Viking Age Runic Inscriptions

There are several thousand runic inscriptions from the start of the Viking Age on, which offer our most
direct contemporary evidence for the development of North Germanic during this period. Many of the
inscriptions are in varieties of East Norse, from areas that are now Sweden or Denmark, offering a
counterpoint to the West Norse that dominates later literary sources.

The following is a very small sample of this corpus. All are funerary runestones, and the basic
information provided is often very spare, focusing on the relevant people: the deceased, the person who
commissioned the stone, and very often the people who physically made the inscription. Sometimes a
little supplementary information is provided, not infrequently ending with an alliterative flourish (as on
the Esta Stone, the third here). The Grinda and Esta Stones, found not many kilometres apart, both
hint at the geographic range of Viking activity. The S. The literary potential is taken to an astonishing
extreme on the Rök Stone, which is the earliest of the inscriptions I’ve included, but also by far the
most complicated, while the Karlevi stone, with its elaborate dróttkvætt stanza, provides a strong link
with skaldic practices largely attested in much later manuscripts.

Script

All these inscriptions are, as usual for the period, in the so-called Younger Futhark, a sixteen-character
alphabet derived and reduced from the older twenty-four-character Elder Futhark, widely used for Early
Runic. This is really a family of scripts, with sometimes considerable internal variation. Here is a
standard representation (from Jansson, p. 26.) of the two most common broad types, the ‘long-branch’
and ‘short-branch’ varieties (but there is more variation in practice than this bipartite classification
conveys):

Most of the inscriptions here are long-branch, except for the Rök-excerpt.

Runic orthography has a number of peculiarities. The sixteen signs are nowhere near enough to render
all the phonemes of Viking Age Norse, so many runes, especially the vowels, stand for multiple sounds.
The most important features are:
 1. All signs are neutral for voicing, the so sound transliterated t stands equally for [d] and [t].
2. Vowel-space is carved up very broadly: u stands for any rounded vowel, i for any non-rounded
front vowel, a is usually [ɑ] but may also be [æ]. Vowel length was phonemic but never
specified. Nasalization was also phonemic in this period, but only indicated in writing by the
option of a versus ą. Some sounds are rendered variably, such as [ɔ] (a, au) and [æi] (ai, i).
3. A number of character-saving measures were in place, presumably to save on laborious carving:
homorganic nasals could be readily omitted, and two instances of the same character in a row
(sometimes across word boundaries) are usually written as one.
4. Runic orthographic choices can often be confusing, and there are plenty of scribal errors. Many
runestones are furthermore worn or damaged.

Clearly even a basic interpretation of any inscription takes some work. Runologists typically distinguish
transliterations in bold from transcriptions in italics. The former simply represent runes in
conventionalized Latin equivalents (so t, regardless of whether it stands for [t] or [d] in context), while
the latter gives an interpreted text with appropriate choices for each character, restoration of omitted
characters, and the like. I have included fairly conservative transcriptions here, writing stæin ‘stone (acc.
sg.)’ for stin or stain, though you’ll often find more extreme normalizations into Old Icelandic (stein),
since this is the most familiar variety of Norse for most people.

Resources

There are large national corpora for each of the mainland Scandinavian countries: Norway’s NIYR,
Sweden’s SR, and Denmark’s DR. All of these are stuck in libraries I have no access to currently, but
runic studies has been surprisingly proactive on the digital front, and the Samnordisk runtextdatabas
collects these and other corpora and makes them easily available online. The main project website is
here:

http://www.nordiska.uu.se/forskn/samnord.htm

And the database has a very useful web portal here (I find this easier to use than the downloadable
corpus, personally):

https://rundata.info/

The transcriptions, transliterations, and translations here are all taken from Rundata, though I have
sometimes altered things slightly (or significantly, for one reading on Rök).

There is also a very useful, searchable online dictionary based at the University of Nottingham:

http://runicdictionary.nottingham.ac.uk/search.php

There are a number of basic overviews and handbooks. A good, up-to-date one in English is Barnes
2012, Runes: A Handbook. Other handy books are Jansson 1987, Runes in Sweden, Moltke 1985, Runes
and their Origin: Denmark and Elsewhere, and Jesch 2001, Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age. In
German, Düwel’s Runenkunde is useful, with ample references to further literature.
1. DR 55 (Sønder Vissing) (2nd half of 10th c.)

This stone comes from Jutland, some 40 km north of Jelling (the site of Harald Bluetooth’s famous
runestone). The Harald, son of Gorm, mentioned here is likely Harald Bluetooth Gormsson.

