Runestone Research Articles

Rökstenen. Två nytolkningar

This article discusses two recent studies of the Rök rune stone in Sweden (Ralph 2021 and Williams 2021). They follow different lines of interpretations. Ralph views cosmic symbolism as the key to understanding the inscription as a form of riddles in which the text is preserved. The Ragnarök myth presents the background against which Williams elaborates his interpretation. Some runic sequences that show the differences between the scholars are explored in more detail. The aim of the inscription is finally addressed.

The Great Masterpiece: The Rök Stone and its Maker

The author attempts a source critical and semantic re- vision of the traditional reading of the concluding lines 25 to 28 on the Rök stone in the province of Östergöt- land (Ög 136). Guided by the placement of these lines in the text’s narrative, the author tests the hypothesis that the writer’s signature may be included in this se- quence. Indeed, if this is the case, Sibbe is the master of the Rök stone, not Varin, and the giant mentioned in the text presumably alludes to the rune stone itself. The original place of the monument is also discussed in con- nection with the place-name Jättingstad.

Rune Stones as Material Relations in Late Pagan and Early Christian Scandinavia

In this article, the material qualities and the use of space on rune stone and its links to the landscape during the Viking Age and in the Early Medieval Period in South Scandinavia are explored and related to acts of commemoration and changing spatial perceptions. The 11th century rune stones from Denmark and Scania without iconography have previously received less scholarly attention by the archaeologists, but here they form the main focus. Whereas the commemorative aspects of the rune stones have been noticed by a number of scholars, less emphasis has been on their material qualities and the spatial aspects of the inscription on the stones; the spatial references in the rune stones to the surrounding landscape; and the bodily effect they had for the readers of the runes. The rune stones are studied as expressions of social relations between living, deceased and places in late pagan and early Christian Scandinavia. Three phenomena are explored: the rune stones at bridges and the role of the bridge in paganism and Christianity; the use of the surface and shape of the stones to separate diverging beings; and the shape of the inscription and its relation to the new concepts of afterworld in terms of heaven above, while simultaneously creating links to near and distant pasts. Further, the process of creating relations to distant pasts in the Early Christian period is explored.

En återuppstånden runsten från Källa ödekyrka på Öland (Öl 57)

This paper discusses the relationship between the now lost runestone fragment Ol 57 from Kalla Old Church and some later finds of runestone fragments from the same place. Similarities between these ...

Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America

Review of: Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America, by David M. Krueger

Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America

Book Review| July 01 2016 Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America David M. Krueger. Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015. Pp. ix + 213. Marit Ann Barkve Marit Ann Barkve University of Wisconsin–Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2016) 88 (2): 208–210. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.88.2.0208 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Marit Ann Barkve; Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America. Scandinavian Studies 1 January 2016; 88 (2): 208–210. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.88.2.0208 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressScandinavian Studies Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2016 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2016 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Reviews You do not currently have access to this content.

The Consequences of Truth

Authenticity debates and charges of fraud are not infrequent within the world of archaeology. Depending on the importance of a chosen object, such discussions may reach the level and quality of courtroom rhetoric. Accusations may be hurled, back and forth, through scholarly chambers, and the question of guilt if the object is proven a fraud may be debated, fiercely, with or without considerable proof on either side. This article discusses the reception of two inscriptions, from late nineteenth century until the current date: the Latin Fibula Praenestina, from Praeneste (modern Palestrina), Italy, and the Kensington Rune Stone, from Kensington, Minnesota, USA. The fibula is said to date to the early seventh century BC, and the runic inscription itself mentions the date “1362”. However, shortly after their discovery, both of these inscriptions were accused of being forgeries. Their importance would be significant if they could be proven to be authentic. And yet there is continuing debate about their authenticity and their value to scholarship.

Religionsskiftet i sen vikingetid – Belyst ud fra Harvey Whitehouses teori om religiøse modaliteter

Religionsskiftet i sen vikingetid – Belyst ud fra Harvey Whitehouses teori om religiøse modaliteter

Displaying a Controversy: The Kensington Rune Stone as Transnational Historical Culture

Displaying a Controversy: The Kensington Rune Stone as Transnational Historical Culture

De danske runestens oprindelige plads

De danske runestens oprindelige plads

Med mejsel eller pikhammer – Hvorledes blev runer ristet?

Med mejsel eller pikhammer – Hvorledes blev runer ristet?

