The Rök Runestone ' onMouseout='HidePop("91928")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Rundata">Ög 136
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project started on January 1, 1993 at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runic inscriptions in a machine-readable way for future research...
) is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known
runicThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
inscription in stone. It can now be seen by the church in
RökRök is a parish located in Östergötland, Sweden. It is mostly known for being the location where the Rök Runestone is kept....
(between Mjölby and Ödeshög, on the E4, and close to Lake Vättern),
ÖstergötlandÖstergötland is a one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Ostrogothia.-Administration: The provinces of Sweden serve no...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
. It is considered the first piece of written
Swedish literatureSwedish literature refers to literature written in the Swedish language or by writers from Sweden.The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök Runestone, carved during the Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Christianity around 1100 AD, Sweden entered the Middle Ages,...
and thus it marks the beginning of the history of Swedish literature.
About the stone
The stone was discovered built into the wall of the church in the 19th century and removed from the church wall a few decades later. It was probably carved in the early 800s, judging from the main runic alphabet used ("short-twig" runes) and the form of the language. It is covered with runes on five sides, all except the base part that was to be put under ground. A few parts of the inscription are damaged, but most of it remains readable.
The name "Rök Stone" is something of a
tautologyIn rhetoric, a tautology is an unnecessary or unessential repetition of meaning, using different and dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing twice...
: the stone is named after the village, "Rök", but the village is probably named after the stone, "Rauk" or "Rök" meaning "skittle-shaped stack/stone" in
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
.
The stone is unique in a number of ways. It contains a fragment of what is believed to be a lost piece of
Norse mythologyNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
. It also makes a historical reference to
OstrogothThe Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , an East Germanic tribe that played a major role in the political events of the late Roman Empire....
ic king (effectively emperor of the western Roman empire)
Theodoric the GreatTheodoric the Great , was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Roman Empire...
. It contains the longest extant pre-Christian runic inscription - around 760 characters. And it is a virtuoso display of the carver's mastery of runic expression.
The combination of Old Germanic style and mythology with a non-too-distant historical past and a scarcely perceptible Christian "aura" is similar to Beowulf - a product of roughly the same era and culture. It is worth emphasizing the contemporaneity of these references to counteract misinformed mysticism seeing ancient Germanic myths and folklore as uniquely primitive monuments of Arian particularism.
The inscription is partially
encryptedIn cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
in two ways; by displacement and by using special
cipher runesCipher runes, or cryptic runes, are the cryptographical replacement of the letters of the runic alphabet.-Preservation:The knowledge of cipher runes was best preserved in Iceland, and during the 17th and the 18th centuries, Icelandic scholars produced several treatises on the subject...
. The inscription is intentionally challenging to read, using
kenningA kenning is a circumlocution used instead of an ordinary noun in Old Norse and later Icelandic poetry...
s in the manner of Old Norse
skaldThe skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
ic poetry, and demonstrating the carver's command of different alphabets and writing styles (including code). The obscurity may perhaps even be part of a magic ritual.
Inscription
This is a
transliterationTransliteration is the practice of converting a text from one writing system into another in a systematic way.-Definitions:From an information-theoretical point of view, transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, word by word, or ideally letter by letter...