To be read left-to-right, top-to-bottom, except that the two words in the bottommost row are to be
inserted into the row above (kuna harats, kurms sunaʀ). (Inscription has been rotated.)

tufa ' lʀt ' kaurua ' kubl

mistiuis ' tutiʀ ' uft ' muþur

sina ' harats ' hins ' kuþa ' kurms

kuna sunaʀ

Tōfa lēt gǫrwa kumbl, Mistiwis dōttiʀ [æ]ft mōður sīna, kona Hara[l]ds hins gōða, Gorms sonaʀ.

‘Tófa, Mistivir's daughter, wife of Haraldr the good, Gormr's son, had the monument made in memory
of her mother.’
2. Sö 166 (Grinda) (Viking Age)

Sö is the province code for Södermanland, and this runestone comes from the area southwest of
Stockholm.

The reading starts at the bottom left, moving up along the left side and around, shifting to the inner
band at the bottom-right and looping around again, and finishing with the bottom band.

: kriutkarþr : ainriþi : suniʀ : kiarþu : at : faþur : snialan :

: kuþuiʀ : uaʀ uastr : a : aklati : kialti : skifti : burkiʀ : a : sahks

lanti : suti : kaula

Grīotgarðr [ok] Æinriði, syniʀ, giarðu at faður sniallan. Guðwēʀ waʀ wæstr ā Aⁿglaⁿdi; gialdi skifti;
byrgiʀ ā Sahkslandi sōtti ka[r]la.

‘Grjótgarðr (and) Einriði, the sons made (the stone) in memory of (their) able father. Guðvér was in the
west; divided (up) payment in England; manfully attacked townships in Saxony.’
3. Sö 171 (Esta) (Viking Age)

Found very near the previous stone. The inscription is now badly weathered, though a seventeenth-
century drawing provides a reasonably clear and precise basis for reading (image taken from Jansson
1987, Runes in Sweden, p. 47).

The reading starts near the cross in the centre, moving left and down in a ribbon that eventually ends at
the cross. The e rune is innovative, characteristic of the expanded ‘medieval’ rune-row.

inkifastr · lit haku[a] st(a)[i]n · eftiʀ · sihuiþ · faþ(u)r · si(n) · han · fial · ihulmkarþi · skaiþaʀ
· uisimiþ · ski[ba]ra

Ingifastr lēt haggwa stæin eftir Sigwiþ faður sīn. Hann fiall ī Holmgarði: skæiðar wīsi miþ skipara.

‘Ingifastr had the stone cut in memory of Sigviðr, his father. He fell in Holmgarðr, the ship's leader
with the seamen.’

Note: Holmgarðr is the usual Norse term for Novgorod.

4. DK 279 (Sjørup) (Viking Age; post-Jelling)

This stone is from Jutland, found a fair ways north of Jelling.

The stone is relatively clear, except for several large gouges that cross the text. The inscription starts in
the bottom right, loops around the outside, hooks around to the bottom bit, and then picks up again on
the inner band at the bottom right, looping around, and finally proceeding from the bottom middle up.

[sa](k)si : sati : st[in] : þasi : huftiʀ : ą[s]biurn : (s)in : fil(a)ḳą '

(t)u<k~f>a[ : sun :]
saʀ : flu : aki : a[t :] ub:sal(u)m : an : ua : maþ : an : u
abn : a(f)þi '

Saksi satti stēn þansi uftiʀ Ą̄sbiørn, sīn fēlagą, Tōka (sun). Saʀ flō æigi at Uppsalum, ænn wā meþ
hann wāpn ha(f)ði.

‘Saksi placed this stone after Ą̄sbjørn, his companion, son of Tōki (or Tōfi). He did not flee at Uppsala,
but fought while he had a weapon.’
5. DR 295 (Hällestad) (Viking Age; post-Jelling)

This stone is from Skåne, now part of southern Sweden but long in the Danish sphere of influence. A
connection with DK 279 (4 above) is widely assumed.

The reading starts on the upper left and moves boustrophedon downwards. The ‘bottom’ orientation of
each line also flips at each line (so lines 2 and the short line 4 are both ‘upside-down’). This photograph
is not great, and I do not have a suitable image for the remainder of the inscription.

askil : sati : stin : þansi : ift[iʀ]

: tuka : kurms : sun : saʀ : hulan :
trutin : saʀ : flu : aiḳi : at : ub:
:salum

satu : trikaʀ : iftiʀ : sin : bruþr

stin : ą : biarki : stuþan : runum : þiʀ :

(k)(u)(r)(m)(s) (:) (t)(u)(k)(a) : kiku : (n)(i)(s)(t)[iʀ]

Āskell satti stēn þansi æftiʀ Tōka, Gorms sun, s[ē]ʀ hullan drōttin. Saʀ flō æigi at Uppsalum. Sātu drængaʀ
æftiʀ sīn brōðr stēn ą̨̄ biargi støðan rūnum. Þēr Gorms Tōka gingu nǣstiʀ.

‘Áskell placed this stone in memory of Tóki Gormr's son, to him a faithful lord. He did not flee at
Uppsala.

