TheRibe skull fragment (DR EM85;151B inRundata, also known asDK SJy39) is a section of humanskull bone inscribed with runes and unearthed in 1973 in an archaeological excavation atRibe,Denmark. It dates to circa 725 CE.[1]
The skull fragment is approximately 6 x 8.5 cm in size and has been taken from the top of a cranium.[2] It has a hole bored in it and it is inscribed with transitionalYounger Futhark runes. Therunic inscription retains two character shapes from theElder Futhark, ᚺ (H) and ᛗ (M). The object was last studied through a digital microscope in 2021 and was found to contain the following runes:[3]
ᚢᛚᚠᚢᛦᛡᚢᚴᚢᚦᛁᚾᛡᚢᚴᚺᚢᛏᛁᚢᛦ
ulfuʀᴀukuþinᴀukʜutiuʀ
¶
¶
ᚺᛁᛡᛚᛒᛒᚢᚱᛁᚾᛋᚢᛁᚦᛦ
ʜiᴀlbburinsuiþʀ
¶
¶
ᚦᛡᛁᛗᛏᚢᛁᛡᚱᚴᛁᛡᚢᚴᛏᚢᛁᚱᚴᚢᚾᛁᚢ
þᴀiᴍtuiᴀrkiᴀuktuirkuniu
¶
¶
ᛒᚢᚢᚱ
buur
ᚢᛚᚠᚢᛦᛡᚢᚴᚢᚦᛁᚾᛡᚢᚴᚺᚢᛏᛁᚢᛦ ¶ ᚺᛁᛡᛚᛒᛒᚢᚱᛁᚾᛋᚢᛁᚦᛦ ¶ ᚦᛡᛁᛗᛏᚢᛁᛡᚱᚴᛁᛡᚢᚴᛏᚢᛁᚱᚴᚢᚾᛁᚢ ¶ ᛒᚢᚢᚱ
ulfuʀᴀukuþinᴀukʜutiuʀ ¶ ʜiᴀlbburinsuiþʀ ¶ þᴀiᴍtuiᴀrkiᴀuktuirkuniu ¶ buur
A possible interpretation of the inscription is:
Where "Ulfʀ" refers to some unknown deity, "Ōðinn" to the godOdin, and "High-Tīwʀ" to the godTýr. The word "hiālp" and the hole at the top make the object similar to other protectiveamulets such as that ofKvinneby (Öl SAS1989;43). The next sequence of runes ᛒᚢᚱᛁᚾᛋ could either meanburin [e]s 'is borne', which would tie up with the hole,burins 'the newborns', which would indicate that the object is a protective amulet for a newborn, orBurins 'Burins', the name of the person who was protected by the amulet. The phraseviðʀ þæim dværgi auk dværgyniu Bōur names two beings that the amulet protects the bearer from, adwarf, which possibly has the name as the bearer (i.e., Burinn), and a dwarfess Bōur.
The object has a striking similarity to theNear Fakenham plaque, which is also a protective runic amulet against a dwarf, and more generally to theAnglo-Saxon charmsAgainst a Dwarf, one of which even contains a male and a female dwarf (Wið Dweorh XCIIIb). Together with these inscriptions, the Ribe Skull fragment seems to have been part of a common North Sea belief that dwarfs could cause illnesses and that protective amulets could be worn to fend these off.
It has been pointed that there is a general lack of wear in the hole of the type that would be expected if it had been worn using a cord as a protective amulet.[4]On the other hand, the fragment was found among remains from a market place, so it might never have been sold and used.[3]
Rune 31 has previously been read as a possiblei and the sequenceHiAlbburiis asHiālp buri is 'help is through the drill' orHiālp Būri is 'Būri is help'.[1] However, Nordström (2021), who studied the object in a digital microscope, found that the rune must be read as ann. Moreover, rune 41 was previously read as anA and the sequenceuiþʀ ¶ þAiMAuiArki asviðʀ þæima værki 'against this pain'. Here, Nordström found that the twigs crossed the main stave too high up to be read as anA. Lastly, rune 59 was read as ann by Stocklund (1996) and the sequenceAuktuirkunin asauk dværg[ʀ] unninn 'and the dwarf overcome'. However, most scholars have read it as au and Nordström (2021) found that the twig again crossed the main stave too high up to be read as ann. Furthermore, the interpretationauk dværg unninn is linguistically highly unlikely, since the nominative subjectdværg[ʀ] lacks the palatal ʀ, which was obligatory by 700 and present on the other nominative masculine nouns (Ulfʀ andTīwʀ). Furthermore, the interpretation offered by Nordströmviðʀ þæim dværgi auk dværgyniu is also more plausible since it represents analliterating masculine-feminine pair likeæsir ok ásynjur. The worddværgynia, firstly proposed by Grønvik (1999), is also attested in a later West-Norse formdyrgja.[5]
