| Sigtuna amulet I | |
|---|---|
 Side A, photographed by Bengt A. Lundberg in 1996 for the Swedish National Heritage Board. | |
| Material | Copper |
| Writing | Younger Futhark |
| Created | 1000s |
| Discovered | March 1931 Sigtuna, Malmen, Granhäcken |
| Culture | Norse |
| Rundata ID | U Fv1933;134 |
| Text – Native | |
| Old Norse: See article. | |
| Translation | |
| See article. | |
The Sigtuna amulet I or Sigtuna plate I (signum U Fv1933;134, also U Sl5 and S 5) is an 11th-century runic amulet found in 1931 in Sigtuna, Uppland.
The amulet is a copper plate, 82 mm long, 27.5-29mm wide and 0.9mm thick. [1] 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. [2]
The inscription is carved in boustrophedon. [1]
The Scandinavian Runic-text Database offers the following "standard" readings: [3]
Old West Norse normalization
Runic Swedish normalization
English translation
Old West Norse normalization:
English translation:
As part of her dissertation "Viking-Age Runic Plates: Readings and Interpretations", Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath discusses this find. [5] She offers the following interpretation: [6]
Transliteration:
Runic Swedish normalization:
English translation:
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. [7] It reads: [8]
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 Icelandic poem Sigrdrífumál and spell-book Galdrabók. [9]