Valiant men placed in memory of their brother the stone on the hill, steadied by runes. They

went closest to Gormr's Tóki.’

6. Ög 136 (Rök) (c. 800)

Rök is in the province of Östergötland (Ög), just east of Lake Vättern. The runestone there is
remarkable in many ways: its length, the variety of runes and cryptic style, its relatively early age (one of
the earlier Viking Age inscriptions), and its rich content. The full stone is much too long to deal with
here, and this excerpt is limited to the famous ‘Theoderic-poem’ segment.

The introduction to this section begins on the fifth vertical column counting from the left, about two-
thirds in. The text is read as if the right edge is the bottom (then ‘left’ to ‘right’, ‘top’ to ‘bottom’), in
increasingly small and cramped, but not apparently materially damaged, lines. The poem itself begins on
the horizontal bands on the bottom, read left to right, top to bottom, and then continues along one of
the narrow edges of the stone, read bottom to top (the text is sideways, as if the right edge of the photo
is down). Here are close-up photos of each of the three relevant chunks:

1) The introduction (rotated so the right edge is down):

2) The first part of the Theoderic-poem:

3) The second part of the Theoderic-poem:

þat sakum ąna

rt huaʀ fur niu altum ąn urþi fiaru
miʀ hraiþkutum auk tu
miʀ ąn ub sakaʀ

raiþiaurikʀ hin þurmuþi stiliʀ

flutna strontu hraiþmaraʀ sitiʀ nu karuʀ ą

kuta sinum skialti ub fatlaþʀ skati marika

Þat sagum ąnnart, hwaʀ fur nīu aldum ą̨̄n urði fiaru me[ð]r Hræiðgutum, auk dø̨̄ mir ąnn umb
sakaʀ.

Rēð Þiō[ð]rikʀ hinn þurmōði,

stilliʀ flotna, strąndu Hræiðmaraʀ.
Sitiʀ nū garuʀ ą̨̄ guta sīnum,
skialdi umb fatlaðʀ, skati Mǣringa.

‘I say this second, Who became without life (died) among the Hreiðgoths nine ages ago, and yet affairs
are still under discussion?

Þjóðríkr the bold-spirited, chief of sea-warriors, ruled over the shores of the Hreiðsea.
Now he sits armed on his Goth(ic horse), his shield strapped on, the prince of the Mærings.’
7. Öl 1 (Karlevi) (c. 900)

Karlevi is on the large island of Öland, just off the east coast of Sweden. This stone contains the earliest
direct attestation of a stanza in the elaborate dróttkvætt metre.

The prose part of the inscription begins at the bottom of the third column from the right (note that the
rightmost column is not easily visible in the photo, which is why I have also included a drawing, taken
from Sveriges runinskrifter, vol. 1, p. 24), read up and then boustrophedon back down the rightmost
column. The poetic stanza begins at the bottom of the fourth column from the right (the yellow bar),
and is read boustrophedon up and down in succeeding columns going left.

I have marked up the transliteration and translation to try and make the structure of the stanza clearer.
Separate clauses and elements that are modifiers of kennings are given in different colours. Kennings are
translation by their resolved referent in CAPITALS, followed by a successive expansion of the sub-
kennings, heitis, and puns involved. (A heiti is a poetic by-name for something, e.g. using Wiðurr for
Óðinn.) I’ve also coloured the translation to help a little linking the word order of the original to the
English rendering.
st(ain) [sa](si) · [.](a)s satr · aiftir · si(ba)
[...]uþa · sun · fultars · inhąns ·
liþi · sati · at · u · laus(..)[...]

fulkin : likr : hins : fulkþu : flaistr (:)

uisi · þat · maistar · taiþir : tulka :
þruþar : traukr : i : þaimsi · huki ·
munat : raiþ : uiþur : raþa : rukstarkr
· i · tanmarku : (ą)ntils : iarmun ·
kruntar : urkrąntari : ląnti

Stæin sasi was/ias satr eftir Sibba (g)oða, sun Fuldars, en hąns liði satti at ? loose...?

Fulginn liggr hins fylgðu – flæstr vissi þat – mæstar

dǣðir, dolga Þrūðar draugr ī þæimsi haugi.
Mun-at Ræiþ-Wiðurr rāða rōgstarkr ī Danmarku
Ændils iarmungrundar ørgrandari landi.

‘This stone was/is set up in memory of Sibbi the Priest, son of Fuldarr, and his retinue placed...’

