Birch bark letter no. 292
Encyclopedia
Birch bark document
A birch bark document is a document written on pieces of birch bark. Such documents existed in several cultures. For instance, some Gandharan Buddhist texts have been found written on birch bark and preserved in clay jars....
given the document number 292 is the oldest known document in any Finnic language
Finnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
. The document is dated to the beginning of the 13th century. It was found in 1957 by a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
expedition, led by Artemiy Artsikhovskiy in the Nerev excavation on the left coast side of Novgorod.
The language used in the document is thought to be an archaic form of the language spoken in Olonets Karelia, a dialect of the Karelian
Karelian language
Karelian language is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland and some Finnish linguists even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish...
language.
Transcription
The text is written in the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
in the Karelian
Karelian language
Karelian language is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland and some Finnish linguists even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish...
dialect of the archaic
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
or Finnic
Finnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
language. A transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
of the Cyrillic text is as follows:
- юмолануолиїнимижи
ноулисѣханолиомобоу
юмоласоудьнииохови
by Yuri Yeliseyev
The text, as transliterated to the Latin alphabetLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
by Yuri Yeliseyev in 1959 and interpreted in modern Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
:
jumolanuoli ï nimizi
nouli se han oli omo bou
jumola soud'ni iohovi
Jumalannuoli, kymmenen [on] nimesi
Tämä nuoli on Jumalan oma
Tuomion-Jumala johtaa.
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten [is] your name
This arrow is God's own
The Doom-God leads.
Yeliseyev believes, that this is an invocation
Invocation
An invocation may take the form of:*Supplication or prayer.*A form of possession.*Command or conjuration.*Self-identification with certain spirits....
against lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, as evidenced by "ten your names" construction. According to superstitious notions, knowledge of the name gives a human the magic power over an object or phenomenon.
by Martti Haavio
As the orthographyOrthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
used does not utilize spaces
Space (punctuation)
In writing, a space is a blank area devoid of content, serving to separate words, letters, numbers, and punctuation. Conventions for interword and intersentence spaces vary among languages, and in some cases the spacing rules are quite complex....
between words, the source text can be render
Render
Render or rendering may refer to:In Computing:* Artistic rendering, creating, shading and texturing of an image* Architectural rendering, creating two-dimensional images or animations showing the attributes of a proposed architectural design...
ed into words in different ways. Martti Haavio
Martti Haavio
Martti Haavio was a Finnish poet, folklorist and mythologist, writing poetry under the name "P. Mustapää". He was born on 22 January 1899 in Temmes, and died 4 February 1973. He was also a professor of folklore and an influential researcher of Finnish mythology. In 1960, Haavio married Aale Tynni,...
gives a different interpretation
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
of the text in his 1964 article, suggesting, that this is a sort of an oath
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
:
jumolan nuoli inimizi
nouli sekä n[u]oli omo bou
jumola soud'nii okovy
Jumalan nuoli, ihmisen
nuoli sekä nuoli oma. [
Tuomion jumalan kahlittavaksi.]
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, man's
arrow, and (his) own arrow. [
To be chained by the Doom-God.]
by Yevgeny Khelimsky
Professor Yevgeny Khelimsky in his 1986 work criticizes Haavio's interpretation and gives the third known scientific interpretation, believing the letter to be an invocation, like Yeliseyev:
Jumalan nuoli 10 nimezi
Nuoli säihä nuoli ambu
Jumala suduni ohjavi (johavi?)
A translation into Finnish of this interpretation would look something like this:
Jumalan nuoli 10 nimesi
Nuoli säihkyvä nuoli ampuu
Suuto-Jumala (Syyttö-Jumala)† ohjaa (johtaa?)
In English, it means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten your name(s)
Arrow sparkling, arrow shoots
The Doom-God guides/directs (leads/rules?).
†Syyttö-Jumala could also mean "Blaming God" or "God that blames"; modern Finnish syyttää = to blame.
General references
- Jelisejev, J. S. Vanhin itämerensuomalainen kielenmuistomerkki, Virittäjä-lehti 1961: 134
- Jelisejev, J. S. Itämerensuomalaisia kielenmuistomerkkejä (Zusammenfassung: Ostseefinnische Sprachdenkmäler), Virittäjä-lehti 1966: 296 http://www.kotikielenseura.fi/virittaja/hakemistot/aakkostetut/virsis_j.html
- Martti HaavioMartti HaavioMartti Haavio was a Finnish poet, folklorist and mythologist, writing poetry under the name "P. Mustapää". He was born on 22 January 1899 in Temmes, and died 4 February 1973. He was also a professor of folklore and an influential researcher of Finnish mythology. In 1960, Haavio married Aale Tynni,...
The Letter on Birch-Bark No. 292, Journal of the Folklore Institute, 1964 - Haavio, Martti, Tuohikirje n:o 292. Vanha suomalaisen muinaisuskonnon lähde, Virittäjä-lehti 1964: 1 http://haku.tsv.fi/proeta/FMPro?-db=proetaa.fp5&-format=%2fproeta%2fartikkeli.htm&-lay=veppi&-sortfield=kirjoittajat&-sortfield=vuosi&-sortfield=sivu&-op=cn&kirjoittajat=martti%20haavio&-max=30&-recid=33393&-find=