Östergötland Runic Inscription 43
Encyclopedia
Östergötland Runic Inscription 43 or Ög 43 is the Rundata
catalog number for a Viking Age
runic inscription that is carved on a rockface in Ingelstad, which is just north of Norrköping
, Östergötland
, Sweden
.
except for the first rune in the second line, which uses the form of the d-rune
,
, from the elder futhark
. The Rök Runestone
, which is dated to this same period, also mixes runes from both futharks in its inscription. Because of this, this inscription has been dated to approximately 850 C.E. The association of the carving of a sun with the word sól along with the use of an anachronistic d-rune may suggest that the inscription is a ritualistic comparison of the winter sun and the bright summer sun, and represents an encrypted magical call for the sun to shine.
The d-rune of the second line has been transcribed into Old Norse
as an ideogram
that uses the name for this rune, which means "day," as the personal name Dagr. This name also appears spelled out in the runic texts on inscriptions Vg 101 in Bragnum and Vg 113 in Lärkegapet, and Dagr
is also the personification of day in Norse mythology
.
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 number for a Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
runic inscription that is carved on a rockface in Ingelstad, which is just north of Norrköping
Norrköping
Norrköping is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest...
, Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is 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 might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
, 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....
.
Description
The inscription Ög 43 is carved on a granite rockface consisting of two lines of text within runic text bars that are approximately 0.4 meters in length. Above the inscription is carved a sword, and a cross and sun-symbol are also carved nearby. The runic text is in the younger futharkYounger 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...
except for the first rune in the second line, which uses the form of the d-rune
Dagaz
The d rune is called Daeg "day" in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem. The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet d is called dags. This rune stave is also part of the Elder Futhark, with a reconstructed Proto-Germanic name *dagaz....
,
, from the elder futharkElder 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...
. The Rök Runestone
Rök Runestone
The Rök Runestone is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. It can now be seen by the church in Rök , Östergötland, Sweden...
, which is dated to this same period, also mixes runes from both futharks in its inscription. Because of this, this inscription has been dated to approximately 850 C.E. The association of the carving of a sun with the word sól along with the use of an anachronistic d-rune may suggest that the inscription is a ritualistic comparison of the winter sun and the bright summer sun, and represents an encrypted magical call for the sun to shine.
The d-rune of the second line has been transcribed into Old Norse
Old Norse
Old 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....
as an ideogram
Ideogram
An ideogram or ideograph is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms.Examples of...
that uses the name for this rune, which means "day," as the personal name Dagr. This name also appears spelled out in the runic texts on inscriptions Vg 101 in Bragnum and Vg 113 in Lärkegapet, and Dagr
Dagr
In Norse mythology, Dagr is day personified. This personification appears in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
is also the personification of day in Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
.
Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters
- ÷ salsi karþi sul ÷ D ÷ skut- - þ--a hiu ×