Runestones

I denne avhandlingen har jeg sett på møtet mellom latinskrift og de angelsaksiske og skandinaviske runene. Jeg har tatt utgangspunkt i David Parsons’ hypotese om at det skjedde en reform av det angelsaksiske runeinventaret på 600-tallet, og at det var kirka som spredte de reformerte runene ut i det angelsaksiske samfunnet. Denne hypotesen har jeg testet på det nye materialet som har dukket opp etter at Parsons’ avhandling ble publisert. I dette materialet finner jeg ingenting som svekker hypotesen; materialet ser heller ut til å støtte opp om den. Jeg argumenterer for at runetradisjonen må ha vært levende i kirkelige miljøer, og at flere av de yngste innovasjonsrunene oppstod her. Videre argumenterer jeg for at kjernen i den angelsaksiske runetradisjonen etter ca. 650 var en lærd tradisjon. Alle som ristet runer, var ikke nødvendigvis lærde, men det kan virke som om lærde var bærerne av tradisjonen.
I gjennomgangen av det skandinaviske materialet har jeg sett på innskrifter fra Irland, Isle of Man, Skottland, Nordvest-England, Orknøyene, Shetland og Sørvestlandet. Fra Irland, Isle of Man, Skottland og Nordvest-England har vi enkelte tidlige innskrifter med punktering. Noen av disse er trolig blant de aller tidligste innskriftene med punktering i den skandinaviske runetradisjonen. De punkterte runene fra Sørvestlandet er seinere, men det er mulig dette materialet bør dateres på nytt. Alt i alt viser materialet jeg har sett på, at de punkterte runene tidlig må ha spredt seg raskt og til store områder. Jeg foreslår derfor at det er handelsmiljøer som står bak de nye runene. Bortsett fra punkterte runer er det få tegn til latinskriftpåvirkning i det skandinaviske vikingtidsmaterialet jeg har undersøkt, og det er også usikkert om tegnene jeg har funnet (inkludert punktering), faktisk kan tilskrives påvirkning fra latinskrift.
Når man sammenlikner de to tradisjonene, er det tydelig at latinskriftpåvirkningen i det angelsaksiske materialet er massiv sammenliknet med det skandinaviske materialet. Jeg argumenterer for at forskjellene kan skyldes at runekulturen sto mye sterkere i det skandinaviske samfunnet da de møtte kristendommen og latinskriftkulturen, enn i det angelsaksiske. Det kan se ut til at lærde angelsaksere tok opp runetradisjonen og fikk dominere denne i stor grad. Dette kunne ikke skje i den skandinaviske runetradisjonen fordi runekulturen sto for sterkt i den skandinaviske befolkningen. Det ser også ut til at man har hatt ulike holdninger til runene i de to kulturene. Mens skandinavene først og fremst så på runene som et brukssystem, var angelsakserne mer opptatt av å samle og bevare alle runer, og enkelte så kanskje også på runene som et kuriøst skriftsystem, heller enn et nytteskriftsystem.

