Notes to the Runa ABC of

Johannes Bureus
Joannes Richter

## 1 2/2/2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 / 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Younger
Futhark ᚠ ᚡᚢᚤᚣ - ᚦ ᚧ ᚭ - - ᚱ - ᚴ - - ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛂ ᛅ - ᛋ- ᛐ ᛏ - ᛒ ᚭ ᛚ ᚫ ᛘ
Final
symbol ᛦ ᚿ
Vowels U YÅ OÅĄ I E A
F V V Y Å Þ Ð ðð O Å Ą R R R C G Q H N N J E A S ss ſ T tt D B P L ll M
Trans-
literation Gh D P mm
Ch

Table 1 Table of Runes for the first runic signary

as published in "Runa ABC" by the essay of Johannes Bureus

Abstract
The Runa ABC (1611) of Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) was the first Swedish alphabet book and its
purpose was to teach the runic alphabet in 17th century Sweden.
The digital facsimile Runa ABC does not describes a 15-symbols alphabet, but lists a number of
variants for several runes. Especially the second rune “Ur” ᚢ, ᚤ, ᚣ represents a universal “joker”,
which represents 3 categories (U, Y, Å). In the British Futhorc the rune is named “Ȳr” (Y).
A second rune symbol “Ȳr” (Y) allows us to interpret the first 5 runes in the Futhorc signary as
ϝYᚦOR or ϝYᚦÅR (labial, palatal, lingual, guttural and dental).
In the younger or medieval Futhark a trailing rune (ᛦ, stupmadr, R) is added1.
Transformng the Runa ABC and the stupmadr ᛦ into the corresponding 2-dimensional table we may
identify:
• in the 1st row the word “father” (ϝYÞĄR) and
• in the 3rd row the word “Mother” (MITAR )
Labial Palatal Lingual Guttural Dental Runes Latinized Old Norse English
4 ᛚ (L) ᛚ
3 ᛘ (M) ᛁ (I) ᛐ (T) ᛅ (A) ᛦ (R) ᛘᛁᛐᛅᛦ MITAR móðir - MÓÐIR Mother
2 ᛒ (B) ᚴ (C) ᚾ (N) ᚼ (H) ᛋ (S) ᛒᚴᚾᚼᛋ BCNHS
1 ᚠ (ϝ) ᚤ (Y) ᚦ (Th) ᚭ (O) ᚱ (R) ᚠᚤᚦᚭᚱ ϝYÞĄR ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ) FAþIR Father
Table 2 2-dimensional table for the “Runa ABC"
in the essay (1611) of Johannes Bureus

1 (PDF) The 2-Dimensional Younger ϝYÞARc | Joannes Richter

The overview of the Runa ABC of Johannes Bureus
The Runa ABC (1611) of Johannes Bureus is based on a complex runic symbols, some of which are
not available in the runic Unicode block. The missing runic symbols are labeled in the table and
may be found in the digital facsimile of the Runa ABC.
In this essay the 15 lines are detailed. Especially the 5-letter block may be investigated for dotted
runic symbols.
1. The first rune may be identified as Digamma ϝ with a non-dotted rune ᚠ or V as a dotted
rune ᚡ. This runic symbol is defined as a labial phoneme F or V.
2. The second rune however may be identified as U or V with a non-dotted rune, as a Y with
one-dotted rune ᚤ or as Å with a dual-dotted rune. The dual-dotted runic symbol is missing
in the Unicode block. This rune is a labial (U or V), palatal (Y) or a guttural (Å).
3. The third rune may be interpreted as Þ (Th), Ð (dh) or ÐÐ (2 x dh). This rune is a lingual.
4. The fourth rune may be interpreted as O, Å, Ǒ. This rune is a guttural.
5. The fifth rune may be interpreted as a consonant R or a final letter R. This rune is a dental.
The first 5 runes may be interpreted as a pentagrammaton ϝYÞOR or VYÞOR

Fig. 1 Table of Runes for the first runic signary

published in "Runa ABC“ (1611) by the essay of Johannes Bureus
The 2-dimensional tables
The 2-dimensional table for the Runa ABC may be composed as follows:
1. The first row of the table displays: ϝYÞĄR or VYÞOR
2. The second row of the table displays: CHNIA
3. The third row of the table displays: STBLM
In the younger or medieval Futhark a trailing rune (ᛦ, stupmadr, R) is added2.
## 1 2/2/2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 / 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Younger
Futhark ᚠ ᚡᚢᚤᚣ - ᚦ ᚧ ᚭ - - ᚱ - ᚴ - - ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛂ ᛅ - ᛋ- ᛐ ᛏ - ᛒ ᚭ ᛚ ᚫ ᛘ
Final
symbol ᛦ ᚿ ᛦ
Vowels U Y Å OÅĄ I E A
F V U Y Å Þ Ð ðð O Å Ą R R R C G Q H N N I E A S ss ſ T tt D B P L ll M R
Trans-
literation V Gh J D P mm
Ch

