Glavendrup stone

TheGlavendrup stone,designated asDR 209byRundata,is arunestoneon the island ofFuneninDenmarkand dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longestrunic inscriptionand ends in acurse.

Description

The runestone forms the end of astone ship.There are othermegalithsin the vicinity, including memorial stones with Latin characters from the early 20th century. In the stone ship, nine graves have been found, but they were all empty.

The runestone was discovered when sand was quarried in the area in 1794, and it was saved in 1808 by the archaeologistVedel Simonssenwhen stonemasons wanted to buy it. The last restoration was made in 1958, and the mound it is standing on is modern.

Ragnhild who ordered the stone also ordered theTryggevælde Runestone(DR 230) from therunemasterSoti. The runic inscription is classified as being inrunestone styleRAK. This is the classification for inscriptions with text bands with straight ends that do not have attached serpent or beast heads. It refers to agothi,who was a pagan priest of avé,a holy sanctuary, and athegn,who was the head of theNorse clanand a warchief. The rune carver appeals to the Norse godThortohallowthe inscription. There are two other runestones that have similarinvocationsto Thor located in Denmark,DR 110from Virring andDR 220from Sønder Kirkeby, and three other stones in Sweden,Ög 136in Rök,Vg 150from Velanda and possiblySö 140at Korpbron.^[1]It has been noted that Thor is the only Norse god who is invoked on any Viking Age runestones.^[2]

The inscription ends with a curse, similar to the ones found on the Tryggevælde Runestone and theSønder Vinge runestone 2in Denmark and theGlemminge stoneand theSaleby RunestoneinSweden.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."^[3]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.^[4]The concept that being a warlock or sorcerer was an evil perversion predated theChristian conversion of Scandinavia.^[4]

Inscription

§AP

raknhiltr

Ragnhildr

'

sa¶ti

satti

'

stain

sten

þonsi

þænsi

'

auft

æft

¶

ala

Alla

'

saulua

Solwa,

kuþa

goþa

¶

uia

wea,

l(i)þs

liþs

haiþuiarþan

heþwærþan

þia¶kn

þægn.

Ragnhildr placed this stone in memory of Alli the Pale, priest of the sanctuary, honourable þegn of the retinue.

§AQ

raknhiltr

Ragnhildr

'

sa¶ti

satti

'

stain

sten

þonsi

þænsi

'

auft

æft

¶

ala

Alla,

'

saulua

salvia

kuþa

goþa,

¶

uial(i)þs

vialiþs

haiþuiarþan

heþwærþan

þia¶kn

þægn.

Ragnhildr placed this stone in memory of Alli, priest of the Sølve, honourable þegn of the sanctuary-retinue.

§B

ala

Alla

'

suniʀ

syniʀ

'

karþu

gærþu

¶

kubl

kumbl

'

þausi

þøsi

'

aft

æft

'

faþur

¶

sin

'

auk

ok

'

hons

hans

'

kuna

kona

'

auft

æft

¶

uar

wær

'

sin

sin.

'

in

Æn

'

suti

Soti

'

raist

rest

'

run¶aʀ

runaʀ

'

þasi

þæssi

'

aft

æft

'

trutin

drottin

'

sin

sin.

¶

þur

Þor

'

uiki

wigi

'

þasi

þæssi

'

runaʀ

runaʀ.

Alli's sons made this monument in memory of their father, and his wife in memory of her husband. And Sóti carved these runes in memory of his lord. Þórr hallow these runes.

§C

at

At

'

rita

ræta(?)

'

sa

'

uarþi

wærþi

'

is

æs

'

stain

sten

þansi

þænsi

¶

ailti

ælti(?)

'

iþa

æþa

aft

æft

'

onon

annan

'

traki

dragi.

A warlock be he who damages(?) this stone or drags it (to stand) in memory of another.^[5]

Gallery

Runestone
Stone Ship

References

^Sawyer, Birgit (2000).The Viking-Age Rune-Stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia.Oxford University Press. p. 128.ISBN 0-19-820643-7.
^Page, Raymond Ian (2001) [1990].Norse Myths.University of Texas. p. 41.ISBN 0-292-75546-5.
^Nielsen, M. L. (1998). "Glavendrup". In Hoops, Johannes; Beck, Heinrich (eds.).Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde.Vol. 12. Walter de Gruyter. p. 198.ISBN 3-11-016227-X.
^^a ^bMacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006).Runic Amulets and Magic Objects.Boydell Press. pp. 225–226.ISBN 1-84383-205-4.
^Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk Rundata.

External links

55°30′32″N10°17′51″E/ 55.50889°N 10.29750°E/55.50889; 10.29750

[1] Sawyer, Birgit (2000).The Viking-Age Rune-Stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia.Oxford University Press. p. 128.ISBN 0-19-820643-7.

[2] Page, Raymond Ian (2001) [1990].Norse Myths.University of Texas. p. 41.ISBN 0-292-75546-5.

[3] Nielsen, M. L. (1998). "Glavendrup". In Hoops, Johannes; Beck, Heinrich (eds.).Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde.Vol. 12. Walter de Gruyter. p. 198.ISBN 3-11-016227-X.

[MacLeod-4] MacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006).Runic Amulets and Magic Objects.Boydell Press. pp. 225–226.ISBN 1-84383-205-4.

[Rundata-5] Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk Rundata.

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