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In this thesis, I have studied the encounter between Roman script and the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian runes. My basis has been David Parsons’ hypothesis, according to which there was a reform of the Anglo-Saxon runic inventory in the 7th century, after which the church spread the reformed runes to the Anglo-Saxon societies anew. I have tested this hypothesis on the material found after the publication of Parsons’ book in 1999. I do not find anything in this material undermining the hypothesis; rather, the material seems to support it. I argue that there must have been a living runic tradition in ecclesiastical circles, and that several of the latest runic innovations emerged there. I also argue that the core of the Anglo-Saxon runic tradition after c. 650 was a learned tradition. Not all rune users need have been learned, but it seems that the learned were the bearers of the tradition.
I have examined the Scandinavian inscriptions from Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, North West England, Orkney, Shetland and South West Norway. From Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and North West England, we possibly have some of the earliest inscriptions with dotted runes in the Scandinavian tradition. The dotted runes from South West Norway emerged later, but this material might need a redating. Overall, the material I have studied shows that the dotted runes must have spread rapidly and to large areas at an early date. Therefore, I suggest that they were spread by trading circles. Except for dotted runes, there are few signs of influence from the Roman script in the Scandinavian Viking age material I have studied. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the signs of influence I have found (dotting included) can be traced back to influence from the Roman script.
When comparing the two traditions, it is clear that the Roman script influence in the Anglo- Saxon material is massive compared to the Scandinavian material. These differences might partly be due to the runic tradition being much stronger in the Scandinavian society than in the Anglo-Saxon society when these met Christianity and the Roman script culture. It seems learned Anglo-Saxons embraced the tradition and dominated it to a large degree. This could not happen in the Scandinavian runic tradition in the Viking age because the runic culture was too strong in the Scandinavian population. It also seems like the two cultures had different attitudes to the runes. While the Scandinavians primarily regarded the runes as a functional system, the Anglo-Saxons were more concerned with collecting and preserving them, and some might have regarded the runes as a script for amusement, rather than a functional script.

This article deals with the inscription on a rune-stone fragment discovered in 1985 at Igelsta in Östertälje parish in Södermanland, which according to the author commemorates a man named Øygrīmʀ. This name is very rare and is previously unrecorded in East Scandinavian
sources.

Birka, Sigtuna and Medelpad—Glimpses of Three
Writing Environments in the Viking Age.

The author discusses some aspects of vernacular literacy in the Viking Age by analysing the runic material from three different places in Sweden: the towns of Birka and Sigtuna in Uppland and the province of Medelpad in Northern Sweden.

The rune carver Asmund Karasun was a very productive carver in late 11th-century Uppland, active in the vicinity of Sigtuna but never within the town. In this study, Asmund’s carving technique has been analysed by 3D-scanning and statistical methods. Results show that he can be distinguished from his co-carvers Sveinn, Herjarr and Vígmarr. This might be useful for future analyses of rune stones of doubtful attribution, such as U 824 or U 940, or when small fragments are found. Asmund’s carving technique and style is more expert in his southern stones, which supports the theory proposed by Magnus Källström (2007) that Asmund started his rune-carving career in northern Uppland and travelled south; he evidently gained experience on the way.

This article discusses Peircean ideas and integrates them into a system that can be understood as magical communication within the Umwelt of the Runemaster of the elder runic tradition. I begin by discussing the issue with the word "magic," and I shed light on the problematic etymon. I then go through various schools of academic thought on what this word means and how it may or may not contrast with religion. Albeit rather briefly, I present various schools of thought from Tylor, Frazer, Peirce, Mauss, Durkheim, Malinowski, Lévy-Bruhl, Jakobson, and Nöth. After discussing these approaches, I offer my own idea, called the Law of Magical Semiosis, which is a definition for magical communication specific to the Runemaster and his Umwelt. The goal of this article is to create an objective framework that will allow runologists to use a model to measure magical communication specific to the Elder Futhark tradition.

Do tej pory pokutuje w oficjalnej nauce pogląd o niepiśmienności Słowian przed misją braci Cyryla i Metodego. Ale, co ciekawe, ten sam osąd dotyczył także do niedawna ludów germańskich, z czego obecnie już się wycofano, pozostawiając jedynie Słowian w absurdalnej pustce niepiśmiennictwa wczesnego średniowiecza, choć taki R. Page w swej popularnej pracy o runach jeszcze pisze: Powszechnie uważa się, że plemiona germańskie były niepiśmienne aż do chrystianizacji, kiedy to Kościół przyniósł im naukę chrześcijańskiego Rzymu; kiedy nauczył je zarówno czytać i pisać, jak i co to jest grzech i pokuta. Twierdzenie to, chociaż zasadniczo prawdziwe, zawiera w sobie _pewne uproszczenie. Niektóre ludy germańskie miały swój własny sposób pisania, z charakterystycznym alfabetem nazwanym runicznym, którego litery zwane są runami. Obecnie wiemy, że runy stanowią zapis wczesnych stadiów rozwoju języków gockiego, duńskiego, szwedzkiego, norweskiego, angielskiego, fryzyjskiego, frankijskiego i różnych języków plemion środkowych Niemiec oraz że być może służyły innym językom germańskim, nie pozostawiwszy żadnego, widocznego śladu do dziś. Według danych archeologicznych najstarsze istniejące runy są datowane na drugi wiek e.ch. Pismo to funkcjonowało w niektórych regionach poprzez wieki średnie, aż do wczesnych czasów nowożytnych.

