Eggjum stone
Encyclopedia
The Eggja stone listed as N KJ101 in the Rundata
catalog, is a grave stone with a runic inscription that was ploughed up in 1917 on the farm Eggja in Sogndal
, Sogn og Fjordane
county, Norway
.
) which is dated to the period 650-700 C.E. The flat slab of stone is nowadays in Bergen Museum
. Having as many as 200 runes, it is the longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark
, but certain runes are transitional towards the Younger Futhark
.
Many scholarly works have been written about the inscription, but only minor parts of the partially preserved inscription have received an accepted translation. It is generally agreed that it is written in stylized poetry and in a partly metrical form containing a protection for the grave and the description of a funerary rite. However, there are widely diverging interpretations about certain details.
There is also the image of a horse carved into the stone, but it does not appear to have any connection with the inscription.
Suggested interpretation:
The stone has been prepared in accordance with tradition; the stone is untouched by sunlight, and not cut with iron. It should not be uncovered during the waning moon, and should not be removed from its place.
Someone has stained this stone with blood (kenned
as corpse-sea); perhaps as part of a sacrifice to facilitate the passage of the deceased or call on whatever power the inscription is addressed to.
The hæráss is the "god of armies" - a psychopomp
god which comes to the land of the living (godly ones) to take the deceased to an afterlife. Most likely the shapeshifting, shamanic áss
Odin
is meant, but the Christian god has absorbed this kenning in later Norse poetry.
The meaning of the alu
formula is uncertain, as are the runes spelling it out. It could be an iconographic or a regular abbreviation, or a mix of the two. The runes Ása-Laukr-Ur might be read as a blessing of or ward against miscreant(s), but this presupposes the not undisputed and somewhat poorly supported theory claiming that runes were used as part of folk magic and divinatory practices, and that their iconic meaning had significance beyond mnemonics in this respect. It might also be a word in itself, translating as "ale". Beer or mead played an important part in Norse ritual, both as sacrifice and beverage. Thus the word doubles as the word for festivities and public ritual.
Another suggested translation:
A more prosaic interpretation (offered by Ottar Grønvik
) (1985):
(Parenthesis denotes reconstructed or anticipated forms)
The Old Norse equivalent is here said to be:
Translation:
According to this interpretation, A1 is a description of a shipwreck in bad weather. The mast seems to have broken, and the oars could not save them, as a mythical creature, *Vil (possibly the sea-god Aegir, or simply divine will,) casts a wave upon the boat.
Parts A2, A3 and B explains the fate of the deceased. As A2 asks how they will get to the land beyond, A3 replies that a divine creature in the shape of a fish will lead them to the land of shining meadows. Part B prays that the work of the one writing this will help. Firney is probably not a place name, but possibly Fear-island or Far-island, and a kenning for the realm of the dead.
Part C1 says that the inscription was done at night, and not by using steel. This probably pertains to ancient grave-rituals, but the exact meaning is unclear. C2 issues warning directed at necromancers and mad (or mentally ill) people to prevent them from desecrate the grave.
, i.e.:
The inscription loosely follows the pattern of the Merseburg Incantations
, divided into two complementary parts, but where the Merseburger invokes a mythic event and calls for an exorcistic repetition, the Eggja composer seems to twice invoke a ritual, the first time listing two desired outcomes, in the second instance asking a question and answering it. Both inscriptions may represent some of the few remaining examples of pre-Christian ljoð or galdr
, ritual verse chanted by the cult leaders, shamans or oracles of Norse Scandinavia.
). The form used on modern official Norwegian maps is Eggja.
Rundata
The 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 grave stone with a runic inscription that was ploughed up in 1917 on the farm Eggja in Sogndal
Sogndal
Sogndal is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Sogndalsfjøra is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other main villages include Kaupanger, Kjørnes, and Fjærland...
, Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane
is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde....
county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Description
The Eggja stone was found with the written side downwards over a man's grave (cf. the Kylver stoneKylver Stone
The Kylver stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as runic inscription G 88, is a Swedish runestone which dates from about 400 CE notable for its listing of each of the runes in the elder futhark.-Description:...
