Anglo-Saxon runic rings
There are seven knownringsof theAnglo-Saxon period(9th or 10th century) bearingfuthorcinscriptions. Futhorc are Anglo-Saxon runes which were used to writeOld English.
The most notable of the rings are theBramham Moor Ring,found in the 18th century, and theKingmoor Ring,found 1817, inscribed with a nearly identicalmagical runicformula read as
ærkriufltkriuriþonglæstæpontol
A third ring, found before 1824 (perhaps identical to a ring found in 1773 at Linstock castle in Carlisle), has a magical inscription of a similar type,
ery.ri.uf.dol.yri.þol.ƿles.te.pote.nol.
The remaining five rings have much shorter inscriptions.
- Wheatley Hill, County Durham, found 1993, now in the British Museum. Late 8th century. Inscription: "[h]ring ic hatt[æ]"(I am called ring).
- Coquet Island, Northumberland, found before 1866, now lost. Inscription: "+ þis is -"(this is…).
- Cramond, Edinburgh, found 1869-70, now in the National Museum of Scotland. 9th-10th century. Inscription: "[.]eƿor[.]el[.]u."
- Thames Exchange, London, found 1989, now in the Museum of London. Inscription: "[.]fuþni ine."
Bramham Moor Ring
[edit]
The Bramham Moor Ring, dated to the ninth century, was found inBramham cum Oglethorpe,West Yorkshirein or before 1732 (now in theDanish National Museum,no. 8545). It is made fromelectrum(gold withniello), with a diameter of c. 29 mm. and weighs 40.22 g.
The inscription reads:[1]
᛭
ᚫᚱᛦᚱᛁᚢᚠᛚᛏ
ærkriuflt
᛭
ᛦᚱᛁᚢᚱᛁᚦᚩᚾ
kriuriþon
᛭
ᚷᛚᚫᛋᛏᚫᛈᚩᚾ͡ᛏᚩᚿ
glæstæpon͡tol
Wherekis the latefuthorccalcrune of the same shape asYounger FutharkYrand then͡tis written as abindrune.
Kingmoor Ring
[edit]
The Kingmoor Ring (also Greymoor Hill Ring) dates to the 9th or 10th century. It is of gold, with a diameter ca. 27 mm.
It was discovered in June 1817 at Greymoor Hill, Kingmoor, nearCarlisle(54°55′0″N2°58′30″W/ 54.91667°N 2.97500°W). By 1859, the ring was in the possession of theBritish Museum(ring catalogue no. 184) who has received it from theEarl of Aberdeen.A replica is on exhibit in theTullie House Museum and Art Galleryin Carlisle.
The inscription reads:[1]
᛭
ᚨᚱᛦᚱᛁᚢᚠᛚᛏᛦᚱᛁᚢᚱᛁᚦᚩᚾᚷᛚᚨᚴᛏᚨᛈᚩᚾ
ærkriufltkriuriþonglæstæpon
/
/
ᛏᚨᚿ
tol
The finalᛏᚨᚿtolis written on the inside of the ring. The inscription amounts to a total of 30 signs.
Wherekis the lateFuthorccalcrune of the same shape asYounger FutharkYr,and thesis the so-called "bookhand s" looking similar to aYounger Futharkk,ᚴ.
Linstock Castle Ring
[edit]A ring made ofagate,perhaps dating to the 9th century, found before 1824. Now British Museum ring catalogue no. 186.
The inscription reads:
ᛖᚱᚣ
ery
᛫
.
ᚱᛁ
ri
᛫
.
ᚢᚠ
uf
᛫
.
ᛞᚩᛚ
dol
᛫
.
ᚣᚱᛁ
yri
᛫
.
ᚦᚩᛚ
þol
᛫
.
?ᛚᛖᛋ
?les
᛫
.
ᛏᛖ
te
᛫
.
ᛈᚩᛏᛖ
pote
᛫
.
ᚾᚩᛚ??
nol
᛫
.
Page (1999) takes this to be a corrupt version of the inscription of the Kingmoor and Bramham Moor rings.
The location where this ring was found is unrecorded, but Page (1999) suggests that it is identical to a ring found at Linstock Castle in 1773. A note found amongThorkelin's archive documenting his travels to England between 1785 and 1791. The paper records an obscure inscription, "ERY.RI.VF.MOL / YRI.VRI.NOL / GLES.TE.SOTE.THOL",identified as" found in 1773 at Lynstock Castle near Carlisle, & not far from the Picts Wall in Cumberland ". Page adduces a note from a sale catalogue of 1778 which lists" An ancient Runic ring, found near the Picts Well, 1773 ".[2]
The ring bears a unique variant ofȳrwhich more closely resembles that rune's appearance in manuscripts than to the rune's other epigraphical attestations.