‘The WARRIOR lies hidden in this mound, whom the greatest deeds accompanied – everyone
knew that.
kenning: WARRIOR = the tree (draugr) of BATTLE
pun: BATTLE = HILDR (both ‘battle’ and a quintessential name of a VALKYRIE)
kenning: VALKYRIE = the GODDESS of hostilities (dolga)
heiti: GODDESS = Þrúðr, a quintessential goddess

‘A more flawless, strife-strong SEAFARER will not rule the land in Denmark.’
kenning: SEAFARER = GOD of the SHIP
heiti: GOD = Wiðurr, a by-name of Odin
kenning: SHIP = chariot (ræið-) of the SEA
kenning: SEA = vast-plain (iarmungrundar) of a SEA-KING
heiti: SEA-KING = Ændill, a quintessential sea-king

Notes on skaldic diction, kennings, and metre

dolga Þrūðar draugr: draugr (tree) of Þrúðar (a goddess) of dolga (hostilities). ‘Tree’ is a very standard
referent in kennings for ‘human’. This is specified specifically as ‘warrior’ by the rather clever dolga
Þrúðar, lit. ‘Þrúðr of hostilities’, but Þrúðr is to be understood as a specific standing for a generic, i.e. as
‘goddess’, rather than specifically as the daughter of Thor (cf. Skaldskaparmál ch. 4, and the goddess-
þula given as verse 434 by Faulkes 2007). A ‘goddess of hostilities’ is a valkyrie. One of the quintessential
names for a valkyrie is Hildr (cf. Grímnismál 36.4), which is also the common noun hildr meaning
‘battle’. So this kenning is most simply ‘tree of battle’ = warrior, but ‘battle’ is rendered with the pun
hildr/Hildr. This is further obscured by referring to Hildr with the kenning ‘goddess of hostilities’, and
layered again by not saying ‘goddess’ in a generic way, but using the name of a different goddess as a
heiti. This kind of punning, where the word that is being punned is not actually given directly, is called
by Norse writers ofljóst, ‘excessively clear’, and was a recognized technique in skaldic composition.

Ræiþ-Wiðurr Ændils iarmungrundar: Wiðurr (Odin = god) of the ræiþ (chariot) of the iarmungrundar
(vast-ground) of Ændils (a sea-king). ‘God’ and ‘goddess’ are also frequent base-words in kennings for
humans, again typically found with specific names or by-names of specific deities. Kennings are based
around genitival relationships, but these can occur with compounded elements as well as independent
words in the genitive case: in this case, ‘chariot-Odin’ is to be read as ‘god of the chariot’ or ‘god of
chariots’. ‘Chariot’ is, of course, not to be taken literally, and is further modified by another kenning,
Ændils iarmungrundar. This means the ‘sea’: iarmungrundar means ‘vast ground’ or the like (cf.
Grímnismál 20.3, and eormengrund in Beowulf 859a – this may be a very old poetic compound). This is
modified by Ændils, one of very many names for famous pirates and vikings conventionally termed ‘sea-
kings’ in scholarship, and which often add oceanic reference to kennings: so ‘the vast-ground of Ændill’
means ‘the sea’. This resolved kenning then modifies ‘chariot’: a ‘chariot of the sea’ is a ship. Resolving
this gives us ‘ship-Odin’ > ‘ship-god’ > ‘ship-warrior’, i.e. a seafarer or viking.

This stone follows the classical norms for the metre known as dróttkvætt, the most common and typical
form for skaldic poetry. The alliteration pattern is strict: two alliterating stresses are found in the first
half-line, with the first stress in the second half-line also alliterating. (All vowels alliterate with all other
vowels, here notated V). The first half-line shows a partial internal rhyme, with a shared consonant
sequence but distinct vowels. The second half-line contains full rhyme, with identical vowels and
consonants.

Every half-line ends in a trochaic word (a full or secondary stress followed by a fully unstressed syllable),
the stressed syllable of which typically takes part in the (half or full) rhyme. The earlier part of the line,
before this trochee, typically follows one of the standard Sievers’ patterns (fulginn liggr hins is / / , or
1
Sievers Type A, for instance, while rōgstark ī Dan- is / \ /, or Sievers type E). This usually works out
to each half-line having six syllables, though certain licences allow the addition of a couple extra (rarely
more than two). The only example in this stanza is mun-at, where the first unstressed ‘dip’ of a verse
may be ‘expanded’ and allowed to contain two syllables; this licence is exploited much less often in
dróttkvætt than in Eddic poetry, which itself is more syllabically compact than West Germanic verse.

Fulginn liggr hins fylgðu – flæstr vissi þat – mæstar f – ylg/ulg – æst
dǣðir, dolga Þrūðar draugr ī þæimsi haugi. d – ǣð/ūð – aug
Mun-at Ræiþ-Wiðurr rāða rōgstarkr ī Danmarku r – æiþ/āð – ark
Ændils iarmungrundar ørgrandari landi. V – ænd/und – and

1
/ symbolizes a primary ictus, usually a full stress; \ a secondary ictus, usually a secondary stress; and a weak
position, usually linguistically unstressed.