Codex Runicus
Encyclopedia
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
of 202 pages written in medieval runes
Medieval runes
The medieval runes, or the futhork, was a Scandinavian 27 letter runic alphabet that evolved from the Younger Futhark after the introduction of dotted runes at the end of the Viking Age and it was fully formed in the early 13th century...
around the year 1300 which includes the oldest preserved Nordic provincial law, Scanian Law
Scanian Law
Scanian law is the oldest Danish provincial law and one of the first Nordic provincial laws to be written down. It was used in the geographic region of Danish Skåneland, which at the time included Scania, Halland, Blekinge and the island of Bornholm. It was also used for a short period on the...
(Skånske lov) pertaining to the Danish land
Lands of Denmark
The three lands of Denmark historically formed the Danish kingdom from its unification and consolidation in the 9th century:*Zealand and the islands south of it, with Roskilde as a centre...
Scania (Skåneland
Skåneland
Skåneland or Skånelandene are terms used in historical contexts in Scandinavia to describe the area on the southern and south-western part of the Scandinavian peninsula, which under the Treaty of Roskilde was transferred from Denmark to Sweden. It corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge,...
). Codex Runicus is one of the few runic texts found on parchment
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
. The manuscript's initials are painted various colors and the rubric
Rubric (typography)
A rubric is a word or section of text which is traditionally written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The word derives from the , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier...
s are red. Each rune corresponds to a letter of the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
.
Runic manuscripts
The Codex Runicus is considered by most scholars a nostalgic or revivalist use of runes and not a natural step from the Nordic runic script culture of the Viking AgeViking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
to the medieval Latin manuscript culture.
A similar use of runes in a Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n manuscript from this era is known only from the small fragment SKB A 120, a religious text about Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
's lament at the cross. The two manuscripts are similar in how the runes are formed and also in their language use, and it has therefore been suggested that it they were both written by the same Scanian scribe. Some scholars argue that they were written at the scriptorium at the Cistercian monastery at Herrevad
Herrevad Abbey
Herrevad Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near Ljungbyhed in Klippan Municipality, Scania, in the south of present-day Sweden, but formerly in Denmark until 1658. It is now a country house known as Herrevad Castle .- History :...
in Scania, although the idea is contested.
Some historians have considered it feasible that the Codex is a part and remainder of a formerly substantial collection of Scandinavian runic manuscripts, obliterated during the destruction of monasteries and libraries that followed the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Support for this idea has been found in reports written by Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He was reported as born in October 1490 in Östergötland, and died on August 1, 1557. Magnus, Latin for the Swedish Stor “great”, is a Latin family name taken personally, and not a...
, a Catholic ecclesiastic active during the 16th century in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, who fled the country due to the Reformation. According to Olaus Magnus, there were many books written with runes in important Swedish religious centres, such as Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
and Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
, before the Reformation. Other historians have questioned the accuracy of his report.
Content of the Codex
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
beginning with the legendary Danish king Hadding
Hadingus
Hadingus was one of the earliest legendary Danish kings according to Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum where he has a detailed biography. Georges Dumézil and others have argued that Gram was partially modelled on the god Njörðr.-Gesta Danorum:...
's son Frode
Frotho I
Frotho I is one of the legendary Danish kings in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum where he has a substantial biography. He succeeds his father Hadingus to the throne and replenishes the war-drained treasury by slaying a dragon and winning its treasure...
and ending with Eric VI of Denmark
Eric VI of Denmark
Eric VI Menved was King of Denmark and a son of Eric V and Agnes of Brandenburg.He became king in 1286 at age 12, when his father was murdered 20 November by unknown assailants...
. Following the historical texts is a description of the oldest border between Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(referred to as "the Daneholm settlement"). On the last leaf of Codex Runicus is a verse with musical notations - the first musical notations written in Scandinavia. It is the earliest written evidence of secular music in Denmark, a non-rhythmic notation on a four-line staff.
Transliteration
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
of the language. A dotted variant had been introduced in order to separate voiceless k from the corresponding voiced consonant g. New runes introduced for the vowel sounds also appear in the codex.
The text on leaf 27r, from the first rubric (line 3), reads:
- Særær man annær man mæþæn kunung ær innæn lændæs bøtæ fore sar sum loh æræ :ok kunungi firitiuhu mark ok hinum ær sar fik firitiuhu mark fore friþbrut."
- (If a man wounds another man while the king is in the province he shall pay a fine for the wound in accordance with the law, and 40 marks to the king and 40 marks for breach of the peace to the one who was wounded.)
The verse with the musical notations is the first two lines of the folk song Drømde mig en drøm i nat (I dreamt a dream last night), about a girl who dreams of becoming a rich woman. The melody is one that is well known to all Danes, having been used as an interval signal
Interval signal
An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting and by some domestic broadcasters...
on Danish radio
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...
since 1931.
The section with the verse and musical notations are on the last leaf and reads:
- Drømde mik en drøm i nat (I dreamt a dream last night),
- um silki ok ærlik pæl (of silk and fine fur / of justice and fair play).
The Codex Runicus has the shelfmark AM 28 8vo and is part of the Arnamagnæan Collection
Arnamagnæan Collection
The Arnamagnæan Institute is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, the collection bequeathed by the Icelandic scholar and antiquarian Árni Magnússon to the University of Copenhagen in 1730.On July 1,...
at the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
in Denmark.