Saleby Runestone
Encyclopedia
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, was originally located in Saleby, Västergötland
Västergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and is one of the few runestones that is raised in memory of a woman.
Description
The runic inscription and is classified as being in runestone style RAK. This is the classification for inscriptions where the runic bands do not have any serpent or beast heads at the ends, and is considered to be the oldest style. The Saleby Runestone was discovered in 1794 within the walls of the church of Saleby and then moved to its current location near Dagsnäs CastleDagsnäs Castle
Dagsnäs Castle is a castle in Sweden, situated 9 kilometer south of Skara at Lake Hornborga....
. The stone is 2.7 metres in height and about 0.45 meters in width.
The runic text states that the stone was raised by Freysteinn as a memorial to his wife Þóra, who is described as being "the best of her generation." The inscription ends with a curse on anyone who destroys the memorial. A similar curse also appears on the Tryggevælde Runestone
Tryggevælde Runestone
Tryggevælde Runestone, designated as DR 230 under Rundata, is a runestone housed in the National Museum of Denmark, in Copenhagen. It is classified as being carved in runestone style RAK, and is dated to about 900 CE.-Description:...
and the Glavendrup stone
Glavendrup stone
The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by Rundata, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse.-Description:...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. There is some disagreement regarding the translation of one of the words in these curses, rita/rata, which has been translated as "wretch," "outcast," or "warlock." Warlock is the translation accepted by Rundata. However, the use of warlock is not that the destroyer would gain any magical powers, but be considered to be unnatural and a social outcast. The phrase argRi
Ergi
Ergi and argr are two Old Norse terms of insult, denoting effeminacy or other unmanly behavior. Argr is "unmanly" and ergi is "unmanliness"; the terms have cognates in other Germanic languages such as earh, earg, arag, arug, and so on.-Ergi in the Viking Age:To accuse another man of being argr...
konu or "maleficent woman" in the curse appears to be related to the practice of seiðr
Seiðr
Seid or seiðr is an Old Norse term for a type of sorcery or witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. Sometimes anglicized as "seidhr," "seidh," "seidr," "seithr," or "seith," the term is also used to refer to modern Neopagan reconstructions or emulations of the...
, a type of sorcery. Runologist Erik Moltke
Erik Moltke
Erik Moltke was a runologist, writer, editor. Through his leadership the Runologist Section of the National Museum of Denmark became a world centre for the scientific study of runology c.1942 CE....
has suggested that argRi represents the most loathsome term the runemaster
Runemaster
A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood. However, it was difficult to make runestones, and in order to master it one also needed to be a...
could imagine calling someone. The idea that a warlock or sorcerer was an evil perversion predated the conversion of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
The text is carved in 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...
and contains one bind rune
Bind rune
A bind rune is a ligature of two or more runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscriptions, but are common in pre-Viking Age and in post-Viking Age inscriptions....
, which is a ligature of two runes. On Vg 67 the runemaster combined a u-rune
Ur (rune)
The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark u rune is *Ūruz meaning "wild ox" or *Ûram "water". It may have been derived from the Raetic alphabet character u as it is similar in both shape and sound value...
with a k-rune
Kaunan
The k-rune is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning "ulcer". The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Kaunan. It is also known as Kenaz , based on its Anglo-Saxon name.The Elder Futhark shape is likely directly based on Old Italic c / Latin C...
in the word au=k ("and").
Both of the personal names in the inscription have names of Norse pagan
Norse paganism
Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...
gods as an element of the name. Freysteinn means "Freyr
Freyr
Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...
's Stone" and Þóra is a female diminutive form of Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
.
Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters
- + fraustin + karþi + kubl * þausi + aftiR + þuru + kunu + sino + su ... ...(s) + tutiR bast + miþ + altum + uarþi at + rata + au=k + at arkRi '+ kunu + saR + ias haukui + krus + -... + uf + briuti
Transcription into Old Norse
- Frøystæinn gærði kumbl þausi æftiR Þoru, konu sina. Su [va]R ... dottiR, bæzt með aldum. Verði at
ok at argRi konu saR es haggvi [i] krus, ... of briuti.
Translation in English
- Freysteinn made these monuments in memory of Þóra, his wife. She was ... daughter, the best of her generation. May he who cuts to pieces ... breaks ... become a warlock and a maleficent woman ...