"I (am) the priest, (I am) invulnerable to sorcery."


OPEDAL RUNE STONE
South-west of the Opedal farm in Ullensvang, Hordaland at Alavoll there are 5 big gravemounds. Approximately 20 m from the gravemounds the Opedal rune stone was found. The runes' design and language is nSl. and the inscription is dated to the beginning of the 400's AD.

The inscription has 34 runes and says:
Line 1: birgngguboroswestarminu
Line 2: liubumeRwage

There are several interpretation proposals. One of them is Birg, Inguboro, swestar minu liubu meR Wage which is translated "Help, Ingubora, my dear sister, me Wage."

Like other runic grave inscriptions, this inscription was not meant to be read by the living. It was written to protect the grave's peace and to secure the dead's favor for the survivors. Probably was this the help Wage wanted from his dead sister.


REISTAD RUNE STONE
The rune stone was found on the Reistad farm at the Hidra isle, Vest-Agder. The inscription has three lines where the runes are written clockwise. In accordance with the rune's design and the language the inscription is dated to the first half of the 500's AD.

Sophus Bugge reads the three lines:
Line 1: iuþingaR
Line 2: ik wakraR:unnam
Line 3: wraita

Line 1 is probably the name of the dead. Line 2 and line 3 can be translated "I (am) Wakr (I) know the art of writing" or "I (am) Wakr (I) did the writing".


ROSSELAND RUNE STONE
The fallos or sickle look-alike stone was found on the Rosseland farm at Norheimsund in Hardanger, Hordaland. It's nearly 1,5 m long, 40 cm on the widest and 25 cm on the thickest. The inscription is written in nSl. and the runes are written left turned. The inscription is dated to the 400's AD.

The inscription says: ek wagigaR irilaR agilamudon

After ek most often follows the rune-magician's name or the grade of his dignity, and because the inscription contains iralaR, wagigaR should be the runemaster's secular or religious name. According to the runic writing rules "n" should be left out before "d", and the next word agilamudon, might therefore be agilamundon which is the genitive of a woman's name *Agilamundo

The inscription might therefore be translated:
"I (am) WagigaR, (I am) Agilamundo's eril

some miles south of Rosseland at Tysnesøya - the old Njarðarlog.


STENSTAD RUNE STONE
The rune stone was found on the Stenstad farm in Gjerpen, Telemark. It is 60 cm long, 55 cm wide and 63 cm thick, and was curiously found high up in the gravemound some distance above the actual tomb. The grave contained among other grave gifts, a cruciform bronze needle, a gilded silver jewel, pearls and a finger ring of gold. Therefore the grave is believed to be a woman's tomb. The runic inscription, which is written clockwise, is dated to approximately to 450 AD.

igijon halaR

igijon might be a inflection of a woman's name *Igijo. The meaning of halaR is more uncertain, but it might respond to the gno. hallr which means "stone". So the inscription might be translated "Igijo's stone".


SUNDE RUNE STONE
The rune stone is of green sandstone and seems to have been the top of a stone monument. It was found in a grave scree outermost on Herneset, the eastern point of the Askrova isle close off the Førdefjord, Sogn and Fjordane. The grave scree in which the rune stone was found contained a woman's tomb, probably from the 500's AD. Nearby there are 8 - 10 other grave mounds.

The inscription is written left turned and starts at the top and runs downwards. The inscription is written in nSl. and is dated to the 400's AD.

widugastiR

widugastiR is probably a man's name equal to the old German name Widugast, but it does not exist in Scandinavian, neither as person's name nor as a place name. But names with -gestr is well known in Scandinavia. The first part *widu would in gno. be viðr which means "forest", and the name might therefore mean "The guest from the forest".

In gno. would this name be *Viðgestr. The rune stone is found in a woman's tomb, so widugastiR is most likely the runemaster, and not the name of the dead woman.


THE TANEM RUNIC INSCRIPTION
The inscription was found on the Tanem farm in Klæbu, South-Trøndelag.

The inscription is not finely interpreted.