) which is dated to the period 650-700 C.E. The flat slab of stone is nowadays in Bergen Museum
Bergen Museum
The Bergen Museum is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. Founded in 1825 with the intent of building large collections in the fields of culture and natural history, it became the grounds for most of the academic activity in the city, a tradition which has prevailed since the museum became part...
. Having as many as 200 runes, it is the longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
, but certain runes are transitional towards the Younger Futhark
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet, a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, consisting of only 16 characters, in use from ca. 800 CE...
.
Many scholarly works have been written about the inscription, but only minor parts of the partially preserved inscription have received an accepted translation. It is generally agreed that it is written in stylized poetry and in a partly metrical form containing a protection for the grave and the description of a funerary rite. However, there are widely diverging interpretations about certain details.
There is also the image of a horse carved into the stone, but it does not appear to have any connection with the inscription.
Transliteration
- Panel 1:
- nissolusotuknisaksestain
- skorinni????maRnak danisniþ
- rinRniwiltiRmanRlagi??
- ??????galande
- Panel 2:
- hinwarbnaseumaRmadeþaim
- kaibaibormoþahunihuwaRob
- kamharasahialatgotnafiskR
- oRf??na uimsuwimadefokl?f?
- Panel 3:
- a?????surki
Standardized Norse spelling
- Panel 1:
- Ni's sólu sótt ok ni saxe stæin skorinn.
- Ni (læggi) mannR nækðan, is niþ rinnR,
- Ni viltiR mænnR læggi ax.
- Panel 2:
- Hin(n) varp *náséo mannR, máðe þæim kæipa í bormóþa húni.
- HuæaR of kam hæráss á hi á land gotna.
- FiskR óR f(ir)na uim suim(m)ande, fogl á f??????? galande.
- Panel 3:
- Alu misyrki
Translation
One suggested translation:- Panel 1:
- No sun sought and no saxSeaxSeax in Old English means knife or cutting tool. The name of the roofer's tool, the zax, is a development from this word...
stone scarred - No man laid it nude as the niþ runs
- No bewildered men lay it aside
Suggested interpretation:
The stone has been prepared in accordance with tradition; the stone is untouched by sunlight, and not cut with iron. It should not be uncovered during the waning moon, and should not be removed from its place.
- Panel 2:
- Hither stone the man stained with corpse-sea, made thus oarpins in the bearing-worn boat
- Whom as came harrier-god here to goð 's land?
- Fishlike, out of river-fear swimming, as bird, our of f(?) crowing
Someone has stained this stone with blood (kenned
Kenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...
as corpse-sea); perhaps as part of a sacrifice to facilitate the passage of the deceased or call on whatever power the inscription is addressed to.
The hæráss is the "god of armies" - a psychopomp
Psychopomp
Psychopomps are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply provide safe passage...
god which comes to the land of the living (godly ones) to take the deceased to an afterlife. Most likely the shapeshifting, shamanic áss
Æsir
In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...
Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
is meant, but the Christian god has absorbed this kenning in later Norse poetry.
- Panel 3:
- ALU the misworker
The meaning of the alu
Alu (runic)
Alu is a Germanic charm word appearing on numerous Elder Futhark found in Central and Northern Europe dating from between 200 and 800 CE. The word – the most common of the early runic charm words – usually appears either alone or as part of an apparent formula...
formula is uncertain, as are the runes spelling it out. It could be an iconographic or a regular abbreviation, or a mix of the two. The runes Ása-Laukr-Ur might be read as a blessing of or ward against miscreant(s), but this presupposes the not undisputed and somewhat poorly supported theory claiming that runes were used as part of folk magic and divinatory practices, and that their iconic meaning had significance beyond mnemonics in this respect. It might also be a word in itself, translating as "ale". Beer or mead played an important part in Norse ritual, both as sacrifice and beverage. Thus the word doubles as the word for festivities and public ritual.
Another suggested translation:
A more prosaic interpretation (offered by Ottar Grønvik
Ottar Grønvik
Ottar Nicolai Grønvik was a Norwegian philologist and runology scholar.He was a lecturer from 1959 and associate professor from 1965 to 1986, at the University of Oslo. His doctorate thesis which earned him the dr.philos. degre in 1981 was Runene på Tunesteinen...