Cóż można do tego dodać, chyba jedynie to, że taki znany runolog Page – nie wiedzieć czemu – zapomniał wymienić Słowian, jako tych, którzy bez żadnych wątpliwości także używali pisma runicznego, o czym zapewne musiał wiedzieć, a świadczą o tym niezbicie znajdywane artefakty, kroniki i relacje historyczne. Niestety wszystko wskazuje na to, że jest to kolejny przykład niezrozumiałej manipulacji faktami, przypominający politykę historyczną z czarnego okresu dziejów Europy.

Dodatek: czcionka TTF Runy_slowianskie do pisania w Wordzie http://marek-medrzak.pl/runy_slowianskie_kosinski.7z

This paper deals with the subject of Viking Age iconography as source material for rigging details and sail technology of Viking Age ships. The survey consists of two parts: 1) an iconographical analysis of Scandinavian ship motifs c. 750-1050 AD, in particular motifs from the monumental picture stones of Gotland, but also from coins, rune stones and graffiti. 2) a critical analysis of the methods used in reconstructing Viking Age ships’ rigging and sail during the last 20 years. It is concluded that a major part of the ship motifs are a fairly reliable source of Viking Age ship technology, and that most of the vessels depicted are warships with low and wide square sails. Furthermore it is concluded that the methods used in sail reconstruction are often based too strongly on ethnographical sources; despite the fact that this material does not correspond visually with the ship motifs of the Viking Age. This thesis does not entirely reject the ethno-archaeological reconstruction method, but proposes a more complex perception of Viking Age ships’ sail. It is suggested that the long and slender warships were equipped with low square sails, and that these vessels were not constructed primarily to tack against the wind.

A popular historical article in Swedish that summarizes the prehistoric-historic development from the ice age until present day of the Järvafältet area, Uppland, Sweden. The area of Järvafältet are exceptionally rich in prehistoric sites and monuments. The article was written as a part of a book published after the archaeological excavations in 2015-2017, which preceeded the road E4 Förbifart Stockholm and was financed by the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket).

This article, the inaugural winner of the journal's Gurli Aagaard Woods Undergraduate Publication Award, combines the analysis of ancient literature with an archaeological approach in an effort to further interpret the presence and significance of trees in medieval Scandinavian culture. The analysis of textual references to trees such as Yggdrasill and Barnstokkr found in the Norse works Völuspá, Grímnismál, Gylfaginning, and Völsunga Saga, are combined with academic articles, juxtaposed with the examination of archaeological sites at Fröso, Herresta, Bjarsgård, Österfärnebo, and Karmøy, and integrated with modern Scandinavian attitudes to explore an interest in tree-human relationships, literature, and archaeology in medieval Scandinavia.
RÉSUMÉ : Cet article, premier lauréat du prix de la revue Gurli Aagaard Woods de publication pour étudiant de premier cycle, combine l'analyse d'une littérature ancienne avec une approche archéologique, dans un effort pour interpréter davantage la présence et l'importance des arbres dans la culture scandinave médiévale. Les analyses des références textuelles à des arbres tels que Yggdrasill et Barnstokkr trouvées dans les travaux Norse Völuspá, Grímnismál, Gylfaginning et la saga Völsunga, sont combinées à des articles académiques, juxtaposées à l'examen de sites archéologiques à Frösö, Herresta, Bjarsgård, Österfärnebo et Karmøy, et intégrées à des attitudes scandinaves modernes afin d'explorer un intérêt envers les relations arbre-humain, la littérature et l'archéologie en Scandinavie médiévale.

