Bryggen inscriptions
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The Bryggen inscriptions are a find of some 670 runic inscriptions on wood (mostly pine) and bone found from 1955 and forth at Bryggen (and its surroundings) in Bergen, Norway. It has been called the most important runic find in the twentieth century. Before the find of these inscriptions, there was doubt whether the runes were ever used for anything else than inscriptions of names and solemn phrases. The Bryggen find showed the everyday use that runes had in this area, and presumably in other parts of Scandinavia as well. Another important aspect of the find was that many of the inscriptions were obviously at least as young as the 14th century. Previously it was believed that the use of runes in Norway had died out long before. Since these findings, many more runic inscriptions of this type has been found in Norway.
The inscriptions have numbers for Bergen finds, mostly "B" followed by three figures.
Many of the inscriptions follow the formula Eysteinn á mik, (Eysteinn owns me, B001), and have probably been used as markers of property - like modern day name tags. Some contain short messages of different types, such as Ást min, kyss mik (my darling, kiss me, B017) and others have longer messages such as business letters and orders. Yet others contain short religious inscriptions, often in Latin, such as Rex Judæorum In nomine Patris Nazarenus (B005) and may have been intended as amulets.
The inscriptions are currently kept at Bryggens Museum in Bergen. A small number of them are on display.
[edit] Examples found at Bryggen or nearby
- B149: kya: sæhir : atþu: kakhæim: þ(an)sak: (ab)akist(an): rþis
- Gyða tells you to go home.
| B # | Transcribed Text | Normalized Text | Object inscribed | External image links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B001 | øystein:ami
hærmaþr haæþrmþr hærmaþr maria |
Eysteinn á mi[k]
Herrmadr Herrmadr Herrmadr Maria. |
Runekjevle | Image Image |
| B003 | auema | Ave Maria | Wooden plate | Image Image |
| B004 | io(an)a | Jóhann á | Skull of Walruss | Image Image |
| B005 | rexiudeorum innomini patrisnazarenus | Rex Judæorum In nomine Patris Nazarenus | Part of a small wooden cross | Image |
| B006 | benatit a g l a la lagla [.](ln)bastii marhret. a g la ag l a ba. flkarel bar(aþ)olis | Wooden cross | Image | |
| B007 | a(ue)m(ar)ia | Ave Maria | Bottom piece of a wooden bowl | Image |
| B008 | ly(an)þkat(af)mn(un)æruþkit | Shoe | Image | |
| B009 | 3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 3/5 = fuþor
þbiss |
Fuþor | Kane | Image |
| B010 | tar | |||
| B010 | elleg er fuþ sin bylli
fuþorglbasm |
Ferligr er fuð sinn byrli
Fuðorglbasm. |
Flat wooden stick | Image Image |
| B012 | inra | ...inr á | Flat wooden stick | Image |
| B013 | mikæl petr ioanes andres lafranz tomas olafr klemet nikulas allerhælger
mengiætaimin notouk dahilfsminsouk salokuþsemikoksihni =kuÞkifiosbyrokkafomarih[..[lbemer ethialbemerallegzhlkarh[...] |
Mikjáll, Pétr, Jóanes, Andreas, Lafranz, Thomas, Ólafr, Klemetr, Nikulás. Allir helgir menn, gæti mín nótt ok dag, lífs míns ok sálu. Guð sé mik ok signi.
Guð gefi oss byr ok gáfu Mariu. H{já}lpi mér Klemetr, hjalpi mér allir Guðs helgir (menn) |
Flat wooden stick, with a hole at the end. | Image |
| B014 | d(el)us | deus | Piece of wood, shaped into a narrow cross. | Image Image |
| B015 | iuairfuþo | .....fuþo | Wood stick. | Image |
| B016 | a | Piece of wood | Image Image | |
| B017 | ost min kis mik
fuþorkhniastbmly |
Ást min, kyss mik
Fuþorkhniastbmly |
Wooden stick | Image Image |
| B018 | þr:inliossa:log:rostirriþatbiþa:(aþ)
yþænþuæt[-]nuka:ældiriþsu(an)ahiþar: s(au)dælakumlynhuit(an)ha[--]klko lotak(ol)ahbohas(ol)ar:fiartar:tahs[--] [...]kuiþi þækanukabækiiar |
Piece of wood | Image Image Image Image | |
| B019 | yakæyrfiar
rakæyrfiar |
Squared broken wood piece | Image | |
| B020 | blm[-
fuþorkhniastblmy |
blm[-
Fuþorkhniastblmy |
Smoothed piece of wood | Image Image |