Table 3 Table of Runes for the first runic signary

as published in "Runa ABC" in the essay of Johannes Bureus, including the trailing rune ᛦ
The 2-dimensional tables may be interpreted as follows:
Labial Palatal Lingual Guttural Dental Runes Latinized Old Norse English
4 L ᛚ
3 M I/J T A (R) ᛘᛁᛐᛅᛦ MITAR móðir - MÓÐIR Mother
2 B C/G/K N H / Gh / Ch S ᛒᚴᚾᚼᛋ BCNHS
1 ϝ/ V Y Þ/Ð O / Å/ Ą R ᚠᚤᚦᚭᚱ ϝYÞĄR ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ) FAþIR Father
Table 4 2-dimensional table for the “Runa ABC"
in the essay (1611) of Johannes Bureus
This 2-dimensional table displays in the 1 st row the word “father” (ϝYÞĄR) and in the 3rd row the
word “Mother” (MITAR ) :
Labial Palatal Lingual Guttural Dental Runes Latinized Old Norse English
4 ᛚ (L) ᛚ
3 ᛘ (M) ᛁ (I) ᛐ (T) ᛅ (A) ᛦ (R)
ᛘᛁᛐᛅᛦ MITAR móðir - MÓÐIR Mother

2 ᛒ (B) ᚴ (C) ᚾ (N) ᚼ (H) ᛋ (S) ᛒᚴᚾᚼᛋ BCNHS

1 ᚠ (ϝ) ᚤ (Y) ᚦ (Th) ᚭ (O) ᚱ (R) ᚠᚤᚦᚭᚱ ϝYÞĄR ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ) FAþIR Father

Table 5 2-dimensional table for the “Runa ABC"

in the essay (1611) of Johannes Bureus
The 5-letter Old Norse words móðir – MÓÐIR (also Old Swedish: mōþir MÓþIR) and ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ)
FAþIR (also faðir FAÐIR) support the 5 categorized words for Father and Mother, who may have
been interpreted and respected as divine linguistic entities.

2 (PDF) The 2-Dimensional Younger ϝYÞARc | Joannes Richter

Distribution of the symbols and phonemes
The names of the 16 runes of the Younger_Futhark are recorded in the Icelandic and Norwegian
rune poems. The 15 names of the runes are labeled in the "Runa ABC“ as follows: Från, Ur, Thors,
Odhys, Rydhur, Kån, Hagall, Nådh, Idher, Uru, Sun, Tijdhr, Byrghal, Lagher, Man. The names
correspond to the new standard names of the Younger_Futhark (see appendix 3 for details).
The final symbol Yr of the Younger_Futhark is integrated (as ᛦ in the fifth rune Rydhur in the "Runa
ABC“). This rune is named stupmadr R. Two runes (Ur and Idher) are composed with several
phonemes with different categories.
Each of the 3 aettir contains 5 positions, but the number of symbols, respectively phonemes is 42 or
43. The distribution is: Från (2), Ur (4), Thors (3), Odhys (3), Rydhur(2 or 3), Kon (3), Hagall (3),
Nådh (4), Idher (3), Uru (2), Sun (4) , Tijdhr (2), Byrghal (3), Lagher (2), Man (2).

Runic names (runic symbols at the runic position) Phonemes

Aett 1 Från (2), Ur (4), Thors (3), Odhys (3), Rydhur(2 or 3) 14-15
Aett 2 Kån (3), Hagall (3), Nådh (4), Idher (3), Uru (2) 15
Aett 3 Sun (4) , Tijdhr (2), Byrghal (3), Lagher (2), Man (2) 13
Total runic symbols / phonemes 42-43
Table 6 Distribution of the symbols and phonemes in the 15 runic names and 3 aettir.
The 3 Aettir were named Fehu Aett, Hagal Aett and Tiwaz Aett. Their names are given in the 17 th
century and probably needed to be named “Från”-aett, “Kån”-aett, respectively “Sun”-aett.
The size of the runic signary is 15 symbols, which may be applied for the Younger_Futhark and
Elder Futhark. After all the following runic composition may be used for the (elder ?)
Younger_Futhark with 16 runic symbols and may be extended to the (younger ?) Elder Futhark with
24 runic symbols.
The 24 (or more: 42-43) phonemes may be distributed over 15 runic names and serve 42-43
phonemes. Each runic name might serve 2 up to 4 phonemes, which (for accents and digraphs) are
controlled by diacritics. The following table is derived from "Runa ABC“ (1611) and may be
incomplete or erroneous. This table should be completed and cleaned up...
Aett 1st (“Från” or “Fehu”) Aett 2nd (“Hagal” ?) Aett 3rd (“Tiwaz” ?) Aett
Hag Ur Byrg Lagh
Name Från Ur Thors Odhys Rydhur Kån
all
Nådh Idher
u
Sun Tijdhr
hal er
Man Yr

