Runica Manuscripta

The topic of this paper is to show the process of the encoding of fol. 25v of Codex Runicus, AM 28 8vo. More specifically, this manuscript has been chosen as a pilot project since it has been written entirely in runes and it is thus eminently suited for testing the XML encoding of a runic manuscript. This has to the best of my knowledge not been done before. To this aim, I used the Oxygen XML Editor to produce the encoding of the text in compliance with the Menota (Medieval Nordic Text Archive) Guidelines of Handbook v. 3.0, a detailed manual of how to encode medieval manuscripts in XML, and the last version P5 of the TEI standard. The paper aims at presenting the Codex Runicus and its runes and then showing the process of encoding the runes, the punctuation marks, and of the linguistic analysis (lexical and grammatical) of the selected text. This pilot project is the basis of my current Ph.D. research project, which aims at encoding the whole manuscript on the basis of the procedure shown in this paper.

Whilst the runica manuscripta of English tradition, the Scandinavian rune poems, and the occasional use of runes as writers’ signatures and in the Old High German glosses have been comparatively well-researched, this does not apply to the same extent to the use of runes in late medieval (German) manuscripts. Runes and runic alphabets are found far less frequently in these, for example in the foreign alphabets in the Voyages by Sir John Mandeville or in a manuscript with medical remedies and an invocation of the devil; finally also in a magical treatise relating to the hermetic tradition. However, the use of runes in late medieval manuscripts cannot properly be explained by the functions usually attributed to the runica manuscripta. On the understanding that discussion of runica manuscripta is not just a runic problem in the narrow sense, but can also contribute to an understanding of medieval culture, the specific implications of the use and pragmatics of the late medieval runica manuscripta will be explored. The function of runes in late medieval manuscripts should be determined at the same time with reference to secret written forms, readability and illegibility.

"This paper contains a new analysis of the runic inscription on the Tune stone, made on the basis of autopsies and various earlier proposals. While I agree with the view that there is a word missing at the top of side A (contra Grønvik 1981 and others), probably r<unoz>, I depart from the current communis opinio in proposing that side B consists of two independent subject-initial clauses. I argue that the first word in B1 is likely to be a personal name ending in -z and the subject of a verb meaning something like ‘erect’, of which staina ‘stone’ is the object. Moreover, I reject the analysis of dalidun in B2 as ‘made (nice), prepared’ (Seip 1929), presenting arguments supporting the emendation da<i>lidun (Bugge 1891, in NIæR), thus giving þrijoz dohtriz da<i>lidun arbija ‘three daughters shared the inheritance’. Finally, I resuscitate the old idea of Läffler (1892, 1896a, 1896b) concerning sijostez, taking it at face value and considering the phrase sijostez arbijano to reflect an archaic legal term meaning ‘the closest family heirs’. Following Läffler I assume that the form is derived from a reflexive (rather than a root meaning ‘bind’, Bjorvand 2008), an analysis supported by a parallel in archaic Latin (suus heres ‘family heir, self-successor’). I conclude that the three daughters of Wōdurīdaz shared the inheritance as the closest family heirs, while some other person (perhaps Wīwaz) erected the stone."

There is evidence for the so-called displacement verb second in the language of the runic inscriptions, which most previous scholarship has failed to recognize.This evidence consists of clauses in which the finite verb immediately precedes a subject pronoun (or a subject agreement marker). There is, however, variation with respect to the position of the verb, as it does not appear in second position in all cases. Contrary to common assumptions, however, there are only two reasonably clear examples of verb last order. The finite verb also occurs in absolute initial position in the clause, providing an example of verb first. Moreover, it can be argued that in the early runic language both object–verb and verb–object orders occur in the verb phrase. Furthermore, while determiners either precede or follow the head noun in the noun phrase, the adnominal genitive usually precedes it. On the other hand, only prepositions are attested in the runic corpus, no postpositions. These results shed light on the development of word order at the earliest stage of Germanic.

This article presents the new find of a manuscript with runes from Byland in Yorkshire. It provides a full description of the manuscript and examines its Scandi navian runic alphabet in detail. The runes are further assessed within the context of the English tradition of runica manuscripta and Scandinavian epi­ graphical tradition in Britain. Due to the exceptional origins of the manuscript and a number of uncommon features, the background of the material and the runic scribe are also examined.

The topic of this paper is to show the process of the encoding of fol. 25v of Codex Runicus, AM 28 8vo. More specifically, this manuscript has been chosen as a pilot project since it has been written entirely in runes and it is thus eminently suited for testing the XML encoding of a runic manuscript. This has to the best of my knowledge not been done before. To this aim I used the Oxygen XML Editor to produce the encoding of the text in compliance with the Menota (Medieval Nordic Text Archive) Guidelines of Handbook v. 3.0, a detailed manual of how to encode medieval manuscripts in XML, and the last version P5 of the TEI standard. The paper aims at presenting the Codex Runicus and its runes, and then showing the process of encoding the runes, the punctuation marks and of the linguistic analysis (lexical and grammatical) of the selected text. This pilot project is the basis of my current PhD research project, which aims at encoding the whole manuscript on the basis of the procedure s...

There is evidence for the so-called displacement verb second in the language of the runic inscriptions, which most previous scholarship has failed to recognize.This evidence consists of clauses in which the finite verb immediately precedes a subject pronoun (or a subject agreement marker). There is, however, variation with respect to the position of the verb, as it does not appear in second position in all cases. Contrary to common assumptions, however, there are only two reasonably clear examples of verb last order. The finite verb also occurs in absolute initial position in the clause, providing an example of verb first. Moreover, it can be argued that in the early runic language both object–verb and verb–object orders occur in the verb phrase. Furthermore, while determiners either precede or follow the head noun in the noun phrase, the adnominal genitive usually precedes it. On the other hand, only prepositions are attested in the runic corpus, no postpositions. These results she...

'Mindful Mitochondria:  The Semiotics Elements of Primal Earth DNA'.

Prose & Art:  Stephanie Lynne Thorburn.

A paper featuring excerpts offering an overview of a forthcoming title by the author in the #AlphaOmegaCodex series.

Precis of text: -

"This book acts as a catalyst to the realisation of a new living lexical vocabulary inspired by the seminal ‘alphabets of life’.  The author has embraced the semantic and semiotic elements innate within primal human epistemological understanding of Earth’s living DNA.  Stephanie Lynne’s research unveils the primordial cultural heritage underlying the genealogy of modern genomic science. Proto- languages express faith in the divine lineage of phonetics, expressed through the ideographic semiotics of Mother Earth’s primordial DNA.

This work explores the cymatic, synergistic qualities invested in proto- linguistic alphabets, serving to fuse auditory and visual stimuli into a transformative conscious matrix.

'Mindful Mitochondria:  The Semiotic Elements  of Primal Earth DNA' illuminates the connections between language, natural science and human conceptualisation of consciousness. This research sphere is fundamentally transdisciplinary and should not be marginalised and shared solely with the spiritual healing community, but with a wider academic research audience.

There is evidence for the so-called displacement verb second in the language of the runic inscriptions, which most previous scholarship has failed to recognize. This evidence consists of clauses in which the finite verb immediately precedes a subject pronoun (or a subject agreement marker). There is, however, variation with respect to the position of the verb, as it does not appear in second position in all cases. Contrary to common assumptions, however, there are only two reasonably clear examples of verb last ...