Kragehul I ( DR 196 U) is a

migration period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike s ...

-shaft found on

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. It is now in the collection of the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark. The spear shaft was found in 1877 during the excavation of the classic

war booty Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

sacrificial site Kragehul on southern Funen. The site holds five deposits of military equipment from the period 200 to 475 AD. The spear shaft probably belongs to the latest deposit.

Inscription

The

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...

inscription reads: :ek e=rila=z asugisalas m=uh=a h=aite g=ag=ag=a ginu g=ah=e … lija … hagala wiju big– …Runic inscription DR 196 in Scandinavian Runic-text Database 2020. The first part is normalized as: :''ek erilaz āsugīs^alas muha haitē, gagaga'' Interpreted as "I, the

erilaz ''Erilaz'' or ''Erilaʀ'' is a Migration period Proto-Norse word attested on various Elder Futhark inscriptions, which has often been interpreted to mean " magician" or "rune master",* viz. one who is capable of writing runes to magical effect. H ...

of Āsugīsalaz, am called Muha, ga-ga-ga!", where "ga-ga-ga" may be some sort of ritual chant or battle cry. ''Āsugīsalaz'' is a Germanic compound name, consisting of '' ansu-'', "god", and ''gīs^alaz'', "hostage".Antonsen, 2002, p.14 ''Muha'' also appears to be a personal name. The runes of gagaga are displayed as a row of three

bindrune A bind rune or bindrune ( is, bandrún) is a Migration Period Germanic ligature of two or more runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscriptions, but are common in earlier (Proto-Norse) and later (medieval) inscriptions.Enoksen, Lars Magn ...

s based on the X-shape of the g-rune with sidetwigs attached to its extremities for the a. A similar sequence gægogæ is found on the

Undley bracteate The Undley bracteate is a 5th-century bracteate found in Undley Common, near Lakenheath, Suffolk. It bears the earliest known inscription that can be argued to be in Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (as opposed to Common Germanic Elder Futhark). The ima ...

Interpretations

The ''gagaga'' and the remaining part of the inscriptions have prompted varying interpretations.

Schneider

Schneider (1969) opts for bull sacrifice, reading ''g-a'' as "gift, god!" and the remaining as :''Ginugahelija Hagala wiju bi g ia '' :"the mighty roarer he sacrificial bull the Hagal, I dedicate to the spear".

Düwel

Düwel (1983) reads the thrice repeated ''g-a'' as '' g bua ja' "I give good fortune". For the second part of the inscription, he has :'' ginu-ga he matija ... hag?l(a) wi u bi g ia'' :"magical-"ga", the helmet-destroying hail I dedicate to the spear"

Pieper

Pieper (1999) reads ''g-a'' as ''g bua su' "gift to the god

din DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken by ...

, with following :''ginu-ga hellija hag?la wiju bi g bu'' :"magical-god-gift, hellish hail I dedicate upon this gift"

MacLeod and Mees

MacLeod and Mees (2006) read ''gagaga'' as an

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

related to forms like the

's ''gægogæ'', and read the expression as a metrical

charm Charm may refer to: Social science * Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others * Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear Science and technology * Charm quark, a type of elementary particle * Ch ...

:''gagaga ginu gahellija, hagala wiju bi g

ize Oxford spelling (also ''Oxford English Dictionary'' spelling, Oxford style, or Oxford English spelling) is a spelling standard, named after its use by the University of Oxford, that prescribes the use of British spelling in combination with th ...

'' :"''gagaga'' I yell resoundingly, hail I dedicate in the s

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

Notes

References

* Düwel, Klaus, ''Runenkunde'' 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1983. * MacLeod, Mindy, and Bernard Mees,
Runic Amulets and Magic Objects
', Woodbridge 2006. * Pieper, Peter, ''"Fluchweihe" oder "Weihefluch": Imitative Kampfesmagie bei den Germanen nach dem Zeugnis von Runeninschriften'' in: Studien zur Sachsenforschung, 13, 1999, 303-324. * Scandinavian Runic-text Database 2020, Department of Scandinavian Languages,

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. * Schneider, Karl, ''Runische Inschriftenzeugnisse zum Stieropferkult der Angelsachsen'' in: Festschrift für Edgar Mertner, (hg.) Fabian, Bernhard, Suerbaum, Ulrich. München 1969, 9-54. * {{refend

External links

runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de entry
Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Elder Futhark inscriptions Proto-Norse language