of the runes:
- aft uamuþ stonta runaR þaR n uarin faþi faþiR aft faikion sunu sakum| |mukmini þat huariaR ualraubaR uaRin tuaR þaR suaþ tualf sinum uaRin| |numnaR t ualraubu baþaR somon o umisum| |monum ' þat sakum onart huaR fur niu altum on urþi fiaru miR hraiþkutum auk tu miR on ub sakaR raiþ| |þiaurikR hin þurmuþi stiliR flutna strontu hraiþmaraR sitiR nu karuR o kuta sinum skialti ub fatlaþR skati marika þat sakum tualfta huar histR si kunaR itu| |uituoki on kunukaR tuaiR tikiR suaþ o likia ' þat sakum þritaunta huariR tuaiR tikiR kunukaR satin t siulunti fiakura uintur at fiakurum nabnum burnR fiakurum bruþrum ' ualkaR fim ra=þulfs| |suniR hraiþulfaR fim rukulfs| |suniR hoislaR fim haruþs suniR kunmuntaR fim (b)irnaR suniR * nuk m--- (m)-- alu --(k)(i) ainhuaR -þ... ...þ ... ftiR fra sagwm| |mogmeni (þ)ad hOaR igOldga OaRi gOldin d gOonaR hOsli sakum| |mukmini uaim si burin| |niþR troki uilin is þat knuo knati| |iatun uilin is þat (n)(i)(t) akum| |mukmini þur sibi uiauari ul niruþR
This a
transcriptionTranscription is the conversion into written, typewritten or printed form, of a spoken-language source, as in the proceedings of a court hearing. It can also mean the conversion of a written source into another medium, as by scanning books and making digital versions...
of the runes in early 9th century Old East Norse (Swedish and Danish) dialect of
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
:
This a
transcriptionTranscription is the conversion into written, typewritten or printed form, of a spoken-language source, as in the proceedings of a court hearing. It can also mean the conversion of a written source into another medium, as by scanning books and making digital versions...
of the runes in the classic 13th century Old West Norse (Norwegian and Icelandic) dialect of
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
:
Translation
The following is
one translation of the text: most researchers agree on how the runes shall be deciphered, but the interpretation of the text and the meaning is still a subject of debate. The first part is written in
ljóðaháttr meterIn poetry, the meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse meter, or a certain set of meters alternating in a particular order. Prosody is a more general linguistic term, that includes poetical meter but also the rhythmic aspects of...
, and the part about Theoderic is written in the
fornyrðislag meter. (See
alliterative verseIn prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of many Germanic...
for an explanation of these meters.)
- In memory of Vémóðr/Vámóðr stand these runes.
- And Varinn coloured them, the father,
- in memory of his dead son.
- I say the folktale / to the young men, which the two war-booties were, which twelve times were taken as war-booty, both together from various men.
- I say this second, who nine generations ago lost his life with the Hreidgoths; and died with them for his guilt.
- Þjóðríkr the bold
Theodoric the Great , was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Roman Empire...
,
- chief of sea-warriors,
- ruled over the shores of the Hreiðsea.
- Now he sits armed
- on his Goth(ic horse),
- his shield strapped,
- the prince of the Mærings.
- I say this the twelfth, where the horse of Gunnr
Gunnr or Guðr is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her name means "battle" and is cognate with the English word "gun". She rode a wolf and took part in selecting the dead warriors together with two other Valkyries in order to bring them to Valhalla....
sees fodder on the battlefield, where twenty kings lie.
- This I say as thirteenth, which twenty kings sat on Sjólund for four winters, of four names, born of four brothers: five Valkis, sons of Hráðulfr, five Hreiðulfrs, sons of Rugulfr, five Háisl, sons of Hôrðr, five Gunnmundrs/Kynmundrs, sons of Bjôrn.
- Now I say the tales in full. Someone ...
- I say the folktale / to the young men, which of the line of Ingold was repaid by a wife's sacrifice.
- I say the folktale / to the young men, to whom is born a relative, to a valiant man. It is Vélinn. He could crush a giant. It is Vélinn ... [Nit]
- I say the folktale / to the young men: Þórr
Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism....
. Sibbi of Vé, nonagenarian, begot (a son).
Theodoric Strophe
Interpretation
Apart from the mentioned
TheodoricTheodoric the Great , was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Roman Empire...
,
GunnrGunnr or Guðr is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her name means "battle" and is cognate with the English word "gun". She rode a wolf and took part in selecting the dead warriors together with two other Valkyries in order to bring them to Valhalla....
and the
Norse godNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
ThorThor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism....
, the people and mythological creatures mentioned are unknown to us. Some interpretations have been suggested:
The two war-booties are likely to be two precious weapons, such as a sword and a shield or a helmet. Several stories like these exist in old Germanic poems.
