The Undley bracteate is a 5th-century
bracteate
A bracteate (from the Latin ''bractea'', a thin piece of metal) is a flat, thin, single-sided gold medal worn as jewelry that was produced in Northern Europe predominantly during the Migration Period of the Germanic Iron Age (including the Vende ...
found in Undley Common, near
Lakenheath
Lakenheath is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It has a population of 4,691 according to the 2011 Census, and is situated close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, ...
,
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 image on the bracteate is an adaptation of an ''Urbs Roma'' coin type issued by
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
, conflating the helmeted head of the emperor and the image of
Romulus and Remus suckled by the
she-wolf on one face.
With a diameter of 2.3 cm, it weighs 2.24 grams. It may have originated in northern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
or southern
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
and been brought to England with an early
Anglo-Saxon settler.
The inscription reads right to left around the circumference of the obverse side, terminating at the image of the wolf:
:ᚷᚫᚷᚩᚷᚫ ᛗᚫᚷᚫ ᛗᛖᛞᚢ
:''g͡æg͡og͡æ mægæ medu''
The ''o'' is the earliest known instance of the ''
os'' rune contrasting with the ''
æsc'' rune . The three syllables of the initial word ''gægogæ'' are written as
bind runes, with side-twigs attached to the X shape of the
gyfu rune to represent the vowels ''æ'' and ''o''.
The words ''mægæ medu'' are interpreted as meaning "
meed
MEED, formerly ''Middle East Economic Digest'', is a media publishing company founded in 1957 focused on economic and business news related to the Middle East. MEED also provides advertising and marketing services.
History
The first issue o ...
for the
kinsmen", i.e. "reward for relatives", referring to the bracteate itself. The word ''gægogæ'' appears to be some magical invocation or battle cry, comparable to the ''g͡ag͡ag͡a'' on the
Kragehul I
Kragehul I ( DR 196 U) is a migration period lance-shaft found on Funen, Denmark. It is now in the collection of the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark. The spear shaft was found in 1877 during the excavation of the classic war booty s ...
lance-shaft.
References
*J. Hines and B. Odenstedt, ''The Undley bracteate and its runic inscription'', Studien zur Sachsenforschungen, 6 (1987), pp. 73–94.
*J. Hines, ''The Scandinavian character of Anglian England in the pre-Viking period'', BAR British Series 124 (Oxford, 1984), pp. 204–9.
*S. E. West, ''Gold bracteate from Undley, Suffolk'', Frühmittelalterliche Studien, 17 (1983), p. 459.
*
Notes
{{reflist
External links
Gold bracteate at the British Museum
Bracteates
Individual items of jewellery
Medieval European objects in the British Museum
Runic inscriptions
Anglo-Saxon runes
Anglo-Saxon art
She-wolf (Roman mythology)
Ancient Roman jewellery