The
Kingittorsuaq Runestone (old spelling:
Kingigtorssuaq), listed as GR 1 in the
RundataThe Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future research...
catalog, is a runestone that was found on
Kingittorsuaq IslandKingittorsuaq Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a small island in the southern part of the Upernavik Archipelago, located on the southwestern shores of Upernavik Icefjord, near the mouth of the latter where it opens into Baffin Bay...
, an island in the
Upernavik ArchipelagoUpernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...
in northwestern
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
.
Description
The Kingittorsuaq Runestone was found in 1824 in a group of three
cairnCairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s that formed an
equilateral triangle on top of the mountain on a small
Kingittorsuaq IslandKingittorsuaq Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a small island in the southern part of the Upernavik Archipelago, located on the southwestern shores of Upernavik Icefjord, near the mouth of the latter where it opens into Baffin Bay...
in the south-central part of the
Upernavik ArchipelagoUpernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...
. The stone is now located at the
National Museum of DenmarkThe National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main domicile is located a short distance from Strøget at the center of Copenhagen. It contains exhibits from around the world,...
in
CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
The stone has been dated to the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The
Catholic EncyclopediaThe Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
states the date as April 25, 1135.
William ThalbitzerWilliam C. Thalbitzer was a Danish philologist and professor of eskimo studies at the University of Copenhagen. He studied Danish, English and Latin at the university, but after graduating in 1899 he decided to focus on "exotic" languages. In 1900 he spent a year in Ilulissat in western Greenland...
dates the stone to 1314 using pentadic numerals. Others have dated the stone between 1250 and 1333.
The last part of the runic inscription is not transcribed as it apparently is a group of meaningless characters, which some believe contains a secret message.
Transliteration of runic text into Latin letters
- ÷ el=likr * sikuaþs : so=n:r * ok * baan=ne : torta=r son : ¶ ÷ ok enriþi * os son : laukardak*in : fyrir * gakndag ¶ hloþu * ua=rda te * ok rydu : ??????
literal translation to old norse
Erlingur Sigvaðs sonur og baarne Þorðarson og enriði ás son , laugardagin fyrir gakndag hloðu varða thessa og ryðu..
literal translation to english
Erlingur the son of Sigvaths and Baarne Thordars son and Enriði Ás son, Washingday (Saturday) before the day of work, raised this mound and rode...
Other sources