From “Old English Rune Poem”
By Anonymous
Translated By Miller Oberman
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Wealth is a comfort to every man
yet every man must divide it mightily
If he wishes to have the measurer’s mercy
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The ox is steady-hearted and over-horned
A fierce and famous beast it fights with horns
Glorious moor-stepper that is a noble creature
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Riding is mild for warriors at their hearthsides
and strong-bold for he mounted on the back
of a mighty horse over a distance measured in miles
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A gift is the grace and praise of men
and warmth and worthship to all exiles
sustenance for him who is stripped of all else
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Joy is won by whoever knows little of woe
sourness or sorrow and who has for himself
breath and bliss and fullness and a fortified place
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Need is bound in the breast yet nonetheless becomes for the
sons of men
a help and healing both if they heed in time
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Elk-sedge is found most often in a fen
it waxes in water and wounds severely
burns in the blood of each man’s body
who with his hand takes hold of it
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Man in mirth is dear to his kin
yet must every one betray the other
for that reason the Lord dooms
wretched flesh be taken by the earth
Source: Poetry (July/August 2013)