Wheatley Hill Finger-Ring
[edit]A gilded silver ring, dating to the 8th century, found in 1993 inWheatley Hill,County Durham and now in the British Museum.[3]
The inscription reads:
[ᚻ]ᚱᛁᚾᚷᛁᚳᚻᚪᛏᛏ[ᚫ]
[h]ringichatt[æ]
I am called ring
The first and last runes are covered up by two of the three gem Boss es that were later applied to the ring.
Whilst runic inscriptions often refer to the object on which they are written, usually this is "me" or another suitable pronoun. The Wheatley Hill Finger-Ring is unique amongst runic inscribed objects as identifying what type of object it is - a "ring".[4]
Interpretation of theærkriucharm
[edit]The sequenceærkriufound on both the Kingmoor and Bramham Moor Rings is interpreted as a spell for staunching blood, based on comparison with a charm containing the sequenceærcriofound inBald's Leechbook(i.vii, fol. 20v). For this reason, the entire inscription is likely a protective or healingcharmor spell with the ring serving as anamulet.[1][5]
The charm in Leechbook is also found in Bodley MS:
| Leechbook i.vii[6] | Bodley MS[7] |
|---|---|
|
|
The Leech book has the instruction: "to stop blood, poke into the ear with a whole ear of barley, in such a way that he [the patient] be unaware of it. Some write this:", followed by "either for horse or men, a blood-stauncher".
While the charm is "magical gibberish", there are a number of elements that can clearly be identified asIrish:struth folacorresponds to Old Irishsruth fola"stream of blood".Arȝrenn,ær grim,etc. may be forær greann"for irritation". Other parts sound clearly Anglo-Saxon such asonnhel,on hælforunhæl"unhealthy". The.lll.has been taken as a corruption of theoghamletterᚃ(w) "alder", theffil. crondi. ƿ.following it as the glossfil crand.i. ƿ[eorn]"it is a tree, i.e. 'alder'" In the interpretation of Meroney (1945), the original text gave a list of ingredients for staunching blood,alder(ƿeorn),curds(ȝroth), etc., with a gloss explaining one of them having slipped into the text.Cron aer criois taken as Irish for "prohibition against bleeding",ær lenoas "against afflictions" (Old Irishar léunu).[8]
Fake rings
[edit]A number of fake rings, dating from the 18th century exist. They are generally bronze, do not havenielloletters but rather some kind of lacquer, and show signs of machining.
Notes
[edit]- ^abcPage (1999), 112-114.
- ^Page (1999), 291f.
- ^"finger-ring".British Museum.Retrieved19 August2020.
- ^"The Wheatley Hill Finger-Ring".Artefactology.28 May 2015.Retrieved19 August2020.
- ^Bruce Dickins,Runic Rings and Old English CharmsASNSL 167 (1935), 252.
- ^ed. Thomas Oswald Cockayne (1865, reprint 1965), II:54; Felix Grendon,The Anglo-Saxon CharmsThe Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 22, No. 84 (1909), 105-237 (201f.).
- ^ed. Arthur Napier,Herrig's Archiv74 (1890), 323.
- ^Howard Meroney,Irish in the Old English CharmsSpeculum, Vol. 20, No. 2 (1945), 172-182
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Page, Raymond I.(1999).An Introduction to English Runes(2nd ed.). Boydell Press.ISBN0-85115-768-8.
- Page, Raymond I. 'The Inscriptions,' Appendix A in Wilson, D. M.Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100 in the British Museum.London:Trustees of the British Museum. pp. 67–90.
- Page, Raymond I. (1999), "Two Runic Notes,"Anglo-Saxon England,Volume 27,ISBN978-0-521-62243-1.
- Okasha, Elisabeth (2003). "Anglo-Saxon Inscribed Rings."Leeds Studies in English,n.s. 34,pp. 29–45.
- McLeod, Mindy (2002). "Bind-Runes in Numerological Rune-Magic". In Vennemann, Theo (ed.).Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik.Vol. 56. Rodopi. pp. 27–40.ISBN90-420-1579-9.p. 32.
External links
[edit]- Anglo-Saxon Runic Rings(ansax February 2010)