Thorsberg chape
The Thorsberg chape[1] (a bronze piece belonging to a scabbard) was found between 1858-1861 during excavations by Danish archaeologist Helvig Conrad Engelhardt in Thorsberg moor, Germany, and appears to have been deposited as a votive offering.[2][3] It bears an Elder Futhark runic inscription, one of the earliest known, dating to roughly 200 CE (~210/220 - 250/260 CE).[4]
Archaeologists believe it was made in the region between the Rhine and the Elbe.[2][5][6]
ᛟᚹᛚᚦᚢᚦᛖᚹᚨᛉ
owlþuþewaz
/
/
ᚾᛁᚹᚨᛃᛖᛗᚨᚱᛁᛉ
niwaj͡emariz
"Wolthuthewaz is well-renowned," or "the servant of Ullr, the renowned."
The first element is owlþu, for Proto-Germanic "wulþuz", meaning "splendour" or "glory," cf. Gothic "wulþus", Old Norse "Ullr", Old English "wuldor". The second element, "-þewaz", means "slave, servant." The whole compound could have many potential readings, but most scholars agree that it is a proper name. There has been some debate on how to further interpret the meaning of the name, namely whether or not it is sacral. Were it to be, the meaning would read, "servant of the glorious one" or "servant/priest of Ullr." If the first part refers to the god Ullr, it is the only reference to that god from south of Denmark, and also, if a personal name, the only Continental Germanic example of a person named after a specific Germanic god.[6]. It is also notable that were this name to be sacral, we would expect the first element to be in the genitive case, which it is not. This all points to the likelihood the name refers simply to an aspect of the sword or owner rather than being a theonym.[7] On the reverse, ni- is the negative particle, waje- corresponds to "woe, ill" (Old Norse vei), and the final element is -mariz "famous" (Old English mǣre) - the "e" and "m" are written together, as a bind-rune, an unusual early example but probably not linguistically significant.[8] The second word thus translates to "not ill-famous," i.e., "famous, renowned" or "not of ill fame, not dishonored." Similar double negatives are found on other runic inscriptions.[2] The translation of the inscription can thus be either "Wolthuthewaz is well-renowned," or "the glorious-servant is well-renowned".
Another reading, avoiding the emendation of the first element, reads the first letter ideographically, "Othala," resulting in o[þalan] w[u]lþuþewaz / niwajmariz "inherited property of Wulthuthewaz, the renowned." However, the owner's name is not in the possessive case as would be expected with such a usage; moreover, the rune Fehu, signifying simply "property," would be more apposite; "Othala" can specifically denote real estate.[9]
It is possible that the inscription is poetic; it can be read as an alliterative long-line.[10]
See also
Notes
- ↑ "Runic inscription DR 7". Scandinavian Runic-text Database (2020 ed.). Uppsala University: Department of Scandinavian Languages.
- 1 2 3 Tineke Looijenga, Texts & Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leyden/Boston: Brill, 2003, ISBN 90-04-12396-2, p. 259.
- ↑ Molin 2015, p. 28.
- ↑ Imer, Lisbeth Runer og runeindskrifter. Kronologi, kontekst og funktion i Skandinaviens jernalder og vikingetid. København, 2007.
- ↑ Hans Frede Nielsen, "The Dialectal Provenance of the Gallehus Inscription," in Von Thorsberg nach Schleswig: Sprache und Schriftlichkeit eines Grenzgebietes im Wandel eines Jahrtausends: internationales Kolloquium im Wikinger Museum Haithabu vom 29. September–3. Oktober 1994, ed. Klaus Düwel, Edith Marold, and Christiane Zimmermann with Lars E. Worgull, Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde Ergänzungsband 25, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2000, ISBN 3-11-016978-9, pp. 25-36, p. 31.
- 1 2 Henrik Williams, "From Meldorf to Haithabu: Some Early Personal Names from Schleswig-Holstein," Von Thorsberg nach Schleswig pp. 149-66, p. 157.
- ↑ Molin 2015, p. 30.
- ↑ Mindy MacLeod, Bind-Runes: An Investigation of Ligatures in Runic Epigraphy, Uppsala: Institutionen för nordiska sprak, Uppsala Universitet, 2002, ISBN 91-506-1534-3, p. 51, note 17.
- ↑ Williams, p. 156.
- ↑ Tonya Kim Dewey, Versatility in Versification: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Metrics, Berkeley Insights in Linguistics and Semiotics 74, New York: Lang, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4331-0578-4, p. 7.
References
- Molin, John Julian (2015). Ullr: A God on the Edge of Memory (PDF) (Masters).