## 1 2/2/2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 / 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
pho-
2 3 or 4 3 3 2 or 3 3 3 4 3 2 4 2 3 2 2
nemes
Younger
Futhark ᚠ ᚡᚢᚤᚣ - ᚦ ᚧ ᚭ - - ᚱ - ᚴ - - ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛂ ᛅ - ᛋ- ᛐ ᛏ - ᛒ ᚭ ᛚ ᚫ ᛘ
Final
symbol ᛦ ᚿ ᛦ
Vowels U Y Å OÅĄ I E A
F V U Y Å Þ Ð ðð O Å Ą R R R C G Q H N N I E A S ss ſ T tt D B P L ll M R
Trans-
literation V Gh J D P mm
Ch

Table 7 Table of Runes for the first runic signary

(as published in "Runa ABC" in the essay of Johannes Bureus, including the trailing rune ᛦ )
The “Father”-Words PITAR, PITER and ϝYÞĄR
Several ancient “Father”-Words in Sanskrit PITAR, in Latin PITER and in Germanic ϝYÞĄR seem
to be composed as 5-letter words in which each of the 5 letters are representatives of the categories
(labial, palatal, lingual, guttural and dental).
These samples may interpreted as evidence that the 5 letters are representatives of the categories 3 of
the 5 independent places of articulation4.

Dyaus-Pitar (“Father Sky”)5

Notably the origin of the the Latin word Jupiter seems to be based on Ju-PITER and not on Ju-
PATER, which is missing a palatal letter I. This had been documented by Sir Monier Monier-
Williams in A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language (1857):
Observe —Pitŗi seems to be corrupted from PÁTŖI, ' a protector' (pá, ' to protect'). The
cognate languages have preserved the root in πατήρ, pater, ' father,' &c. The Latin
Jupiter, however, is literally Dyu-PITAR, or rather DYAUSH-PITAR, ' father of heaven.'
It is clear that bases like dátŗi, pitŗi, &c, originally ended in ar.

a. Observe—*naptŗi, 'a grandson' (though said to be derived from na and pitŗi, 'not the
father'), is declined like dátŗi.

The translation DYAUSH-PITAR, -> 'father of heaven' may also be interpreted as “father sky”,
which may be understood as an analogy to “Mother Earth”.

Pṛthvī Mātā ("Mother Earth")

DYAUS-PITAR's consort is Prithvi, the earth goddess, and together they are the
archetypal parents in the Ṛg·veda. As Pṛthvī Mātā ("Mother Earth") she is
complementary to Dyaus Pita ("Father Sky").[1] In the Rigveda, Earth and Sky are
primarily addressed in the dual as Dyavapṛthivi (DYAVAPṚTHIVĪ).[2]

PṚTHVĪ-MĀTĀ ("Mother Earth") may also have been spelled: PṚTHVĪ-MATIR. This may be setup
a quadruple set of pentagrams:
Translation Deity Symbol
“father sky” DYAUSH Sky-god PITAR Father
"Mother Earth" PṚTHVĪ Earth-god MATIR Mother
Table 8 The etymology of DYAUSH-PITAR and PṚTHVĪ-MATIR