Abstract:
A number of purported rune stones exist in Oklahoma. In this paper each stone is physically examined, linguistically
analyzed, and compared with Norse predecessors to determine if there is any evidence of them being of Viking origin.

First documented in 1923, the Heavener Rune Stone is the earliest known inscription. The veracity of the Heavener stone as a Viking artifact is problematic. The linguistic evidence is ambiguous. However, historical evidence from the 19th  century covering both the Viking Revival, Scandinavian immigration, and the lack of archaeological evidence of Norse excursions to the Western US, strongly suggests the stone is a 19th creation of a Scandinavian immigrant (likely a Swedish immigrant working at the local train depot). The Shawnee and Pawnee stones can be shown via linguistic and physical evidence to be modern creations. Heavener Rune Stones Two and Three are much earlier and are most likely of non-runic Native American creation.

The article addresses the possibilities for a methodological reassessment of the phenomenon of the thegns in England and Scandinavia in the late Viking Age (ca. 900–1066). The historiographical overview reveals that the thegns have never been examined for their own sake, and that the recent developments in source studies open new methodological prospects in anthropological research. The case study of the thegns hopes to outline some of them.

Zakazana wiedza o słowiańskich pamiątkach z Retry znalezionych w Prilwitz (Przylwicach). Idole prilwickie uznawane są za fałszywki, podobnie jak kamienie Hagenowa, kamienie mikorzyńskie i wiele innych artefaktów ze słowiańskimi runami. Czy aby napewno to prawda czy może manipulacja lub propaganda? Warto zapoznać się z dotychczasową wiedzą na ten temat i odświeżyć temat do dalszych badań.

Tesch, Sten (ed.). 2017. THE SHIFT - Viking Age religious custom and Christian faith. A multidisciplinary perspective on the Christianization process in the Mälaren area (Sweden). Published by Artos förlag.  Utgångspunkt för denna antologi om Mälarområdets kristnande är en seminarieserie med rubriken ”Det långa skiftet – ett forskarmöte om kristnandet och lokalsamhället under vikingatid och medeltid ur ett Mälardalsperspektiv” på Sigtunastiftelsen 2011–2013. Deltog gjorde forskare från olika discipliner – arkeologi, historia, runforskning, religionshistoria, ecklesiologi och teologi – intresserade av att diskutera detta specifika forskningsproblem. De flesta av bidragen är skrivna av de forskare som medverkade med föredrag eller deltog i denna seminarieserie. Snarare än svar på hur skiftet fick sin religiöst organisatoriska form, är bokens syfte att med sina tretton enskilda bidrag problematisera och öppna för ett fortsatt fördjupat samtal.

The purpose of this study is to examine an Old Hungarian inscription that was recently found in the Altai mountain and was claimed to be over 2600 years old, which would make it the oldest extant example of the Old Hungarian script. A careful observation of the Altai script and a comparison with other Old Hungarian inscriptions was made, during which several errors were discovered in the interpretation of the Old Hungarian signs. After correcting for these errors that were apparently introduced by mixing up the inscription with underlying engravings of animal images, a new sequence of Old Hungarian signs was obtained and translated into a new text. The context of the text indicates that the inscription is considerably more recent and is unlikely to be earlier than the 19th century.

[Norr, S., 1998. To Rede and to Rown. Expressions of Early Scandinavian Kingship in Written Sources. Occasional Papers in Archaeology 17. Uppsala, 253 pp., 4 plates. Monograph, ISSN 1100-6358, ISBN 91-506-1277-8.]
The subject of this thesis is early Scandinavian kingship, and the analysis is based on a number of written sources and runic inscriptions. A study of early Germanic kingship focuses primarily on the development of Gothic kingship from the fourth to the sixth century. The royal attributes expressed in kennings and heiti in Ynglingatal are analysed, showing that the poem presents the development of kingship as a process in four stages. The dating of this work and its style of composition is also discussed. A study of the chapters in Ynglinga saga which deal with King Ingiald illráði examines the role of counsel, the political structure of the Svear and high kingship as a structural problem. Vita Anskarii is analysed with particular emphasis on the interaction between kings, noblemen and the ‘people’ in political decision-making. Finally, the associations between kings and runes are discussed, and the inscription of the Sparlösa stone is reinterpreted as a monument over a royal succession.

