The Sigtuna amulet I or Sigtuna plate I (signum U Fv1933;134, also U Sl5 and S 5) is an 11th-century

runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

found in 1931 in

Sigtuna Sigtuna is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in the eponymous Sigtuna Municipality, in Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,689 inhabitants in 2020. It is the namesake even though the seat of the municipality is in another locality, Märsta. S ...

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

Description

The amulet is a copper plate, 82 mm long, 27.5-29mm wide and 0.9mm thick. It was discovered at a depth of c. 1.2 metres in the 'Granhäcken' block of the medieval city of Sigtuna in March 1931, together with pottery fragments and bone combs. Additional excavations of the site were undertaken later the same year, but did not reveal anything new of interest.

Inscription

The inscription is carved in

boustrophedon Boustrophedon () is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the l ...

Scandinavian Runic-text Database

The

Scandinavian Runic-text Database The Scandinavian Runic-text Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future researc ...

offers the following "standard" readings:

Transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

: :§A þur/þurs, × , sarriþu × þursa trutin fliu þu nu=, , =funtin is :§B af þiʀ þriaʀ þraʀ ulf × ¶ af þiʀ niu noþiʀ ulfr iii ¶ isiʀ þis isiʀ auk is uniʀ ulfr niut lu¶¶fia Old West Norse

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

:§A ''Þór/Þurs sárriðu, þursa dróttinn! Fljú þú nú! Fundinn er u'' :§B ''Haf þér þrjár þrár, Ulfr! Haf þér níu nauðir, Ulfr! , Ulfr. Njót lyfja!'' Runic Swedish normalization :§A ''Þór/Þurs sárriðu, þursa dróttinn! Fliú þú nú! Fundinn es u'' :§B ''Haf þéʀ þríaʀ þráʀ, Ulfʀ! Haf þéʀ níu nauðiʀ, Ulfʀ! , Ulfʀ. Niút lyfia!'' English translation :§A Boil/Spectre of the wound-fever, lord of the

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

! Flee now! You are found. :§B Have for yourself three pangs, Wolf! Have for yourself nine needs, Wolf! , Wolf. Make good use of the healing(-charm)!

Other interpretations

Pipping 1933

Old West Norse normalization: :''þurs sár-riðu, þursa dróttinn'' :''flý þú nú fuð, fundinn es(t)'' :''(h)af þér þríar þráar ulf'' :''(h)af þér níu nauðir ulf'' :''þí ísir þessir ísir'' :''auki es unir ulfr niót lyfia'' English translation: :Wound-fever’s demon, lord among demons, ''nunc fuge vulvam'', you are found. :Content yourself with threefold torment, monster! :Content yourself with ninefold need, monster! :To that attach the íss-runes, these íss-runes, that you may stay where you are. May you be affected by (my) curses, monster!

Pereswetoff-Morath 2019

As part of her dissertation "Viking-Age Runic Plates: Readings and Interpretations", Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath discusses this find. She offers the following interpretation: Transliteration: :A1 þurs‿×‿sarriþu × þursa : 2 trutin fliu þu nu͡funtin is :B1 af þiʀ þriaʀ þraʀ ulf × : 2 af þiʀ niu noþiʀ ulfr--- : 3 ifiʀ þisi siʀ auk is uniʀ ulfr niut lu ¶ fia Runic Swedish normalization: : A ''Þurs sārriðu, þursa drōttinn!'' : ''Flȳ þū nū! Fundinn es (þurs sārriðu þursa drōttinn ...)'' : B ''(H)af þēʀ þrīaʀ þrāʀ, ulf, (h)af þēʀ nīu nauðiʀ!'' : ''Ulfʀ (h)æfiʀ þessi sēʀ auk es uniʀ ulfʀ. Niūt lyfia!'' English translation: :A Wound-fever's troll, lord of trolls! : You flee now! Found is (the wound-fever's troll, lord of trolls ...) :B May three torments take you, wolf, may nine needs take you! : The wolf takes these (torments and needs) and with these the wolf remains calm. Use the magic charm!

Theories

The inscription has been noted to have striking similarities with other Viking-age runic healing-charms, such as the Canterbury formula, written in Scandinavian runes but found in an Anglo-Saxon manuscript. It reads:Gustavson, Helmer. (2010) Sårfeberbenet från Sigtuna. ''Situne Dei'', 61-76. Translated from Swedish by Mindy MacLeod. :kuril sarþuara far þu nu funtin is tu þur uigi þik ¶ þorsa trutin iuril sarþuara uiþr aþra uari · :''Gyrils sārþvara far þū nū! Fundinn eʀ þū! Þōrr vīgi þik, þursa drōttinn, Gyrils sārþvara. Viðr aðravari.'' :Gyrill's wound-tap, you go now! You are found! May Thor hallow you, lord of the trolls. Gyrill's wound-tap. Against pus in the veins (blood poisoning). The phrase 'nine needs' (niu noþiʀ) is attested in other instances of pagan magic, such as the inscription on the Danish

Ribe healing-stick The Ribe healing stick (with Rundata signum DR EM85;493, also known as DK SJy41) is a pinewood stick found at Ribe, Denmark, with a heavily pagan-inspired Christian spell. It dates to circa 1300 CE. Description Although ostensibly Christian, the c ...

, the Icelandic poem

Sigrdrífumál (also known as ) is the conventional title given to a section of the ''Poetic Edda'' text in . It follows without interruption, and it relates the meeting of Sigurðr with the valkyrie Brynhildr, here identified as ("driver to victory"). ...

and spell-book

Galdrabók The (, ''Book of Magic'') is an Icelandic grimoire dated to . It is a small manuscript containing a collection of 47 spells and sigils/staves. The grimoire was compiled by four people, possibly starting in the late 16th century and going on un ...

Notes

References

* {{cite book , last = Pereswetoff-Morath , first = Sofia , translator-last = Macleod , translator-first = Mindy , date = 2019 , title = Viking-Age runic plates: readings and interpretations. , series = Acta academiae regiae Gustavi Adolphi, 0065-0897; 155, Runrön, 1100-1690; 21 , publication-place = Uppsala , publisher = Kungl. Gustav Adolfs akademien för svensk folkkultur , url = https://gustavadolfsakademien.bokorder.se/en-US/article/3792/viking-age-runic-plates , isbn = 9789187403330