runic script and monumental epigraphy that can be transposed onto the manuscript page for particular effects, which rely on received knowledge of the epigraphical tradition long after the use of runes in monumental contexts had ended.

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Set in Stone or Food for Worms: The Stasis of Writing in the Exeter Book Riddles

Symons

2017

Stasis in the Medieval West?

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Runes and Roman Letters in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Runic cryptography in early epigraphic period (200-700)

Runic cryptography in early epigraphic period (200-700)

The page as monument: epigraphical transposition in the runica manuscripta tradition of early Medieval England

Set in Stone or Food for Worms: The Stasis of Writing in the Exeter Book Riddles

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