The
HreidgothsReidgotaland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland was a land in Scandinavian sagas, which usually referred to the land of the Goths. Oddly, hreiðr meant "bird's nest" and perhaps it was a kenning for the Goths tradition of moving and "nesting" in new territories. Another possibility is that it was...
mentioned are a poetic name for the
OstrogothThe Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , an East Germanic tribe that played a major role in the political events of the late Roman Empire....
s, appearing in other sources. To what sea the name
Hreiðsea referred is unknown. Considering the location of the Ostrogoths at the time of Theoderic, it should be a name for the Mediterranean.
The part about Theodoric (who died in 526 A.D.) probably concerns the
statueA statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
of him sitting on his horse in
RavennaRavenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire till 476. It was later the capital ofKingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna till 751...
, which was moved in 801 A.D. to
AachenAachen is a historic spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the medieval Kings of Germany...
by
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
. This statue was very famous and portrayed Theodoric with his shield hanging across his left shoulder, and his lance extended in his right hand. The
Mærings is a name for Theodoric's family. According to the old English
Deor"Deor" is an Old English poem, from the 10th century AD, preserved in the Exeter Book. The poem consists of the lament of the scop Deor, who lends his name to the poem, which was given no formal title. Modern scholars do not actually believe Deor to be the author of this poem.In the poem, Deor's...
poem from the 900s, Theodoric ruled the "castle of the Mærings" (Ravenna) for thirty years. The words about Theodoric may be connected to the previous statement, so the stone is talking about the death of Theodoric: he died approximately nine generations before the stone was carved, and the church considered him a cruel and godless emperor, thus some may have said that he died for his guilt. The dead person may just as well be someone else though.
Gunnr whose "horse sees fodder on the battlefield" is presumably a
ValkyrieIn Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decide who will die in battle. The valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin, where the deceased warriors become einherjar...
(previously known from Norse mythology), and her "horse" is a Wolf. This kind of poetic license is known as
kenningA kenning is a circumlocution used instead of an ordinary noun in Old Norse and later Icelandic poetry...
in the old Norse poetry tradition.
The story about the twenty kings says that the twenty were four groups of five brothers each, and in each of these four groups, all brothers shared the same names, and their fathers were four brothers (4 x 5 = 20). This piece of mythology seems to have been common knowledge at the time, but has been totally lost. The
Sjólund is similar to the name given to
RoslagenRoslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago....
by
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
but it has often been interpreted as Sjælland (nowadays a part of
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
).
Starting with the
Ingold-part, the text becomes increasingly hard to read. While the first part is written in the 16 common short-twig runes in the younger fuþark, Varin here switches over to using the older 24-type elder fuþark and
cipher runesCipher runes, or cryptic runes, are the cryptographical replacement of the letters of the runic alphabet.-Preservation:The knowledge of cipher runes was best preserved in Iceland, and during the 17th and the 18th centuries, Icelandic scholars produced several treatises on the subject...
. It has been assumed that this is intentional, and that the rows following this point concerns legends connected specifically to Varin and his tribe.
After the word
It is Vélinn ... follows the word
Nit. This word is yet uninterpreted, and its meaning is unclear.
In the last line, the carver invokes the god Thor and then he says that Sibbi "of the shrine" got a son at the age of ninety. Since Thor is evoked before telling about Sibbi's connection with the sanctuary and his potency at old age, it may be a recommendation that being a devout worshipper is beneficial.
Speculation
There have been numerous speculations written about the stone and its purpose. The most common include:
- Varinn carved the stone only to honour his lost son and the inclusion of mythical passages was a tribute from fantasy (Elias Wessén's theory). There is strong evidence to support this view, not the least being the fact that Thor
Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism....
is referenced; this use of a deity in this context is quite conceivably a prefiguration of what was to later become a common practice (anterior to Christianity), where graves were frequently inscribed with runic dedications such as þórr vigi, "may Thor protect you".
