*Berkanan

{{short description|Runic alphabet letter}} {{infobox rune | lang1 = pg | lang2 = oe | lang3 = on | name1 = '''*Berkanan''' | name2 = '''Beorc'''/'''Berc''' | name3 = '''Bjarkan''', '''Birkal''' | meaning1 = "birch" | meaning2 = "birch"/"poplar"? | meaning3 = "birch (lumber)", "birch buds" | shape12 = x50px|class=skin-invert-image | shape3a = x50px|class=skin-invert-image | shape3b = x50px|class=skin-invert-image | unicode hex12 = 16D2 | unicode hex3a = 16D2 | unicode hex3b = 16D3 | transliteration12 = '''b''', '''ƀ''' | transliteration3 = '''b''', '''p''' | transcription13 = ''b'' | IPA12 = {{IPA|[b]}}, {{IPA|[β]}} | IPA3 = {{IPA|[b], [p]}} | position12= 18 | position3 = 13 }} {{Contains special characters|Runic|width=30em}} '''ᛒ''' is a rune that is transliterated as '''b''' or '''ƀ''' ({{ipa|β}})<ref name="ƀ"/> in the Germanic Elder Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc writing systems respectively, and as '''b''' or '''p''' in the Norse Younger Futhark.

The letter shape is likely directly based on Old Italic 𐌁, whence comes also the Latin letter B.

== Proto-Germanic tradition == The reconstructed Proto-Germanic rune name is '''*berkanan''', meaning "birch". While the reconstructed name may have varied historically, the sense of "birch" is uniform across all Runic traditions, including potential derivatives like Irish Ogham, which also uses "birch" for B ({{langx|sga|Beith}}).

== Gothic tradition == The Goths used the Elder Futhark for some time before switching to the Gothic alphabet in the 4th century. Like the runic system, they gave corresponding names for all the letters, which for the most part are direct analogs to the rune names, meaning that they most likely ported over the old rune names to their new alphabet. This gives the potentially oldest recorded form of the rune name in the corresponding Gothic letter 𐌱 ''b'', recorded in the late 8th century as '''bercna''' by Alcuin of York, which can be reconstructed as the earlier proper form '''{{lang|got|*𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌺𐌰𐌽}}''' (''*baírkan'').<ref name="Kirchhoff">{{cite book |last=Kirchhoff |first=Adolf |author-link=Adolf Kirchhoff |year=1854 |title=Das gothische Runenalphabet |language=de |location=Berlin |publisher=Wilhelm Hertz |url=https://archive.org/details/dasgothischerune00kircuoft/page/36/mode/2up |access-date=2025-01-03 |ol=OL14002786M |oclc=1042908167 |pages=37}}</ref>

== Anglo-Saxon / Old English tradition == thumb|upright=0.5|ᛒ (''berc'') in BL Cotton MS Domitian A IX The Anglo-Saxon and Old English name is recorded as '''beorc''' or '''berc''' ("birch" or "poplar"). It is found as early as the 8th century, as featured in the Old English rune poem.

The Old English rune poem goes:

{{verse translation | {{ubl | {{runic|ᛒ}} {{lang|ang|Beorc bẏþ bleda leas, bereþ efne sƿa ðeah}} | {{lang|ang|tanas butan tudder, biþ on telgum ƿlitig,}} | {{lang|ang|heah on helme hrẏsted fægere,}} | {{lang|ang|geloden leafum, lẏfte getenge.}} }} | {{ubl | Birch has no fruit, yet it bears nevertheless | shoots without fruits, is beautiful with branches | high in its crown, splendidly adorned | and laden with leaves, pressing up loftily<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/oldenglishrunepo00jonerich/page/81/mode/2up |access-date=2026-05-02 |title=The Old English rune poem, an edition |author=Frederick George Jones, JR.JONES, JR. |date=1967 |publisher=University of Florida}}</ref>}} }}

== Norse tradition == In West Norse tradition (Norway, Iceland) the rune is called ''bjarkan'', meaning birch, albeit archaically, as the common form for birch is {{lang|non|bjǫrk}}. The form probably existed in East Norse as well (Denmark, Sweden), as the Old Danish Norse form ''biercan'' is found in Codex Leidensis (10th c.).<ref name="Biercan">cod. leidensis lat. 4:o, 83</ref>

=== Danish tradition === [[File:Abc nord.jpg|thumb|Abecedarium Nordmannicum (10th c.), featuring ᛒ as "brica/briꞇa"]] In Denmark, little is preserved of Danish runic tradition, in comparison to Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. No indigenous rune poem is known. As aforementioned, the rune name "bjarkan" is recorded in Danish Old Norse as '''biercan''', as found in Codex Leidensis (10th c.).<ref name="Biercan">cod. leidensis lat. 4:o, 83</ref>