This dissertation considers Viking Age Scandinavian inscribed runestones in order to determine their societal origins and the impacts they had on Viking Age religious cultural changes. The three types of monuments discussed are: runestones with religious inscriptions and magical texts; runestones with mythic, legendary and religious imagery; and runestones with political and religious intentions. By comparatively examining Pagan and Christian runestones, the question of which culture initially drove the production of these memorials is addressed. Twenty-five runestones are examined in detail, including the stones of kings Gormr Gamli and Haraldr Blátönn in Jelling, Denmark which serve as primary case studies and representative examples. While religion is the dominating motif of Scandinavian runestones, the evidence shows that no conclusive answer exists on the Pagan or Christian origins of inscribed runic culture. This study proposes that religious hybridization or syncretism is the strongest possibility, yet  further research into more precise dating methods needs to be conducted.

Finally, it can be said that the significance of picture
stones throughout the centuries has undoubtedly been
multifunctional and changing – as territorial marking,
a memorial, preserver of oral tradition, burial site and
religiously charged artefact. The picture stones have
played a key role in the Gotlandic society in the late Iron
Age and early Medieval Period, they were a focal point
for social and ideological communication between the
people of their time.

In this article, the author attempts to sift out from Old Norse (ON) written sources the early Viking Age terms for ship types and to link them to actual ships and ship depictions from that period. The author argues that knǫrr, beit, skeið, kjóll, askr, and elliði were the main ship types of the early Viking Age in Scandinavia, at least in the west, and that knerrir referred during this period to warships like Oseberg and only later to cargo ships like Skuldelev 1. ‘A ship with a backwards curved stem’ seems to have been the original meaning of knǫrr. Kjólar were heavy, all-round ships like Gokstad, the author argues, and beit were very early ships with angular stems known from depictions. Skeiðar were low, narrow ships like Ladby. Askar were also very early, small, light ships with stitched planking, whereas elliðar were combined inland / sea vessels, originally Eastern  European.

Runic inscriptions have often been interpreted both from the internal information they provide or from the intention of the one that produced it. In the present article, the approach would be by reconstructing the stage of runicity, and the role that interpreters of runes provided for a community given the presence of runic inscriptions. The focus will be set on the most public displays of runicity as an interaction that demands a reader and interpreter that translates the runic information from its literary reality, to a population that is imbued in an oral culture.

This dissertation discusses Roman imperialism and runic literacy. It employs an interdisciplinary terminology. By means of terms new to archaeology, the growth of a specialized language, a technolect, is traced until it enters the realm of literacy. The author argues that there is more than one way for literacy to appear in prehistoric cultures. The ’normal’ perception is that literacy grows out of a need to keep records of a growing economic surplus. The ’other’ way for a culture to become literate is that someone else forces literacy upon it. This has been the case in many parts of the world subject to Western imperialism. The onslaught of Roman imperialism caused the invention of runic literacy in Northern Europe during the Early Roman Iron Age. The invention of the runic script should thus be seen as a preemptive reaction to the threat of Westernization. A comparison is made with a number of Early Modern Period cases of newly invented scripts caused by the arrival of literate Westerners in West Africa. The invention and introduction of the runes may well have been a dictated shift in literacy, seeking to break away from Latin. A number of dictated shifts in literacy from Early Modern Period America and Modern Period Asia are studied in comparison. The interaction between Germanic and Roman affinities was accentuated by the Roman army’s recruitment of Germanic men. These came to dominate the Roman army. This gave rise to a Germanic kleptocracy, a criminal rule in the post-Roman world. The role of runic literacy changed in the post-Roman aftermath of the Migration and Vendel Periods as the kleptocratic elite found it increasingly difficult to support a lavish lifestyle that included runic literacy. As a result, there was a decline in runic literacy in Northern Europe until the economic revival of the Viking Period. By then, it was clear that the North was soon to be integrated into the Christian West.