- Varinn carved the stone to raise his tribe to vengeance over the death of his son. The dramatic battle mentioned may have been the cause of his son's death. (Otto von Friesen
Otto von Friesen was a linguist, runologist and professor of the Swedish language at Uppsala University from 1906-1935. He was also a member of the Swedish Academy from 1929-1942, serving in Chair 9....
's theory)
- Varinn carved the stone to preserve the tribal myths, as he had the function of a thul
A Thyle, was a position of the court associated with Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon royalty and chieftains in the Early Middle Ages. Most literary references are found in Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon literature like the Hávamál, where Odin himself is called "the great thul", and Beowulf. It also...
, the ceremonial story-teller of his ættThe Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...
(clan), and this retelling task was to be passed on to his son. Perhaps he feared that the stories could be lost because of the death of his son, and therefore he tried to preserve them in a short form in the stone.
- The stone was a sign to strengthen the position of the tribe leader (since the stone could not be missed by anybody passing the land). He tries to justifiy his position by showing a long line of powerful ancestors which he follows.
- The battle field where twenty kings lie, has been connected (at least by Herman Lindkvist) to the Battle of Brávellir which in Norse mythology took place not far from the location of the Rök stone about 50 years earlier.
- According to a theory put forward by Åke Ohlmarks
Åke Joel Ohlmarks was a Swedish author, translator and scholar of religion.He worked as a Lecturer at the University of Greifswald from 1941 to 1945...
, Varinn was the local chieftain and as such also the one who performed sacrifices to the gods. Then arrived AnsgarSaint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
, the first to bring Christianity to Sweden, and the wife of Varin's son Vémóðr/Vámóðr was baptized by him. Therefore, Varinn was forced to sacrifice his own son to the gods as indicated in the verse: "I say the folktale / to the young men, which of the line of Ingold was repaid by a wife's sacrifice" (the word "husl" can be interpreted both "sacrifice" and "baptism"). Shortly: Vémóðr/Vámóðr paid with his life for his wife's betrayal to the gods and Varinn had to kill his own son. That might also be the reason that Varinn used the word "faigian" (who is soon to die) instead of "dauðan" (dead) in the first line.
Sources
- Bugge, Sophus: Der Runenstein von Rök in Östergötland, Schweden, Stockholm 1910
- von Friesen, Otto
Otto von Friesen was a linguist, runologist and professor of the Swedish language at Uppsala University from 1906-1935. He was also a member of the Swedish Academy from 1929-1942, serving in Chair 9....
: Rökstenen, Uppsala 1920
- Grönvik, Ottar
Ottar Nicolai Grønvik was a Norwegian philologist and runology scholar best known for his work on the runic alphabet and various runestones, especially the Tune Runestone, the Rök Runestone and the Eggjum stone....
: Runeinnskriften på Rökstenen in Maal og Minde 1983, Oslo 1983
- Gustavson, Helmer: Rökstenen (produced by Riksantikvarieämbetet
The Swedish National Heritage Board is a Swedish governmental agency responsible for World Heritage Sites in Sweden and other national heritage mounments and historical environments...
), Uddevalla 2000, ISBN 9171928227
- Jansson, Sven B F: Runinskrifter i Sverige, Stockholm 1963, 3rd edition in 1984
- Rydberg, Viktor: Om Hjältesagan å Rökstenen, Stockholm, 1892; translated as "The Heroic Saga on the Rökstone" by William P. Reaves, The Runestone Journal 1, Asatru Folk Assembly, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9797188-0-09.
- Schück, Henrik: Bidrag till tolkningen af Rökstenen in Uppsala Universitets årsskrift, Uppsala 1908
- Ståhle, Carl Ivar and Tigerstedt, E N: Sveriges litteratur. Del 1. Medeltidens och reformationstidens litteratur, Stockholm 1968
- Wessén, Elias: Runstenen vid Röks kyrka, Stockholm 1958
External links