Another Danish name is recorded in Abecedarium Nordmannicum (10th c.), which became largely unreadable in the 19th century due to a failed preservation attempt. A handwritten copy exists from 1826, by Wilhelm Grimm, which has the name written as ''brica'' or ''briꞇa'' (brita) depending on the assumed identity of the fourth character (c or insular t). If "brica" is correct, then a reasonable scenario could be that it is a corruption or misspelling of the name ''birka''. If "brita" is correct, then various theories are possible. For example, Brita is a Nordic shortform for the name Birgitta, which stems from the same root as the Irish pagan goddess Brigid, who is believed to have had the "birch" as her holy tree.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hutton, Ronald |date=1996 |title=The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198205708 |oclc=832535162}}</ref> Likewise, "Börk", a Nordic dialect form for birch, is recorded as a variation of the given name Brita in Västerbotten and Norrbotten in Sweden.<ref name="dialektl">{{Runeberg |filename=dialektl |htmlno=0109.html |name=börk}}</ref>

=== Icelandic tradition === In Iceland, the rune is called '''bjarkan''' per Norwegian tradition. The Old Icelandic rune poem is partially incomplete, as the original record, ''AM 687d 4°'', is damaged and impossible to make out at parts, such as the bjarkan poem.<ref name="Page"/> Many different forms are recorded.<ref>{{Runeberg |filename=anf/1913 |htmlno=0290.html |name=Bjarkan rune poem}}</ref> A recorded form by Jón Ólafsson of Grunnavík (1732), attributed to either Magnus Olafsson (c. 1573-1636) or a Sveinn a Barði, with Latin translation,<ref name="Page">{{cite book |author1=R. I. Page |title=The Icelandic rune poem |date=1999 |publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London |isbn=0 903521 43 1}}</ref> reads as:

{{verse translation | {{ubl | {{runic|ᛒ}} {{lang|non|Bjarkan er litit lim}} | {{lang|non|ok laufgat tre}} | {{lang|non|vaxandi vidr}}<ref name="Page"/> }} | {{ubl | Birch is a small twigged | and leafy tree | growing wood }} }}

=== Norwegian tradition === In Norway, the rune is called '''bjarkan'''. The Old Norwegian rune poem goes:

{{verse translation | {{ubl | {{runic|ᛒ}} {{lang|non|Bjarkan er laufgrønstr líma;}} | {{lang|non|Loki bar flærða tíma.}} }} | {{ubl | Birch has the greenest leaves of any plant-limb; | Loki bore fortune in his deceit. }} }}

=== Swedish tradition === In Sweden, the rune is called '''birkal''' (also recorded as '''bÿrkal''', '''birka'''),<ref name="Granius">c:File:Brief van Nicolaus Andreas Granius aan Bonaventura Vulcanius (1538-1614), VUL 106 1.pdf</ref> with secondary forms like '''birk''', '''biørk'''/'''björk''' ({{lit|birch}}), and '''birke''' ({{lit|birch lumber, birch grove}}) in Dalecarlian (1599).<ref name="Bureus"/> The suffix ''-al'' in ''Birkal'' is assumed to mean "fruit of the tree" (also found as {{langx|non|-yla}}, {{langx|got|-𐌹𐌻𐍉}} ''-ílo'', and various West Germanic forms, for example {{langx|goh|eihh-ila}}, "acorn"; {{langx|gmh|büech-el}}, "beech nut", etc; {{compare}} {{langx|sv|ek-ållon}}, "acorn"),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=birkal&pz=1 |title=birkal sbst. |access-date=2026-04-30 |publisher=Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB) |website=saob.se}}</ref> which is supported by the its primary Swedish rune kenning, {{lang|sv|björkbrumar frodast}} ("birch buds most flourishing").<ref name="Bureus">Bureus: Runakänslånäs lärä_spån (1599)</ref> Dalecarlian ''birke'', meaning "birch forrest",<ref name="björke">{{cite web |title=björke sbst. 1 |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=BJ%C3%96RKE |website=saob.se |publisher=Swedish Academy |access-date=2026-05-18}}</ref> also has analog rune kennings: {{lang|sv|björkahultet grönast}}<ref name="Granius"/> ("the birch grove greenest"), {{lang|sv|björkeskog grönast}} ("birch forest greenest").<ref name="Stiernhielm"/>

There are multiple recorded Swedish rune poems, all of which are short rune kennings. Some shows features of the High to Late Middle Ages and regional variation, with others showing archaic features of unknown older descent, with some select being analog to the Norwegian and Icelandic poems.

