# Computus Runicus

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{{Short description|1328 runic calendar}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2019}}
thumb|216px|Page&nbsp;21 of Ole Worm's ''Computus Runicus''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Online facsimile of original text |department=Computus runicus |website=arild-hauge.com |url=http://www.arild-hauge.com/computus_runicus.htm }}</ref>

The '''Computus Runicus''' was a [runic calendar](/source/runic_calendar) produced in 1328 and found on the [Swedish](/source/Sweden) island of [Gotland](/source/Gotland). A transcription / description of the text – called ''Computus Runicus'' – was published in 1626 by [Ole Worm](/source/Ole_Worm) (Olaus Wormius) (1588–1654), a Danish [physician](/source/physician) and [antiquarian](/source/antiquarian).<ref>{{cite web |title=The runic calendar from Gotland, from 1328, described by Ole Worm |department=Computus runicus |website=arild-hauge.com |url=https://www.arild-hauge.com/computus_runicus.htm |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Worm, Ole (Oluf) 1588–1654 |series=Dansk biografisk Lexikon (DBL) |website=runeberg.org |url=https://runeberg.org/dbl/19/0276.html |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref>

==Description==
The text consists of the 12&nbsp;calendar pages and a series of additional pages with detailed explanations for finding information used in the medieval [computus](/source/computus), including [golden numbers](/source/golden_numbers) and [epacts](/source/epacts).

The calendar is written in [medieval runes](/source/medieval_runes) with a gloss in [Latin](/source/Latin) and some places also in [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language) added by [Worm](/source/Ole_Worm). It follows a standard layout for a medieval calendar similar to those found in a [book of hours](/source/book_of_hours), with Christian feasts and saint's days. Worm attempted to identify some of the unusual symbols found in the calendar, including one marking fast days and another marking the beginning of the [zodiac](/source/zodiac)al months, which strangely start on the 18th&nbsp;day of each month instead of the more common&nbsp;20th or 21st.

As with any medieval calendar, there is a column for the golden numbers used in the [Metonic cycle](/source/Metonic_cycle) (to find the date of [Easter](/source/Easter)) and another column for the [dominical letters](/source/dominical_letters) (to find the date of Sunday each week). January&nbsp;31 and the month of February have an additional column to be used for finding the beginning of [Lent](/source/Lent), while March and April have an additional column to assist with finding the date of [Easter](/source/Easter). The author used a similar system of rune replacements for the [Latin letters](/source/latin_alphabet) and [Roman numeral](/source/Roman_numeral)s commonly found in other runic calendars, including the use of the extra runes Arlaug, Tvimadur, and Belgthor to represent the [golden numbers](/source/golden_number_(time))&nbsp;17, 18, and 19, which exceed the 16&nbsp;runes in the [younger Futhark](/source/younger_Futhark).

==See also==
{{div col begin|colwidth=12em}}
* [computus](/source/computus)
* [date of Easter](/source/date_of_Easter)
* [runic alphabet](/source/runic_alphabet)s
* [runic calendar](/source/runic_calendar)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |title=Online facsimile of original text |department=Computus runicus |website=arild-hauge.com |url=http://www.arild-hauge.com/computus_runicus.htm }}
* {{cite web |title=Traduction française par Jara |department=Computus runicus |series=Editions du Monolithe |website=editionsdumonolithe.com |url=https://www.editionsdumonolithe.com/product/computus_runicus }}

{{Commons category|Computus Runicus}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:14th-century manuscripts
Category:Chronicles about Denmark
Category:Gotland
Category:Runic manuscripts
Category:Medieval runes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Computus Runicus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computus_Runicus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computus_Runicus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.