) (1985):
- A1 (hiu þwer) hin warp naseu wilR made þaim kaiba i bormoþa huni
- A2 huwaR ob kam harie a hit lat
- A3 gotna fiskR oR firnauim suwimade foki af (f)a(nwan)ga lande
- B a(i a)u is urki
- C1 ni s solu sot uk ni sakse stain skorin
- C2 ni (witi) maR nakdan is na wrinR ni wiltiR manR lagi(s)
(Parenthesis denotes reconstructed or anticipated forms)
The Old Norse equivalent is here said to be:
- A1 Hjú þverr, hín varp násjó *Vill: máðe þeim keipa i bormóða húni.
- A2 Hverr of kom her á hitt land?
- A3 Gotna fiskr ór firney-ím, svimande foki af fán-vanga lande.
- B Æ ey es yrki!
- C1 Ne's sólu sótt, ok ne sakse, stein skorinn;
- C2 ne víti maðr, nǫkðan es ná rinn, ne viltir menn, lægis!
Translation:
- A1 The household wanes, *Vil threw a death wave over those
- The oarlocks wore out for, with the tired mast-top
- A2 Who brought the horde to the land afar?
- A3 The godly-fish from Firnøy’s streams
- Swimming in the drift of the land of shining meadows.
- B Be it of help, I work this.
- C1 Not has the sun seen, nor the sword shorn, this stone,
- C2 Do not seek who call forth the naked dead,
- Nor wildly men, this bed of rest!
According to this interpretation, A1 is a description of a shipwreck in bad weather. The mast seems to have broken, and the oars could not save them, as a mythical creature, *Vil (possibly the sea-god Aegir, or simply divine will,) casts a wave upon the boat.
Parts A2, A3 and B explains the fate of the deceased. As A2 asks how they will get to the land beyond, A3 replies that a divine creature in the shape of a fish will lead them to the land of shining meadows. Part B prays that the work of the one writing this will help. Firney is probably not a place name, but possibly Fear-island or Far-island, and a kenning for the realm of the dead.
Part C1 says that the inscription was done at night, and not by using steel. This probably pertains to ancient grave-rituals, but the exact meaning is unclear. C2 issues warning directed at necromancers and mad (or mentally ill) people to prevent them from desecrate the grave.
Meter
Panel 2 has been suggested to contain a stanza in the Galdralag meterOld Norse poetry
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...
, i.e.:
- HuæaR of kam hæráss á
- hi á land gotna.
- FiskR óR f(ir)na uim suim(m)ande,
- fogl á f??????? galande.
- Whom as came harrier-god
- here to goð 's land?
- Fishlike, out of river-fear swimming,
- as fowl, out of f(?) crowing
The inscription loosely follows the pattern of the Merseburg Incantations
Merseburg Incantations
The Merseburg Incantations are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in this language...
, divided into two complementary parts, but where the Merseburger invokes a mythic event and calls for an exorcistic repetition, the Eggja composer seems to twice invoke a ritual, the first time listing two desired outcomes, in the second instance asking a question and answering it. Both inscriptions may represent some of the few remaining examples of pre-Christian ljoð or galdr
Galdr
Galdr is one Old Norse word for "spell, incantation", and which was usually performed in combination with certain rites. It was mastered by both women and men and they chanted it in falsetto .-Etymology:...
, ritual verse chanted by the cult leaders, shamans or oracles of Norse Scandinavia.
The name Eggja/Eggum
The Norse forms of the name was Eggjar (nominative) and Eggjum (dative). The name is the plural of egg f 'edge; mountain ridge' (compare BesseggenBesseggen
Besseggen, or Besseggi, is a mountain ridge in Vågå kommune in Oppland county. Besseggen lies east in Jotunheimen, between the lakes Gjende and Bessvatnet....
). The form used on modern official Norwegian maps is Eggja.
External links
- Runic Inscriptions by Yves Kodratoff
- Photograph of inscription
Other sources
- M. Olsen, 'Norges Indskrifter med de ældre Runer' (Christiania), Vol. III, pt. 2.
- The article Eggjastenen in NationalencyklopedinNationalencyklopedinNationalencyklopedin is the most comprehensive contemporary Swedish language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 1980, which was repaid by December 1990...
1991.