| San José State University |
|---|
| applet-magic.com Thayer Watkins Silicon Valley USA |
|---|
| The Runic Inscription on the Franks Casket |
|---|
The Franks Casket is a small chest made of whale bone which is inscribed
with this runic poem:
In Latin letters (with a few Anglo-Saxon characters) this is:
Fisc flodu ahof on fergenberig;
war� gasric grorn, ��r he on greut giswom.
Hron�s ban.
A rough translation is:
A tidal wave washed the fish onto the cliff-bank;
the whale was stricken with panic when he tried to swim on the shingle.
This is the whale's bone.
The casket and poem were created in Britain, probably Northumbria, over a thousand years ago. The name, Franks Casket, comes from an owner who donated it to the British Museum in 1857. The fascinating thing about the poem is that someone witnessed an unusual event and through the miracle of writing communicated its image down through a thousand years.
|
HOME PAGE OF Thayer Watkins |