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Rundata

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TheScandinavian Runic-text Data Base(Swedish:Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliteratedrunic inscriptions.The project's goal is to comprehensively catalogrunestonesin amachine-readableway for future research. Thedatabaseis freely available[1]via theInternetwith aclient program,calledRundata,forMicrosoft Windows.For otheroperating systems,text files are provided or a web browser can be used to interact with the web applicationRunor.[1]

History[edit]

The origin of the Rundata project was a 1986 database of Swedish inscriptions atUppsala Universityfor use in the Scandinavian Languages Department.[2]At a seminar in 1990 it was proposed to expand the database to cover allNordicrunic inscriptions, but funding for the project was not available until a grant was received in 1992 from theAxel och Margaret Ax:son Johnsonsfoundation.[2]The project officially started on January 1, 1993 at Uppsala University. After 1997, the project was no longer funded and work continued on a voluntary basis outside of normal work-hours.[2]In the current edition, published on December 3, 2008, there are over 6500 inscriptions in the database.[2]

Work is currently underway for the next edition of the database.

Format of entries[edit]

Each entry includes the original text,in a transliterated form, its location,Englishand Swedish translations, information about the stone itself, et cetera. The stones are identified with a code which consists of up to three parts.

The first part describes the origin of the inscription. For Swedish inscriptions this contains a code for theprovince,and, for Extra-Nordic inscriptions, a code for thecountry(notISO 3166).

Province code:

Country code:

The second part of the code consists of aserial numberor a previous method of cataloging.

The third part of the code is a character which indicates the age (Proto-Norse,Viking Age,orMiddle Ages) and whether the inscription is lost or retranslated.

  • # - inscription lost, later replaced with †
  • $ - newly retranslated
  • M - inscription from the Middle Ages
  • U - inscription in Proto-Norse, i.e. before ca 800.
  • [inscription from the Viking Age, if M or U are not present]

As such,U 88would mean that the stone is from Uppland and that it is the 88th to be catalogued. This system has its origin in the bookSveriges runinskrifter(English: "Runic Inscriptions of Sweden" )

Time periods used in Rundata[edit]

Most of the time, thePeriod/Dateringinformation in Rundata just gives the date asV,meaningViking Age,which is very broad. For some Danish inscriptions from Jacobsen & Moltke a more precise sub-period is given. The periods used are:

  • Helnæs-Gørlev —c. 800(or 750 -c. 900)
  • för-Jelling (pre-Jelling) —c. 900
  • Jelling (Jelling) — 10th century and into the 11th century
  • efter-Jelling (post-Jelling) —c. 1000– 1050
  • kristen efter-Jelling (Christian, post-Jelling) — 1st half of the 11th century

Many of the inscriptions in Rundata also include a field calledStilgruppering.This refers to date bands determined by the style of ornamentation on the stone as proposed by Gräslund:[3][4]

The date bands are:

  • RAK —c. 990-1010 AD
  • FP —c. 1010-1050 AD
  • Pr1 —c. 1010-1040 AD
  • Pr2 —c. 1020-1050 AD
  • Pr3 —c. 1050- a generation forward (en generation framåt)
  • Pr4 —c. 1060-1100 AD
  • Pr5 —c. 1100-1130 AD

Original reference works[edit]

The catalog numbers refer to a variety of reference works and scholarly publications. Some of the more notable of these include:

  • Sveriges runinskrifter,various volumes.
  • Jacobsen, Lis;Moltke, Erik(1941–42).Danmarks Runeindskrifter.Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaards Forlag.

Other bibliography information is available inside the Rundata client program by pressingF4.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abLadda ned Samnordisk runtextdatabas
  2. ^abcdJesch, Judith (2013)."Runic lexicography in context".Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies.4:77–100.
  3. ^Gräslund, Anne-Sofie (1991)."Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering".TOR.23:113–140. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-02-09.Retrieved2022-06-04.
  4. ^Gräslund, Anne-Sofie (1992). "Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering".TOR.24:177–201.

External links[edit]

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