Some proposal to interpretations:

1. mairle, mairlingu, both as a woman's name.
2. With exchange of two runes: marilingu, then as a woman's name.
3. With the first rune as a bindrune: ek Airlingr which is translated "I Erling"

TOMSTAD RUNE STONE
The rune stone was found on the Tomstad farm at Lista, Vest-Agder, where it was lying upon a raised plane the size of a sitting-room floor together with some other stones. This was probably a stone "setting" or circle which marked a grave. The preserved rune stone represents only a fragment of the original rune stone, and the beginning of the inscription is missing. The inscription is dated by 500 AD. at the latest.

from the bottom and upwards.

begins at the bottom and runs upwards.

This might be interpreted:
???? Woðuriðe staina þrijoR dohtriR da(i)liðun/daliðun arbija (a)sijostrR[?] arbijano.
Which means word by word:
"??? for WoduridaR the stone | three daughters shared/ did (pleasant) | the funeral feast/ the inheritance they ?/ the nearest/ the most distinguished of the heiresses".

The researchers dispute the interpretation of the B-side, and there are several proposals to an interpretation of the text, but we know it tells about three daughters and a man who is dead, and perhaps the inheritance the three daughters get from him.

The Tune rune stone is now placed at The University Museum of Antiquities in Oslo. The inscription is dated to the 400's AD.


THE RUNE STONES TØRVIKA A AND TØRVIKA B
The two rune stones, Tørvika A and Tørvika B, were found on the Tørvika farm at Kvam in Hardanger, Hordaland. Both rune stones had been part of the walls in a robbed tomb-chamber. In addition to the rune stones, fragments of a cinerary urn, horse teeth, remnants of iron tools and cremated bones were also found. The inscriptions are dated to the first half of the 400's AD and the language is nSl.

The Tørvika A inscription is written left turned on a stone of quartzslate (2,34m x 70 cm x 8 cm):

11111111u
111ladawarijaR

If we follow the writing rules of the runes, the text would be landawarijaR, which might be a man's name meaning "land protector, land occupier". What the Uruz-rune lookalike mark above the man's name means is uncertain. The runes are up to 15 cm high.

The Tørvika B inscription's runes are approximately 4-6 cm high and are written on a stone of micaslate (2,70m x 68 cm x 9 cm). The inscription stand outs from other inscriptions because there are more twigs carved on the runes than there should be - what I call "irrelevant twigs". In addition, there are also parts of runes which have been left out - what I call "missing twigs". This makes the inscription very difficult to read. Probably was this done in order to hide the inscription's meaning. We have here what we in Norwegian call "lønnruner", which means "secret runes".

The runic inscription is approximately like this. The unbroken red lines are drawn as the twigs which are interpreted as "the irrelevant twigs". The broken red lines is drawn as the twigs which is interpreted as "the missing twigs". According to this theory we come to the following proposal to a left turned runic text:

111heþro dweno k

The inscription might be translated "Leave (here you will grow numb), Kenaz". The last k-rune has to be interpreted by its name and its symbol value. Kenaz stands for "boil, festering, blister". If the inscription is meant for the dead, the k-rune, i.e. the spirit the k-rune represents - Kenaz - should provide that this happen. But the runic text might also be meant that the evil spirit Kenaz who caused this is dead.

This inscription can, of course, never be certainly interpreted. For example, it could be that some of the "irrelevant twigs" are part of a bindrune. Then we would have a unknown number of interpretation possibilities.


VALSFJORD ROCK INSCRIPTION
On a vertical rocky wall nearby the Oskvoll farm at Valsfjord in Bjugn, South-Trøndelag, there is a runic inscription with two lines written left turned. The first line can be read ek haugustaldaR þewaR godagas and is interpreted "I *Hogstaldr (is) *Godag's man (servant)".

The second line consists 8 indistinct runes, but the inscription seems to start with an e and ending with a R. Therefore some hold it as ek erilaR. The inscription is dated to the European migration period.


