Ribe skull fragment on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Ribe skull fragment (DR EM85;151B in
The skull fragment is approximately 6 x 8.5 cm in size and has been taken from the top of a cranium. It has a hole bored in it and it is inscribed with transitional Younger Futhark runes. The runic inscription retains two character shapes from the
The Ribe skull fragment (DR EM85;151B in Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
, also known as DK SJy39) is a section of human skull bone inscribed with runes and unearthed in 1973 in an archaeological excavation at Ribe, Denmark. It dates to circa 725 CE.
Description
The skull fragment is approximately 6 x 8.5 cm in size and has been taken from the top of a cranium. It has a hole bored in it and it is inscribed with transitional Younger Futhark runes. The runic inscription retains two character shapes from 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 ...
, ᚺ () and ᛗ ().
: ᚢᛚᚠᚢᛦᛡᚢᚴᚢᚦᛁᚾᛡᚢᚴᚺᚢᛏᛁᚢᛦ ¶ ᚺᛁᛡᛚᛒᛒᚢᚱᛁᛁᛋᚢᛁᚦᛦ ¶ ᚦᛡᛁᛗᛡᚢᛁᛡᚱᚴᛁᛡᚢᚴᛏᚢᛁᚱᚴᚢᚾᛁᚾ ¶ ᛒᚢᚢᚱ
These transliterate as:
: ulfuʀukuþinukutiuʀ ¶ ilbburiisuiþʀ ¶ þiuirkiuktuirkunin ¶ buur
Interpretation
A possible interpretation of the inscription is: : ''Ulfr auk Ōðinn auk Hō-''tiur. ''Hjalp'' buri ''es viðr þæima værki. Auk dverg unninn. Bōurr.'' : Ulfr and Odin and High-tiur. buri is help against this pain. And the dwarf (is) overcome. Bóurr. Where "Ulfr" may refer to the wolf Fenrir, "Odin" to the godOdin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
, and "High-tiur" to the god Týr, buri would then refer to the god Búri, but one should note that the runic buri can also be read as "hole", or as the dative of a name Burr, in which case the meaning would be "It serves as help for Buri against the pain".
It has been suggested that the existence of a hole in the fragment may indicate its use as an amulet, however, there is a general lack of wear of the type that would be expected if it had been used in this way.
See also
* Canterbury charm * Kvinneby amulet * Ribe healing-stick * Sigtuna amulet IReferences
{{reflist Runic inscriptions Historical runic magic Archaeological discoveries in Denmark