Arunic inscription is aninscription made in one of the variousrunic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories.[1] The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories ofElder Futhark (some 350 items, dating to between the 2nd and 8th centuries AD),Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (some 100 items, 5th to 11th centuries) andYounger Futhark (close to 6,000 items, 8th to 12th centuries).[2][3]
The total 350 known inscriptions in theElder Futhark script[4] fall into two main geographical categories,North Germanic (Scandinavian, c. 267 items) andContinental or South Germanic ("German" and Gothic, c. 81 items).[5] These inscriptions are on many types of loose objects, but the North Germanic tradition shows a preference forbracteates, while the South Germanic one has a preference forfibulae. The precise figures are debatable because some inscriptions are very short and/or illegible so that it is uncertain whether they qualify as inscriptions at all.
The division into Scandinavian, North Sea (Anglo-Frisian), and South Germanic inscriptions makes sense from the 5th century. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Elder Futhark script was still in its early phase of development, with inscriptions concentrated in what is nowDenmark andNorthern Germany.
The tradition of runic literacy continued in Scandinavia into theViking Age, developing into theYounger Futhark script. Close to 6,000 Younger Futhark inscriptions are known, many of them onrunestones.[6]
The following table lists the number of known inscriptions (in any alphabet variant) by geographical region:[citation needed]
| Area | Number of runic inscriptions |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 3,432 |
| Norway | 1,552 |
| Denmark | 844 |
| Scandinavian total | 5,826 |
| Continental Europe except Scandinavia and Frisia | 80 |
| Frisia | 20 |
| The British Isles except Ireland | > 200 |
| Greenland | > 100 |
| Iceland | < 100 |
| Ireland | 16 |
| Faroes | 9 |
| Turkey | 2 |
| Non-Scandinavian total | > 500 |
| Total | > 6,400 |
Elder Futhark inscriptions were rare, with very few active literati, in relation to the total population, at any time, so that knowledge of the runes was probably an actual "secret" throughout the Migration period. Of 366 lances excavated atIllerup, only 2 bore inscriptions. A similar ratio is estimated for Alemannia, with an estimated 170 excavated graves to every inscription found.[7]Estimates of the total number of inscriptions produced are based on the "minimal runological estimate" of 40,000 (ten individuals making ten inscriptions per year for four centuries). The actual number was probably considerably higher, maybe close to 400,000 in total, so that on the order of 0.1% of the corpus has come down to us, and Fischer[8] estimates a population of several hundred active literati throughout the period, with as many as 1,600 during the Alamannic "runic boom" of the 6th century.
Especially the earliest inscriptions are found on all types of everyday objects. Later, a preference for valuable or prestigious objects (jewelry or weapons) seems to develop, inscriptions often indicating ownership.
The earliest period of Elder Futhark (2nd to 4th centuries) predates the division in regional script variants, and linguistically essentially still reflect theCommon Germanic stage. Their distribution is mostly limited to southern Scandinavia, northern Germany and Frisia (the "North Sea Germanic runicKoine"), with stray finds associated with theGoths fromRomania andUkraine.Linguistically, the 3rd and 4th centuries correspond to the formation ofProto-Norse, just predating the separation ofWest Germanic intoAnglo-Frisian,Low German andHigh German.
About 260 items in Elder Futhark, and close to 6,000 items (mostly runestones) in Younger Futhark.The highest concentration of Elder Futhark inscriptions is in Denmark.
An importantProto-Norse inscription was on one of theGolden Horns of Gallehus (early 5th century). A total of 133 known inscriptions on bracteates. There are several legible and partly interpretable inscription that date from the 1st half of the 5th century such as a Silver neck ring found nearAalen with "noru" inscribed in runic alphabets on its inner edge. others discoveries were unearthed around Germany, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Belgium, England and Bosnia.[10][11]
The oldest knownrunestones date to the early 5th century (Einang stone,Kylver Stone), although theHole Runestone, discovered during excavations from 2021–2023, is dated even earlier.The longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark, and one of the youngest, consists of some 200 characters and is found on the early 8th-centuryEggjum stone, and may even contain a stanza ofOld Norse poetry.
The transition toYounger Futhark begins from the 6th century, with transitional examples like theBjörketorp orStentoften stones. In the early 9th century, both the older and the younger futhark were known and used, which is shown on theRök runestone. By the 10th century, only Younger Futhark remained in use.Greenlandic Norse developed several distinct forms, in particular a version ofreið (R) with two parallel sloping branches that is found in 14 Greenlandic inscriptions.[12]
Some 110 items (not including coins) spanning the 5th to 11th centuries.The 5th-centuryUndley bracteate is considered the earliest known Anglo-Frisian inscription.