The earliest recorded poem was done rather unknowingly by Johannes Bureus in 1599, simply listing them as "signific" in Latin.<ref name="Bureus"/> An incomplete alternative collection was recorded in a letter by {{ILL|Nicolaus Granius|sv}} in 1600,<ref name="Granius"/> and a supplemented third version, more similar to the Bureus collection, was published by Georg Stiernhielm in 1685.<ref name="Stiernhielm">{{cite book |date=1685 |author=Georg Stiernhielm |title=Anticluverius |page=156}}</ref> Various random forms are also recorded by Olaus Verelius in 1675, found scattered alongside equivalent short forms of the Icelandic poems.<ref name="Verelius">{{cite book |last1=Verelius |first1=Olauf (Olof) |author1-link=Olaus Verelius |title=Kort underwijsning om then gambla swea-götha runa-ristning |trans-title=Brief report on the old Swedish-Geatish rune carving |date=1675 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.se/books?id=1SVKAAAAcAAJ |language=sv, la |chapter=4}}</ref>

Bureus kenning (1599) goes: {{verse translation | {{runic|ᛒᛁᚬᚱᚴᛅ_ᛒᚱᚢᛘᚱ ᚠᚱᚭᚦᛆᛋᛏ}} ({{lang|sv|Biörkä-brumr frothast}})<ref name="Bureus"/> | "Birch buds most flourishing" }}

The Granius kenning (1600) goes: {{verse translation | {{lang|sv|Biörkahúltet grönast}}<ref name="Granius"/> | "The birch grove greenest" }}

The Verelius kenning (1675) is anachronistic in spelling, but goes: {{verse translation | {{lang|sv|Biarks brumur frodast}} {{lang|sv|Biark lunda fegurd}}<ref name="Verelius"/> | "Birch's buds most flourishing" "Birch be, in a way, beautiful" }}

The Stiernhielm kenning (1685) goes: {{verse translation | {{lang|sv|Biörkbrumar frodast;}} {{lang|sv|Biörkeskog grönast,}} {{lang|sv|i.e. bäst til Wärke}}<ref name="Stiernhielm"/> | "Birch buds most flourishing; Birch forest greenest, i.e. best (material) for working" }}

== Norse p-rune (''Plástr'') == {{infobox rune | lang1 = on | name1a = '''stunginn ᛒ''' | name1b = '''opin ᛒ, Plástr''' | meaning1a = "stung ᛒ" | meaning1b = "open ᛒ", "Bandage" | unicode hex1a = 16D4 | unicode hex1b = 16D5 | transliteration1 = '''p''' | transcription1 = ''p'' | IPA1 = {{IPA|[p]}} | position1 = *13 }} The Norse ᛒ rune primarily stood for /b/, but also represented /p/. In the Early Medieval period, various improvements were made to the Norse runic system in order to make it easier to write with, leading to some proper p-runes. Such generally lacked its own name, but have at times been referred to as {{lang|non|Plástr}} ("bandage").

=== {{runic|ᛔ}} Stung Bjarkan/Birkal{{anchor|ᛔ}} === A stung version of Bjarkan/Birkal '''{{runic|ᛔ}}''' appeared in the 12th century (Old West Norse: ''stunginn Bjarkan''; Old Swedish: ''stungen Birkal''), meant to indicate that the rune made a /p/ sound.

=== {{runic|ᛕ}} Open Bjarkan/Birkal{{anchor|ᛕ}} === The stung version of the Bjarkan/Birkal ᛔ was complex to carve, leading to a simplified modification '''{{runic|ᛕ}}''' where the loops were opened, leading to the "open Bjarkan/Birkal".<ref>{{cite web |author1=Katrín Axelsdóttir |title=All the King’s Runes |url=https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1385970/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=University of Iceland}}</ref>

=== {{Text direction|reversed|ᛒ}} Turned Bjarkan/Birkal === In Norse Medieval writing, the ᛒ was sometimes mirrored '''{{Text direction|reversed|ᛒ}}''' to represent /p/ instead of /b/.<ref name="Bureus"/> Such runes are recorded in Early Modern Swedish as being called "turned runes" ({{lang|sv|vändrunor}}).<ref name="Bureus"/> A potential name could be {{lang|sv|*Birkal-vänd}} ("ᛒ turned") based on other recorded rune names.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Thomas Karlsson |title=Götisk kabbala och runisk alkemi: Johannes Bureus och den götiska esoterismen |url=https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:293693/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=Stockholm University |access-date=2026-05-02 |language=sv |date=2009 |isbn=978-91-628-8030-9 |quote=kaghvänd |page=232}}</ref>

== See also == * Beith (letter) * Bluetooth * Elder Futhark * Loki * Rune poem

== References == <references> <ref name="ƀ">{{cite web |title=ramm sbst. 4 |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=ramn&pz=1 |website=saob.se |publisher=Swedish Academy |access-date=2026-05-18 |language=sv |quote=urnord. haraƀanaR}}</ref> </references> {{Runes}}

Category:Runes