The Meldorf fibula is a Germanic spring-case-type fibula found in Meldorf, Schleswig-Holstein in 1979. Though the exact circumstances of the recovery of the fibula are unknown, it is thought to have come from a cremation grave, probably that of a woman. On typological grounds it has been dated to first half of the 1st century CE, and possibly bears the oldest runic inscription found to date.
The inscription, found on the fibula's foot and carried out in the tremolo or assay puncture technique, remains the subject of lively debate. The controversy revolves primarily around whether the graphemes are to be understood as runic, proto-runic or Latin characters. Finds from Vimose – particularly a comb with the inscription harja dated to ca. 160 CE – are generally considered to be the oldest runic artifacts yet found. If the inscription on the Meldorf fibula is runic, then it has far-reaching implications regarding the question as to the origin and development of the Elder Futhark.
Düwel and Gebühr (1981) suggest that the inscription contains four runes, reading (left to right) hiwi, which they interpret as meaning "for the spouse" or "mater familias". Attested cognates and related words would include: Old Saxon and Old High German hīwa, "spouse"; Old Saxon and Old High German hīwiski, "family"; Old Saxon hīwian and Old High German hīwan, "to marry"; Gothic heiwa- in heiwa-frauja, "master of the house" or "husband". This interpretation has been widely criticised as epigraphically and linguistically irregular, however (Odenstedt 1989, Mees 1997).
Düwel's interpretation gained renewed attention with the discovery of Wijnaldum B, a small golden pendant of possibly Mediterranean origin dated to ca. 600 CE, in Leeuwarden, Friesland in 1990. On the back is a runic inscription which Looijenga (1997) and Düwel (2001) took to read as hiwi, "for the mater familias". Looijenga (2021:383, n.7) has since withdrawn her reading of the inscription, however, seeing it now as only featuring meaningless scratches.
Odenstedt (1989) interprets the inscription as being composed in the Latin alphabet, reading (right to left) IDIN, which he translates as a personal name, the gender of which remains uncertain; if feminine "for Ida", if masculine, "for Iddo". Seebold (1994) also agrees with this interpretation.
Mees (1997), like Düwel, interprets the inscription as runic, but instead reads (right to left) iṛiḷi, which he translates as "to the (rune-)master".
Other possible readings include Latin nidi, runic or Latin irih, hiri, or runic iwih, iþih, hiþi.
The fibula is kept in Gottorp, Schleswig-Holstein.
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages.
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of 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). Examples of this are often referred to as Begriffsrunen by academics. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark ; the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc.
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.
Algiz is the name conventionally given to the "z-rune" ᛉ of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is z, understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal *z continuing Proto-Indo-European terminal *s.
Eiwaz or Eihaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the rune ᛇ, coming from a word for "yew". Two variants of the word are reconstructed for Proto-Germanic, *īhaz, continued in Old English as ēoh, and *īwaz, continued in Old English as īw. The latter is possibly an early loan from the Celtic, compare Gaulish ivos, Breton ivin, Welsh ywen, Old Irish ēo. The common spelling of the rune's name, "Eihwaz", combines the two variants; strictly based on the Old English evidence, a spelling "Eihaz" would be more proper.
Anglo-Saxon runes are runes used by the early Anglo-Saxons as an alphabet in their writing system. The characters are known collectively as the futhorc from the Old English sound values of the first six runes. The futhorc was a development from the 24-character Elder Futhark. Since the futhorc runes are thought to have first been used in Frisia before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, they have also been called Anglo-Frisian runes. They were likely to have been used from the 5th century onward, recording Old English and Old Frisian.
The Pforzen buckle is a silver belt buckle found in Pforzen, Ostallgäu (Schwaben) in 1992. The Alemannic grave in which it was found dates to the end of the 6th century and was presumably that of a warrior, as it also contained a spear, spatha, seax and shield. The buckle is of the Alemannic Weingarten type.
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 Nordendorf fibulae are two mid 6th to early 7th century Alamannic fibulae found in Nordendorf near Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany.
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The Thorsberg chape is an archeological find from the Thorsberg moor, Germany, that appears to have been deposited as a votive offering. It bears an Elder Futhark runic inscription, one of the earliest known, dating to roughly 200 CE.
The Ring of Pietroassa or Buzău torc is a gold torc-like necklace found in a ring barrow in Pietroassa, Buzău County, southern Romania, in 1837. It formed part of a large gold hoard dated to between 250 and 400 AD. The ring itself is generally assumed to be of Roman-Mediterranean origin, and features a Gothic language inscription in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet.
Finds from Vimose, on the island of Funen, Denmark, include some of the oldest datable Elder Futhark runic inscriptions in early Proto-Norse or late Proto-Germanic from the 2nd to 3rd century in the Scandinavian Iron Age and were written in the time of the Roman Empire.
The Westeremden yew-stick is a yew-wood stick found in Westeremden in the Groningen province of the Netherlands in 1917. It bears an Old Frisian runic inscription, dated to the second half of the 8th century. With a total of 41 letters, this is the longest of the extant Frisian runic inscriptions.
Lombardic or Langobardic is an extinct West Germanic language that was spoken by the Lombards (Langobardi), the Germanic people who settled in Italy in the sixth century. It was already declining by the seventh century because the invaders quickly adopted the Latin vernacular spoken by the local population. Lombardic may have been in use in scattered areas until as late as c. 1000 AD. A number of place names in the Lombardy Region in Northern Italy and items of Lombard vocabulary derive from Lombardic.
The Frei-Laubersheim fibula is a silver-gilt bow-style fibula found in Frei-Laubersheim, Bad Kreuznach (Rhineland-Palatinate) in 1872. The grave in which it was found dates to approximately the 6th century, and was that of a presumably Frankish woman. The fibula is one of a pair, and bears a runic inscription in the Elder Futhark.
The Bergakker inscription is an Elder Futhark inscription discovered on the scabbard of a 5th-century sword. It was found in 1996 in the Dutch town of Bergakker, in the Betuwe, a region once inhabited by the Batavi. There is consensus that the find dates from the period 425-475 and that the inscription is either the singular direct attestation of Frankish (Franconian) or the earliest attestation of Old Dutch.
The Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of German studies with emphasis on the older periods. It was established in 1841 and is the oldest periodical in early Germanic studies still publishing.
Edward Schröder was a Germanist and mediaevalist who was a professor at the University of Göttingen and published editions of numerous texts.
Benjamin Sigmund Oehrl is a German archaeologist and philologist who specializes in Germanic studies.
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