Våben i vand – Om deponeringer i vikingetiden

Våben i vand – Om deponeringer i vikingetiden

»Mit navn er Boye, jeg graver dysser og gamle høje«

»Mit navn er Boye, jeg graver dysser og gamle høje«

Forfalsket forhistorie – Arkæologisk svindel og selvbedrag

Forfalsket forhistorie – Arkæologisk svindel og selvbedrag

The Kensington Rune Stone: New Light on an Old Riddle. By <italic>Theodore C. Blegen</italic>. With a bibliography by <italic>Michael Brook</italic>. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society. 1968. Pp. viii, 212. $4.50.)

Journal Article The Kensington Rune Stone: New Light on an Old Riddle. By Theodore C. Blegen. With a bibliography by Michael Brook. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society. 1968. Pp. viii, 212. $4.50.) Get access The Kensington Rune Stone: New Light on an Old Riddle. By Blegen Theodore C.. With a bibliography by Brook Michael. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society. 1968. Pp. viii, 212. $4.50.) Ernest S. Dodge Ernest S. Dodge Peabody Museum of Salem Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 75, Issue 1, October 1969, Pages 197–198, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/75.1.197 Published: 01 October 1969

C. G. Schultz

C. G. SCHULTZ29th August 1905- 17th July 1958 The bells of Asmild church tolled out across Viborg Lake, in the hour that C. G. Schultz was laid to rest in the capital - far from that Jutland to which he had devoted so much of his life. The ancient monuments of Jutland occupied him more and more in his later years, and the list of his discoveries there is impressive: Asmild's remarkable plan with its east and west chancels, the fortress construction around Malling church, the crypt under Our Lady's in Aarhus, the ring-forts at Aggersborg and Fyrkat, the model ship at Hvilsager, the rune stone at Asmild, the baluster pillar at Vitskøl and much more. With untiring zeal he investigated discoveries great and small, and incorporated them in our knowledge of Jutland's early history.From the architect school of the Academy C. G. Schultz came as pupil to C. M. Smidt, the restoration architect of the National Museum, and on the latter's retirement C. G. Schultz was an obvious choice as his successor. But long before this Schultz had made his reputation as a masterly archeologist and a telling and clearsighted writer. He ranged widely, but the culture of his native land around the year AD 1000 became the central point of his research. Our knowledge today of our oldest cathedrals is primarily due to him, and in recreating the pimpstone crypt under Our Lady's he gave us literally an insight into a building tradition which none knew better than he. He loved to work in the old material, he admired the ancient craftsmanship, and he could himself, if it was called for, shape a pimpstone block.We who now must look in vain for the publications which we might have expected from his pen may comfort ourselves with the fact that he left this work in stone completed. The Jutland Archeological Society has decided to set a tablet to his memory in this crypt. No better place could have been chosen.Harald Langberg.

Kuml

KUML
 In a number of Danish and Swedish runic inscriptions the word kumbl or kuml is found in the phrase gærþi kumbl þøsi, "made this monument". In Danish inscriptions it stands, with a single exception, in the plural, while it occurs in addition in the genitive singular on two Danish rune stones, in the old formula niut kumbls.
 The Danish runologists, P. G. Thorsen and Ludvig Wimmer, are of the opinion that the word in the old formula designates the burial tumulus, and that the plural form is used to cover the tumulus and the rune stone in association. This use of the plural form is odd, while only one certain example is known of a rune stone standing on a tumulus containing a contemporary burial.
 From the use of the word in Nordic and in other Germanic languages we can conclude that the basic meaning of kumbl is "sign, monument by means of which an object is distinguished or emphasized". The plural form used on the rune stones must consequently designate several monuments of some sort, and these can only be several erected stones.
 The majority of Danish runic monuments no longer stand in their original position, but a small number have survived consisting of one (or more) rune stones in association with other stones bearing no inscriptions. The inscriptions also mention such compound monuments directly, some having the plural "stones"; in Swedish inscriptions the plural mærki, "monuments", also occurs. In addition to the normal association, gærþi kumbl, the combinations resþi or satti kumbl are also found; the use of the verbs "raise" and "set", which normally have "stone" as their object, supports the explanation put forward here.
 The singular form in the formula niut kumbls may just as well designate the rune stone as the burial tumulus, while the meaning of kuml where it occurs in the sagas, which has been used to support the earlier explanation, cannot be determined with certainty.
 The interpretation of kuml which is put forward here is linguistically simple. It is derived from the basic meaning, while the significance of the plural in relation to the singular is perfectly standard. Monuments consisting of several erected stones do in actual fact occur, and they are directly mentioned in the inscriptions.
 Karl Martin Nielsen

Tomme høje

Tomme høje