VEBLUNGSNES ROCK INSCRIPTION
The runic rock inscription at Veblugsnes in Romsdal fell down into the sea in 1935, but there are some pictures preserved of the inscription. All the runes, with the exception of the last rune, are carved quite clearly and readable. The inscription is written clockwise with 16-17 cm high runes. It is dated to the first half of the 500's, but might be older.

111ek irilaR wiwila

The inscription might be translated "I the eril (runemaster) Wiwila", but there seems to be a n-rune after wiwila, so the text might be translated "I am Wiwila's eril".


VETTELAND RUNE STONE
We calculate that the Vetteland rune stone was broken into four fragments. Only two of the fragments have so far been found on the Vetteland farm at Ogna, Rogaland. The runic inscription consists three lines, and it has been possible to reconstruct the text only up to a point. The runes are written clockwise and is dated to the first half of the 300's AD.


...flagda faikinaR ist
...magoR minas staina
...daR faihido

The inscription might be interpreted:
"(My son) has been visited by witchcraft.
(I raised) my son's stone.
(I ...)-daR painted (these runes, created this formula, executed this ritual)".

But quite certainly, this inscription cannot be properly read before the two last fragments are found.


ØVRE STABU, RUNIC INSCRIPTION ON A SPEARHEAD
On the Øvre Stabu farm at Eastern Toten, Oppland, in one of two graves, a 28 cm long spearhead with a runic inscription was found. In the grave they also found other weapons and fragments of weapons, more or less damaged by fire and corrosion. The tomb and the inscription are dated to the last half of the 200's AD. Thus it is one of the oldest runic inscriptions in Norway.

111raunijaR

The nSl. word raunijaR is similar to the gno. reynir, which means "one who tries". raunijaR might be the name of the spear.


ÅRSTAD RUNE STONE
The rune stone of light granite (1,2 m x 0,78 m x 0,13 m) was found in a gravemound on the Årstad farm in Sokndal, Rogaland. The rune stone was found upright in the western wall of the gravemound's build-up tomb with the runic inscription facing the tomb. It is difficult to decide the age of the inscription more precisely than to the European migration period.


hiwigaR or hiþigaR


saralu


engwinaR

The first line probably consist of a man's name in the nominative, perhaps the runmaster's. There are doubts if the third rune should be read as a w or þ.

The second line consist sar and alu. sar in old German might mean "at once", but others read it as þar which mean "there" or "here". alu is interpreted by some as a magic word which means "defense, protection", and others hold it to mean "ale" - beer. The third line is probably a man's name in the genitive.

The inscription might maybe be interpreted:
"Hiwig (the runemaster)
Here is the funeral feast hold
Engvin's (grave)"



INSCRIPTIONS WITH THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD RUNES

EGGJA RUNIC FLAGSTONE (Eggjum rune stone)
The Eggja runic flagstone was found on the Eggja farm in Sogndal in Sogn. The 1,5 m long flagstone was laying flat upon a man's grave with the runic side downwards. The runic inscription contains approximately 200 runes, and is until now the longest runic inscription with the elder runic alphabet. Because of the use of the elder Futhark mixed up with younger runes - which I call the transitional period runes - and a younger form of language, the inscription is dated to the 600's AD.

Parts of the inscription are readable, while other parts are impossible to interpret with certainty, because several of the runes are so faint that they are too impossible to read. There have been several interpretation proposals made. Here only one of them is introduced, so you should read the interpretation with reservation.

The inscription has three lines, two long lines and one short line. The lower long line which is written clockwise should be read first, the upper long line which runs from the left to the right should be read second, and finally as the third, the short line between the two long lines and to the right of the horse figure. The short line is written upside down and left turned.

Line 1:

nissolusotuknisaksestain
skorinni????maRnak danisniþ
rinRniwiltiRmanRlagi??

Line 2:

hinwarbnaseumaRmadeþaim
kaibaibormoþahunihuwaRob
kamharasahialatgotnafiskR
oRf??na uimsuwimadefokl?f?
??????galande

Line 3:

a?????surki

THE EIKELAND BUCKLE
In a tomb on the Eikeland farm, Rogaland, there a bronze gilded buckle was found, with a runic inscription written clockwise. The inscription is dated to the end of the 500's AD. The runes are written on the buckle's back side, and were therefore not meant to be read by anyone other than the owner of the buckle.

