The Kylver stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as runic inscription G 88, is a Swedish runestone which dates from about 400 AD. It is notable for its listing of each of the runes in the Elder Futhark.
The Kylver stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as runic inscription G 88, is a Swedish runestone which dates from about 400 AD. It is notable for its listing of each of the runes in the Elder Futhark.
The Kylver stone was found during the excavation of a cemetery near a farm at Kylver, Stånga, Gotland in 1903. [1] The stone was a flat limestone rock used to seal a grave and the runic inscription was written on the underside, and could therefore not be read from above. The dating of the stone from 400 CE is based upon the archeological dating of the graves. [1]
The Kylver stone was removed from Gotland and brought to the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm where it is on display As of 2022 [update] .
The fact that the inscription was on the inside of a cover to a grave has resulted in speculation that it represented a use of the Elder Futhark to pacify the dead man in some manner. [2] However, it has been pointed out that there is nothing in the inscription to support this. In addition, there is no evidence that the inscription was made for the purpose of being used on the cover of a grave. [3] There are many examples where stone with runic inscriptions was reused for other purposes. [3] It has been suggested that the likely purpose of making the inscription was for practice or instruction in the carving of the Elder Futhark. [2]
The Kylver stone is inscribed with the earliest known sequential listing of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, [4]
…ᚢ
[f]u
ᚦ
þ
ᚨ
a
ᚱ
r
ᚲ
k
ᚷ
g
…
[w]
ᚺ
h
ᚾ
n
ᛁ
i
ᛃ
j
ᛈ
p
ᛇ
ï
ᛉ
z
ᛊ
s
ᛏ
t
ᛒ
b
ᛖ
e
ᛗ
m
ᛚ
l
ᛜ
ŋ
ᛞ
d
ᛟ
o
with the a (ᚨ), s (ᛊ), and b runes (ᛒ) mirrored compared to later use, and the z rune (ᛉ) upside down (ᛦ). The dots in the image indicate incorrect or unorthodox forms like these in the original inscription. The f (ᚠ) and w runes (ᚹ) runes are only partially inscribed.
After the last rune follows a spruce- or tree-like rune, with six twigs to the left and eight to the right of a single stave. This is interpreted as a bindrune of stacked Tiwaz rune, [5] or possibly of six Tiwaz and four Ansuz runes to invoke Tyr and the Æsir for protection. [6]
At a separate space the word ᛊᚢᛖᚢᛊ sueus is inscribed. The meaning of this latter palindromic word is unknown, but it is possible that it is associated with magic. [1] One suggestion presented by Marstrander is that it is a magical writing of the word 'eus' (the nominative form of the word horse) starting from the e and writing either way. [7] However, this suggestion has been criticized as being "linguistically impossible" for that time period. [3] The small inscription also uses the Younger Futhark version of the s-rune. It is also possible that it refers to the Germanic tribe of the Suiones that inhabited the region, whose realm laid the basis for what became Sweden.
The Rök runestone is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. It can now be seen beside the church in Rök, Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. It is considered the first piece of written Swedish literature and thus it marks the beginning of the history of Swedish literature.
A rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value, runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen. The Scandinavian variants are also known as fuþark, or futhark, these names derived from the first six letters of the script, ⟨ᚠ⟩, ⟨ᚢ⟩, ⟨ᚦ⟩, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚬ⟩, ⟨ᚱ⟩, and ⟨ᚲ⟩/⟨ᚴ⟩, corresponding to the Latin letters ⟨f⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨þ⟩/⟨th⟩, ⟨a⟩, ⟨r⟩, and ⟨k⟩. The Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc, or fuþorc, due to changes in Old English of the sounds represented by the fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩.
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The reduction, somewhat paradoxically, happened at the same time as phonetic changes that led to a greater number of different phonemes in the spoken language, when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse. Also, the writing custom avoided carving the same rune consecutively for the same sound, so the spoken distinction between long and short vowels was lost in writing. Thus, the language included distinct sounds and minimal pairs that were written the same.
The Elder Futhark, 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 Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones in Scandinavia, from the 2nd to the 10th centuries.
The Einang stone is a runestone located east of the Einang Sound near Fagernes, in Oppland, Norway, notable for the age of its runic inscription. The Einang runestone is located within the extensive Gardberg site. It is placed on a grave mound on a ridge overlooking the Valdres valley. There are several other grave mounds nearby. Today the runestone is protected by glass walls and a roof.
A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of Elder Futhark, Anglo-Frisian Futhorc and Younger Futhark.
The Dynna Stone is a runestone from the late Viking Age that was originally located in Gran, Norway.
The Abecedarium Nordmannicum is a presentation of the 16 runes of the Younger Futhark as a short poem, in the 9th-century Codex Sangallensis 878. The Younger Futhark are given after the Hebrew alphabet on the preceding page, and the Anglo-Saxon futhorc on the same page. The text of the rune poem was unfortunately destroyed in the 19th century by chemicals intended for its preservation. It survives in an 1828 drawing by Wilhelm Grimm.
The t-rune ᛏ is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz. Tiwaz rune was an ideographic symbol for a spear.
The Snoldelev Stone, listed as DR 248 in the Rundata catalog, is a 9th-century runestone that was originally located at Snoldelev, Ramsø, Denmark.
The Lindholm "amulet", listed as DR 261 in Rundata, is a bone piece, carved into the shape of a rib, dated to the 2nd to 4th centuries and has a runic inscription. The Lindholm bone piece is dated between 375CE to 570CE and it is around 17 centimeters long at its longest points. It currently resides at Lund University Historical Museum in Sweden.
A bind rune or bindrune 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.
The Gummarp Runestone, designated as DR 358, was a runestone from the Vendel era and which was located in the former village of Gummarp in the province of Blekinge, Sweden.
The Rö runestone, designated under Rundata as Bo KJ73 U, is one of Sweden's oldest and most notable runestones.
The Järsberg Runestone is a runestone in the elder futhark near Kristinehamn in Värmland, Sweden.
The Tune stone is an important runestone from about 200–450 AD. It bears runes of the Elder Futhark, and the language is Proto-Norse. It was discovered in 1627 in the church yard wall of the church in Tune, Østfold, Norway. Today it is housed in the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. The Tune stone is possibly the oldest Norwegian attestation of burial rites, inheritance, and beer.
The Grumpan bracteate, designated as runic inscription Vg 207 by Rundata, is a gold type C bracteate found in Västergötland, Sweden in 1911. It is dated to the 6th century.
The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone, listed as runic inscription DR 220 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered in Sønder Kirkeby, which is located about 5 kilometers east of Nykøbing Falster, Denmark.
The Vidbo Runestones are two Viking Age memorial runestones that are located in the churchyard of the Vidbo church, which is about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Knivsta, Uppsala County, Sweden, in the historic province of Uppland.
Runes is the third studio album by British metalcore band Bury Tomorrow. It was released on 26 May 2014 through Nuclear Blast and was produced by Mike Curtis. The album is named after the Rune Poems and is the band's first to feature Kristan Dawson, who replaced founding member Mehdi Vismara as Bury Tomorrow's lead guitarist in 2013. In June 2014, Runes reached number 34 on the UK charts and was also number 1 on the UK Rock Chart.