Kingittorsuaq Runestone
| Kingittorsuaq Runestone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Writing | Medieval runes |
| Created | Middle Ages, c. 1300 |
| Discovered | 1824 Greenland |
| Culture | Norse |
| Rundata ID | GR 1 M |
| Runemaster | Unknown |
The Kingittorsuaq Runestone (old spelling: Kingigtorssuaq), listed as GR 1 in the Rundata catalog, is a runestone that was found on Kingittorsuaq Island, an island in the Upernavik Archipelago in northwestern Greenland.
Description[edit]
The Kingittorsuaq Runestone was found in 1824 in a group of three cairns that formed an equilateral triangle on top of the mountain on Kingittorsuaq Island in the south-central part of the Upernavik Archipelago. The stone is now located at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
The stone has been dated to the Middle Ages. The Catholic Encyclopedia states the date as April 25, 1135. William Thalbitzer dates the stone to 1314 using pentadic numerals.[citation needed] Others have dated the stone between 1250 and 1333.[1] However, as the historian Finn Gad has pointed out, the date given on the stone can be interpreted in various ways. As such, it cannot, as previously thought, be taken as evidence for the three hunters named on the stone in this region.[2]
Inscription[edit]
⁓
el^likr
Erlingr
·
sikuaþs
Sighvats
:
so^n:r
sonr
·
ok
ok
·
baan^ne
Bjarni
:
torta^r
Þórðar
son
sonr
:
¶
⁓
ok
ok
:
enriþi
Eindriði
·
os
Odds
son
sonr
:
laukardak·in
laugardagin
:
fyrir
fyrir
·
gakndag
gagndag
¶
hloþu
hlóðu
·
ua^rda
varða
te
þe[ssa]
·
ok
ok
rydu
…
:
??????
…
Erlingr Sighvatrs son and Bjarni Þorðr's son and Eindriði Oddr's son, constructed these cairns the Saturday before Rogation Day, and … [3]
Undeciphered runes[edit]
The six runes following the translated text are undeciphered, though they do have very close single-character components. The first two and final runes appear to have two components, a Sowilō (ᛋ) with a Mannaz (ᛘ) and/or Algiz (ᛉ) on the top and bottom. The following three runes appear also to have the top and bottom Mannaz or Algiz, just with a Jēran (ᛄ) instead.[4]
Some believe that they are meaningless, while others believe that it contains a secret message.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Enterline, James Robert (2002). Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America. Center for American Places (illustrated ed.). JHU Press. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0-8018-6660-X. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ Hansen, Keld (2008). Nuussuarmiut – hunting families on the big headland. Copenhagen, Denmark: National Museum of Denmark. pp. 20–21.
- ^ "Runic inscription GR 1". Scandinavian Runic-text Database (2020 ed.). Uppsala University: Department of Scandinavian Languages. Retrieved Feb 23, 2024.
- ^ Byock, Jesse (2013). Viking Language 1 (1a ed.). Pacific Palisades, California: Jules William Press. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9781480216440.