The inscription says ekwiRwiwiowrituirunoRasni which might be divided into words like this:
ek wiR wiwio writu i runoR asni.

The inscription is translated "I Wir for Wiwia writes runes" or "I am Wiwia's Wir. I writes runes".


FØRDE RUNE FISHING LINE SINKER
The fishing line sinker was found in a field at Førde in Sunnfjord, Sogn and Fjordane. The oblong, rather oval sinker made of soapstone is 12 cm long, 5 cm wide and 1,5-2 cm thick. The sinker has a hole in each end from which a fishing line was tied. On one side a figure is drawn which probably is a flounder. On the other side there are written 5 clockwise runes:

111aluko

It is difficult to say anything certain about what aluko means, but in the three first runes, we read the well known word alu. Together with the last part ko, might the inscription mean "Little Alu". The inscription might then have been written as a pet name to a woman with a name which starts with Alu. Or maybe it is just a formula to get good angling.


THE SETRE COMB
The Setre comb was found on the west coast of the Bømlo isle, South-Hordaland, and is dated to approximately 600 AD. The comb has inscriptions on both sides, the so-called A- and B-side, and the runes are written clockwise.
On the A-side the runes are written foot to foot in two lines on both side of a centre line:

111hal maR

The B-side has only one line:

111alunaalunana

The interpretation of the inscription is disputed, but Magnus Olsen read it like this:
A: hal mar mauna = "Hail (to you) the maid's maid!"
B: alu na alu nana = "Protection (for you) Na(nna), protection (for you) Nanna."

Ottar Grønvik understood hal mar as a f. word - Hall-mær, and proposed the following interpretation, expressed here in standardized gno.:

Hall-mær má una, öllu ná, öllu nenna.

Stone-maid may thrive, achieve everything, enjoy everything.

Then the inscription might be a love poem - man-söngr - and is if it is so, the oldest poem in Norwegian literature.


STRAND RUNIC BUCKLE
On the Strand farm in Åfjord, South-Trøndelag, a bronze buckle with runes was found. The inscription is encompassed by frame lines, and has 11 runes written from left to right. The inscription is typical for the transitional period between the elder and the younger futhark, and is dated to approximately 700 AD.

111The inscription says siklisnahli.

The old g-rune and k-rune is replaced with the new k-rune with staves, the i-rune is used for "e" and "i" , and the old a-rune is replaced with the younger oral cavity a-rune. The old h-rune is preserved.

In gno. the inscription would say: sigli's ná-hlé which means "The jewel is a protection against the dead". The fear of ghosts was very significant to the people in the old Norse society. In old English the word sigle is used - similar to the gno. word sigli - describing jewels given as gifts to the dead in the grave in order to prevent them from haunting. The following s might, in this relation, be translated "is", the gno. nár means "Spook, dead person" and the gno. word hlé means "shelter".

The Strand inscription might then be translated "The jewel is spook protection".

TVEITO RUNE STONE
The stone was found on the Tveito farm in Tinn, Telemark, during archaeological diggings of two graves from the elder iron age, which looked like heaps of stones. The rune stone was lying upon one of the heaps. The finds in the tomb underneath the stone are dated to 400-450 AD, but the runic inscription on the rune stone cannot be so old. The runic inscription is dated to approximately 600 AD..
The inscription says taitR, and is probably a man's name in the nominative - in gno. teitr and means "happy, joyful, glad".

It appears the stone had been placed upon the 200 years old grave, maybe in connection with an newer entombing, but there were no finds from such an entombing.


VATN RUNE STONE
In a gravemound on the Vatn farm in Agdenes, South-Trøndelag, there was found a slate flagstone with a runic inscription. The Inscription, where the 7 first runes are readable, is followed by three or more weakly carved runes. The runes are written clockwise and are dated to at latest 700 AD.