Abstract
This is a study of division of collaboration on Viking age and Early Middle age rune stones. For this study, a method for surface structure analysis by laser scanning has been employed. The aim with this method is to distinguish between individual rune carvers in rock by their cutting techniques, as witnessed by the cut marks. The probability of the existence of individual cutting techniques is supported by neurophysiological and psychological kinetic research on individual motor performance.
Conclusions of stylistic and runological studies of regional or chronological issues concerning rune stones often include a reservation for the possibility of individual variation. Attributions and dating are closely related to individual, chronological, regional and functional variation. Technical analysis of the cutting techniques have come to be regarded as a hypothetical but unachievable means to distinguish between individuals. One of the complicating factors is individual variability, due to aging, increasing skill, sickness, fatigue or change of tools. The method has been developed and tested by analyses of a recently cut reference material and on the Sparlösa Monument from 9th c. AD, a rune stone where it is known that a part of the inscription has been added at a later occasion. The usefulness of the method is discussed in terms of hit accuracy in classification, individual variability and how sources of errors such as weathering and treading may effect the variables that are used to characterise the cut marks.
The hypotheses that have been tested are if collaboration on rune stones can be made visible by a surface structure analysis, if certain parts of the ornament or inscription have been added at a later occasion and if there is a division of labour that is similar on rune stones dating to the early and the late Viking age.
The study material is mainly collected by plasteline casts from 11th. c. AD rune stones in Uppland, Sweden. These have been compared to rune stones in other regions.
Results have shown that individuals may be distinguishable by their cut marks in spite of their increasing skill and even though they have exchanged their tools. There are several instances of collaboration on rune stones of the 11th c. AD, and this also occurs in the 9th c. AD. Only in one instance, the cross appears to have been cut after the rune stone was erected. The signatures are often less deeply cut than the rest of the inscripion. As compared to the rune stones in other regions, the carvers in Uppland seem to have been influenced by one another.
In interpretation of the results, the assumption that the Christianisation of Central Sweden was influenced by missionaries in England, has directed the focal point to the circumstances of stone sculpture production in England and the British Isles. This stone sculpture was mainly produced by workshops of carvers associated to the monastries. The common occurence of collaboration has been interpreted as a support for the hypothesis that rune stones have been produced by workshops. These workshops may reflect ecclesiastic organisation and activities, possibly those of an early monastic community.

Keywords: rune stone, petroglyph, laserscanner, surface structure analysis, cutting technique, Viking Age, Early Middle Age, individual, workshop, school.

This paper is being written mainly as a genealogy, but it does also contain much valuable information as to just why such genealogies exist and/or can be reconstructed with the right knowledge of ancient texts. It is also more evidence of the existence of a royal oligarchy which had many branches, so as to cover many geographic locations and peoples. Because we find that the Viking leaders were of ancient royal ancestry, as the rest of those who were in power and either royal or of papal families, we can better understand just why they were able to do what they did and get away with it. They were, doing publicly, what their royal ancestors had been doing (and what other royals of their time were also doing) in secret (See my work on Royal Supremacy).[I] In terms of the Viking history as it was left to us, as 'Vikings', their " history " as Viking raiders began with the attack on Lindisfarne monastery in 793 CE/AD, and ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE/AD, when the Vikings were battling the English army, and the English army had successfully repelled them. Another thing to note, is that the Vikings are credited with various things, particularly, the discovery of America. However, there is evidence that their relatives and ancestors had already known of and visited America. And that explains just how it is that they knew where it was and how to get to it, and back. Though I have not yet written much about it (see my paper 'What Claudius Ptolemy Knew'), I have been meaning to write more about ancient world travel and the evidence that there is for it.[II] There are still a lot of people who do not want to even consider that ancient people had traveled around the world.

