On the Transliteration of English Runes

FOR PRACTICAL REASONS it is convenient to transliterate runic inscriptions into some form of the Latin alphabet. Anglo-Saxon scholars have often followed the system put forward by Bruce Dickins in Leeds Studies in English, 1 (1932), 15–19- Recently there has been criticism of the Dickins system, and the argument adduced that it is desirable to use, for the English version of the runic script, one closer to that commonly employed for Scandinavian runes. The present article puts the case for differentiating between English and non-English runes by using distinctive transcription methods for each, and suggests some modifications to the Dickins system for English use. The matter is of some immediate importance in view of the publication of the British Academy's Corpus of Anglo-Saxon stone sculpture, which requires transliterations of English runic texts.