Editing Computus Runicus

{{Short description|1328 runic calendar}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2019}}
[[Image:Page 21 of Computus Runicus by Ole Worm (1626).jpg|thumb|216px|Page 21 of Ole Worm's ''Computus Runicus''.]]

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

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

The calendar is written in [[medieval runes]] with a gloss in [[Latin]] and some places also in [[Swedish language|Swedish]] added by Worm. It follows a standard layout for a medieval calendar similar to those found in a [[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]] months which curiously start on the 18th day of each month instead of the more common 20th or 21st.

As with any medieval calendar, there is a column for the golden numbers used in the [[Metonic cycle]] (to find the date of Easter) and another column for the [[dominical letters]] (to find the date of Sunday each week). January 31 and the month of February have an additional column to be used for finding the beginning of [[Lent]], while March and April have an additional column to assist with finding the date of [[Easter]]. The author used a similar system of rune replacements for the Latin letters and Roman numerals as those commonly found in other runic calendars, including the use of the extra runes Arlaug, Tvimadur, and Belgthor to represent the Golden Numbers 17, 18, and 19.<ref>[[runic calendar]]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.arild-hauge.com/computus_runicus.htm Online facsimile of original text]
*[https://www.editionsdumonolithe.com/product/computus_runicus Computus Runicus - Traduction française par Jara - Editions du Monolithe]

{{Commons category|Computus Runicus}}

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