111rhoaltR fai??

rhoaltR is similar to the man's name Roald, in gno. Hróaldr. The last word might be the beginning of the nSl. word *faihijan, in gno. fá, which mean "paint, draw, write". The inscription might therefor be interpreted "I Roald wrote" or "I Roald writes". But for certain is it only possible to read "Roald".

KULI RUNE STONE
The runic inscription is written in a vertical direction on a stone monument. The inscription on the Kuli stone from Smøla in Nordmøre, was written after the death of King Saint Olav.

The inscription might say "Tore and Hallward raised this stone in memory of Ulvjot (?); twelve winters had Christianity been in Norway".

But newer research suggests the word "been" had been incorrectly interpreted, and translate the last part as "twelve winters had Christianity done good in Norway". The inscription is the oldest text in which Norway is mentioned.

ODDERNES RUNE STONE
The Oddernes rune stone from Kristiansand is 3,5 m high. It has two inscriptions which says "In memory of Tore Neridsson is this stone" and "Øyvind built this church - the godson of Saint Olav - at his freehold farm." The inscription is dated to approximately 1040-40 AD, or even younger.


FROM THE OSEBERG SHIP
This inscription was found in the Oseberg ship. It is written on a piece of wood.
111litiluism

The translation is uncertain, but the most usual interpetation is litilviss maðr which means "Little knows man" or "Man knows little".


THE STAVANGER CROSS
The Stavanger cross should, of course, stand upright. It is perhaps a monument stone for Erling Skjalgsson who fought against Olav Haraldsson at the Boknafjord the 21. December 1028 AD. According to Snorre one of Olav's men killed Erling after Erling had surrendered and Olav had promised him safe-conduct.

Liestøl reads the inscription "Alf(gier?) priest raised the stone in memory of Erling, his master; .... ????? .... , when he fought against Olav".


TRÅ BRONZE LADLE
In a woman's tomb at the Trå farm nearby the church at Granvin in Ulvik, Hardanger in Hordaland, a bronze ladle inscribed with runes was found. The bronze ladle is very damaged and only some fragments have been preserved, but it is possible to read some of the runic text. The two upper lines, as shown below, were written on the handle, while the bottom line was written along the egde of ladle bowl. The tomb is dated to the 900's AD.

[--] t i u
t auarkar karþir is kuinnk[--]
sikat [--] ni uritar uritar uilki [--]

Because of most of the runic text is missing, the translation is very uncertain, and the upper line gives us no meaning. But if we assume that the ladle had been used to pour beer into the drinking vessels in guilds and feasts by the housewife, or other women under her supervision, then the line in the middle might have meaning.

aurkar might be interpreted as gno. áverkar, the plural of áverki which means "insult, assault, cut, violence, wound". karþir might be the gno. kærðir of the verb kæra which means "prosecution, complain of, criticize, protest against, something one can't tolerate"

kuinnk might be interpreted as the gno. kvenngrið

which means "wrong, injustice" or as úréttar in the meaning of "do wrong, incorrect". The last proposal is what make senesce to this runic inscription.

According to Magnus Olsen's theory how this runic inscription might be read, based on other runic texts and Norse poems, the third line might be translated:

Sékat (meinlega merktar rúnar), né úréttar, úréttar vilgi -- -- -- -- -- ?

I don't see (runes written in injury ways), and no incorrect (runes), not at all incorrect -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ?

RUNIC INSCRIPTION IN HØRE STAVE CHURCH

þa um þat su(mar) ??? þæir brøþr ællingr (o)k auþun
hokoa til kirkiu er ærlinkr i(a/æ).....(l) i niþar ose

The runic text is translated "That summer when the brothers Erling and Audun cut

for this church, Earl Erling fell in Nidaros."

The inscription is used to date the age of the Høre stave church. In the year 1179 Erling Skakke fell in battle in Nidaros.


INSCRIPTION FOUND IN UVDAL STAVE CHURCH
æirikar rit mer:runar
The text in Norse is "Eiríkr, rít mér rúnar" which means "Eirik, wrote runes for me."




Read also about the so-called town runes in Norway, runic inscriptions which showed up approximately 1200 AD.