3 There are five major parts of the vocal tract that move: the lips, the flexible front of the tongue, the body of the
tongue, the root of the tongue together with the epiglottis, and the glottis. They are discrete in that they can act
independently of each other, and two or more may work together in what is called coarticulation.[1]: 10-11
4 Since vowels are produced with an open vocal tract, the point where their production occurs cannot be easily
determined. Therefore, they are not described in terms of a place of articulation but by the relative positions in
vowel space. (source: places of articulation)
5 The Composition of the Words DYAUSH-PITAR and PṚTHVI-MATIR...
Summary
The Runa ABC (1611) of Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) was the first Swedish alphabet book and its
purpose was to teach the runic alphabet in 17th century Sweden.
The digital facsimile Runa ABC does not describes a 15-symbols alphabet, but lists a number of
variants for several runes. Especially the second rune “Ur” ᚢ, ᚤ, ᚣ represents a universal “joker”,
which represents 3 categories (U, Y, Å). In the British Futhorc the rune is named “Ȳr” (Y).
A second rune symbol “Ȳr” (Y) allows us to interpret the first 5 runes in the Futhorc signary as
ϝYᚦOR or ϝYᚦÅR (labial, palatal, lingual, guttural and dental).
In the younger or medieval Futhark a trailing rune (ᛦ, stupmadr, R) is added6.
Transformng the Runa ABC and the stupmadr ᛦ into the corresponding 2-dimensional table we may
identify:
• in the 1st row the word “father” (ϝYÞĄR) and
• in the 3rd row the word “Mother” (MITAR )
The 5-letter Old Norse words móðir – MÓÐIR (also Old Swedish: mōþir MÓþIR) and ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ)
FAþIR (also faðir FAÐIR) support the 5 categorized words for Father and Mother, who may have
been interpreted and respected as divine linguistic entities:

Labial Palatal Lingual Guttural Dental Runes Latinized Old Norse English
4 ᛚ (L) ᛚ
3 ᛘ (M) ᛁ (I) ᛐ (T) ᛅ (A) ᛦ (R)
ᛘᛁᛐᛅᛦ MITAR móðir - MÓÐIR Mother

2 ᛒ (B) ᚴ (C) ᚾ (N) ᚼ (H) ᛋ (S) ᛒᚴᚾᚼᛋ BCNHS

1 ᚠ (ϝ) ᚤ (Y) ᚦ (Th) ᚭ (O) ᚱ (R) ᚠᚤᚦᚭᚱ ϝYÞĄR ᚠᛅᚦᛁᛦ (faþiʀ) FAþIR Father

Table 9 2-dimensional table for the “Runa ABC"

in the essay (1611) of Johannes Bureus

6 (PDF) The 2-Dimensional Younger ϝYÞARc | Joannes Richter

Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................1
The overview of the Runa ABC of Johannes Bureus ..........................................................................2
The 2-dimensional tables......................................................................................................................3
Distribution of the symbols and phonemes..........................................................................................4
The “Father”-Words PITAR, PITER and ϝYÞĄR................................................................................5
Dyaus-Pitar (“Father Sky”)..............................................................................................................5
Pṛthvī Mātā ("Mother Earth")..........................................................................................................5
Summary...............................................................................................................................................6
Appendices...........................................................................................................................................8
Appendix 1 - The Yr rune................................................................................................................8
Appendix 2 – The categories in the runic signaries ........................................................................9
The Unicode block .....................................................................................................................9
The runic signaries......................................................................................................................9
Appendix 3 - The runic names for the younger Futhark................................................................10
Appendices

Appendix 1 - The Yr rune7

The Yr rune ᛦ is a rune of the Younger Futhark. Its common transliteration is a small capital ʀ. The
shape of the Yr rune in the Younger Futhark is the inverted shape of the Elder Futhark rune (ᛉ). Its
name yr ("yew") is taken from the name of the Elder Futhark Eihwaz rune.
Its phonological value is the continuation of the phoneme represented by Algiz, the word-final *-z
in Proto Germanic. In Proto-Norse it is pronounced closer to /r/, perhaps /ɻ/. Within later Old Norse,
the Proto-Norse phoneme collapses with /r/ by the 12th century.
Dieterich claims the “Stupmadr”-rune “tumbled or inverted ᛉ” may have been a “final R”, which in
Sanskrit represented a vowel. A sample of the “final R” is found in “brother” (and maybe also in
“father” and “mother”):

Fig. 2 Quotation of Dieterich's description of the“Stupmadr”-rune “tumbled or inverted ᛉ”

Source: Runen-Sprach-Schatz: oder Wörterbuch über die ältesten Sprachdenkmale Skandinaviens,
in Beziehung auf Abstammung und Begriffsbildung; Buch von Udo Waldemar Dieterich

The 9th-century abecedarium anguliscum in Codex Sangallensis 878 shows eolh as a peculiar
shape, as it were a bindrune of the older ᛉ with the Younger Futhark ᛦ, resulting in an "asterisk"
shape similar to ior ᛡ.
The only known instance where the rune does take the sound value of Latin x in epigraphy is the
spelling of rex "king" on the interlace coin dies of king Beonna (mid 8th century). 8
The typographical symbol * “asterix” is also found in French words (les yeux for “eyes” and dieux
as a plural for dieu). The star * is also found as a special symbol (Ebhadh or EA ébad [k], [x]; [eo])
in the ogham signary.