The 8th-centuryFranks Casket, preserved during the Middle Ages inBrioude, central France, exhibits the longest coherent inscriptions in Anglo-Saxon runes by far, including five alliterating long-lines, qualifying as the oldest preserved Anglo-Saxon poetry.
While the Nordic bracteates are jewelry imitating Roman gold coins, there were a number of actual coins (currency) in Anglo-Saxon England inscribed with runes, notably the coins from Kent, inscribed withpada,æpa andepa (early 7th century).
There are a number of Christian inscriptions from the time ofChristianization.St. Cuthbert's coffin, dated to 698, even has a runicmonogram of Christ, and the Whitby II bone comb (7th century) has a pious plea for God's help,deus meus, god aluwaldo, helpæ Cy... "my God, almighty God, help Cy…". TheRuthwell Cross inscription could also be mentioned, but its authenticity is dubious; it might have been added only in the 10th century.
Unlike the situation on the continent, the tradition of runic writing does not disappear in England after Christianization but continues for a full three centuries, disappearing after theNorman conquest. A type of object unique to Christianized Anglo-Saxon England are the six knownAnglo-Saxon runic rings of the 9th to 10th centuries.
Apart from the earliest inscriptions found on the continent along the North Sea coast (the "North GermanicKoine", Martin 2004:173), continental inscriptions can be divided in those of the "Alemannic runic province" (Martin 2004), with a few dozen examples dating to the 6th and 7th centuries, and those associated with theGoths, loosely scattered along the Oder to south-eastern Poland, as far as theCarpathian Mountains (e.g. thering of Pietroassa in Romania), dating to the 4th and 5th centuries.The cessation of both the Gothic and Alemannic runic tradition coincides with the Christianization of the respective peoples.
Lüthi (2004:321) identifies a total of about 81 continental inscriptions found south of the "North Germanic Koine". Most of these originate in southern Germany (Baden-Württemberg andBavaria), with a single one found south of theRhine (Bülach fibula, found inBülach,Switzerland), and a handful from Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, Ukraine).
A silver-plated copper disk, originally part of a sword-belt, found atLiebenau, Lower Saxony with an early 5th-century runic inscription (mostly illegible, interpreted as possibly readingrauzwih) is classed as the earliest South Germanic (German) inscription known by theRGA (vol. 6, p. 576); the location of Liebenau is close to the boundary of the North Sea and South Germanic zones.
Out of about a dozen candidate inscriptions, only three are widely accepted to be of Gothic origin: thegold ring of Pietroassa, bearing a votive inscription, part of a larger treasure found in theRomanianCarpathians, and two spearheads inscribed with what is probably the weapon's name, one found in theUkrainian Carpathians, and the other in eastern Germany, near theOder.
The inscription on thespearhead of Kovel, found in Ukraine (now lost) is a special case. Its date is very early (3rd century) and it shows a mixture of runic andLatin letters, reading⟨TᛁᛚᚨᚱᛁDᛊ⟩ or⟨TIᛚᚨRIDS⟩ (thei,r ands letters being identical in the Elder Futhark and Latin scripts), and may thus reflect a stage of development before the runes became fixed as a separate script in its own right.
The known inscriptions fromAlemannia mostly date to the century between AD 520 and 620. There are some 70 inscriptions in total, about half of them on fibulae. Some are explicitly dedications among lovers, containingleub "beloved", or in the case of the Bülach fibulafridil "lover".Most were found in Germany, in thestates ofBaden-Württemberg andBavaria. A lesser number originates inHessen andRheinland-Pfalz, and outside of Germany there is a single example from Switzerland, and a small number of what are likelyBurgundian inscriptions from eastern France.
The precise number of inscriptions is debatable, as some proposed inscriptions consist of a single sign, or a row of signs that may also be "rune-like", in imitation of writing, or purely ornamental. For example, a ring found inBopfingen has been interpreted as being inscribed with a singleg, i.e. a simple X-shape that may also be ornamental. Most interpretable inscriptions contain personal names, and only ten inscriptions contain more than one interpretable word. Of these, four translate to "(PN) wrote the runes".[13]
The other six "long" interpretable inscriptions are:
Other notable inscriptions:
A small number of inscriptions found in easternFrance may beBurgundian rather than Alemannic:
Very few inscriptions can be associated with theFranks, reflecting their early Romanization and Christianization. An important find is theBergakker inscription, suggested as recording 5th-centuryOld Frankish.The only other inscription definitely classified as Frankish is the Borgharen buckle, readingbobo (a Frankish personal name).[16]