7 Source: (PDF) The 2-Dimensional Younger ϝYÞARc | Joannes Richter

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiz#Younger_Futhark
Appendix 2 – The categories in the runic signaries
In this appendix a few relevant symbols are categorized with the following colors: labial, palatal,
lingual, guttural and dental.

The Unicode block

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+16Ax ᚠ ᚡᚢ ᚣ ᚤ ᚥ ᚦ ᚧ ᚨ ᚩ ᚪ ᚫ ᚬ ᚭ ᚮ ᚯ
U+16Bx ᚰ ᚱ ᚲ ᚳ ᚴ ᚵ ᚶ ᚷ ᚸ ᚹ ᚺ ᚻᚼ ᚽ ᚾ ᚿ
U+16Cx ᛀ ᛁ ᛂ ᛃ ᛄ ᛅ ᛆ ᛇ ᛈᛉ ᛊ ᛋ ᛌ ᛍ ᛎ ᛏ
U+16Dx ᛐ ᛑ ᛒ ᛓ ᛔ ᛕ ᛖᛗ ᛘ ᛙ ᛚ ᛛ ᛜ ᛝ ᛞ ᛟ
U+16Ex ᛠ ᛡ ᛢᛣ ᛤ ᛥᛦ ᛧ ᛨ ᛩᛪ ᛫ ᛬ ᛭ᛮ ᛯ
U+16Fx ᛰᛱ ᛲ ᛳ ᛴ ᛵ ᛶ ᛷ ᛸ
Table 10 Unicode block

The runic signaries

ᛟ
ᚨ
Elder
Futhark ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚱ ᚲ ᚷ ᚹ ᚺᚾ ᛁ ᛃ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛊ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛜ (o ᛞ
)
Old ᚳ ᚷ ᛉ
English ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ (o) ᚱ (c (ȝ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛢ (x ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛝ ᛟ ᛞ ᚪ ᚫ ᚣ ᛡ ᛠ ᛣ ᛤ ᛥ ᚸ
Futhorc ) ) )
ᛦ
Younger
Futhark ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚬ (ą) ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ (ʀ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ ᛅ
)
ᛪ
Medi- ᚿ ᛕ ᛚ ᚤ
ᚠ ᚡ ᚢ ᚦ ᚧ ᚮ ᚱ ᚴ ᚵ ᚼ ᛁ ᛂ ᛩ (x ᛌ ᛐ ᛒ ᛘ ᛛ ᚶ ᚯ ᛑ ᛆ ᛅ
eval ᛀ ᛔ ᛦ
)
Trans-
literat. f v u þ ð a r k ġ w hni j ï p q z s t b e m l ŋ œ d a æ y io ea k kk st g

Table 11 Runic signaries (categorized in colors: labial, palatal, lingual, guttural and dental)
Appendix 3 - The runic names for the younger Futhark
The names of the 16 runes of the Younger_Futhark are recorded in the Icelandic and Norwegian
rune poems. Each of the 3 aettir contains 5 positions, but the number of symbols, respectively
phonemes is 42 or 43. The distribution is: Från (2), Ur (4), Thors (3), Odhys (3), Rydhur (2 or 3),
Kon (3), Hagall (3), Nådh (4), Idher (3), Uru (2), Sun (4) , Tijdhr (2), Byrghal (3), Lagher (2), Man
(2).

The names are9:

Aett Rune Standard Name Symbols Name in Runic symbols
"Runa ABC“ in "Runa ABC“
ᚠ fé ("wealth") Från 2

ᚢ úr ("iron"/"rain") Ur 3 or 4
1
ᚦ Thurs ("thurs") Thors 3

ᚬ As/Oss ("(a) god") Odhys 3

ᚱ reið ("ride") Rydhur 2 or 3

ᚴ kaun ("ulcer") Kon 3

ᚼ hagall ("hail") Haghall 3

2
ᚾ/ᚿ nauðr ("need") Nådh 4

ᛁ ísa/íss ("ice") Idher 3

ᛅ/ᛆ ár ("plenty") Uru 2

ᛋ/ᛌ sól ("Sun",deity) Sun 4

ᛏ/ᛐ Týr ("Týr, deity) Tijdhr 2

3
ᛒ björk/bjarkan/bjarken ("birch") Byrghal 3

ᛘ maðr ("man, human”) Man 2

ᛚ lögr ("sea") Lagher 2

ᛦ yr ("yew")

Table 12 Names of the 15-16 runes of the Younger_Futhark

9 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Futhark