Amidst the many exotic mantic techniques, that are fashionable today, like the tarot, I Ching, and astrology, the runic oracle is, as part of our European cultural heritage, very popular. As with many others, if not all techniques of divination, C.G. Jung’s principle of synchronicity is being called upon as a justification for the use of the runic oracle. However, authentic considerations about coincidences that explain and validate the mantic potential of an oracle, are almost systematically passed over. In this article I will try to show that thorough knowledge of the assumed nature of existence of coincidences in general and their models of explanation in particular are indispensable for a good comprehension of the runic tradition. For that purpose I turn to the traditional Anglo-Saxon culture, that sketches a very fascinating, thought provoking Weltanschauung. In order to be able to offer the runes a more appropriate and more justified place among other methods of divination, it is also important to scrutinize their nature and history.

The aims of this dissertation are to determine the extent and nature of runic literacy and use in Anglo-Saxon England. It will focus on the public uses of runes and the functions of these inscriptions, specifically examining the evidence provided by both the runestones of Northumbria and the coins of East Anglia and Kent, the two areas of England with the strongest runic traditions. Furthermore, the literary ability of the carvers and the intended readers will be discussed. Lastly, it will discuss the relationship and transition between the runic and roman scripts.

Through the examination of these topics, this purpose of this dissertation is to argue that in the case of both the runestones and coins, there was likely as sizable number of ceorls (freemen) and nobles who had at least passive literacy with the runic script. Furthermore, it will argue that the runic script and roman script occupied different domains of use, the runic script in Northumbria used mainly in commemorative, poetic and formulaic statements derived from oral utterances, whereas the roman script was used where true book-literacy and record-keeping and formality was intended. It will be demonstrated that where the runes and roman scripts interact, there is a transition from the traditional and archaic oral culture of Anglian society, to a truly literate culture enforced by ecclesiastical centres.

Similarly to the runestones, it will be argued that the coins also represent evidence of different domains of use. Here, the runic script acts as the informal and secular script used for formulaic reproduction of the moneyer’s name, whilst the roman script acts as the formal, ecclesiastical and elite script acceptable for the king’s name. Here, the attitudes and transition from runic to roman can be seen as a top down change, where, as coinage develops in the eighth-century from an informal domain to a private to a royal one, roman script is adopted and enforced by the king.

In English. The longest inscription from the Viking Ages is a sophisticated challenge to the mind. The rune stone was inspired by the contemporary Frankish renaissance, but  as a counterpart it was converted into a pagan and runic Scandinavian style around 815 AD. The context was the political confrontation between the pagan Scandinavians and the Christian Franks initiating the viking raids against the Franks.

The scholars solved the cryptation after 40 years and after 90 years a translation close to the final official translation was published. After 150 years  this interpretation is claimed to explain all the translation in a meaningful way. A partly solution was in 2007 published in the Swedish book "Guld, kult och Makt", where also Bo Ralph presented his partly solution. Today the 750 runes are in the attached version totally interpreted as two coherent and expectable messages. This interpretation is based solely on the official reading and translation by Runverket (Swedish National Heritage Board), while Bo Ralph, who used his own alternative translation, has never returned with an overall translation and interpretation as promised in 2007 - and other attempts to explain his translation failed as unlikely messages.

Due to encryption of the last stanzas and the riddles, the interpretation may appear complicated, but all the many details are fitting in a very clear and planned structure of the runes at the stone – ending up in two simple messages. The text is organized into stanzas fitting a front side and a back side surrounded by an encrypted frame. The riddles are initiated by “sakum” (I tell) followed by an interrogative pronoun, and they are indirectly answered in the next riddle creating together a coherent message – a coincidence is very improbable in that pattern.

The first part in contemporary Rök runes is simply a memorial inscription telling about the dead son of Varin and his family line of heroes back to the Herulian king Hrodolphus – weapon son of the Germanic hero over all, Theodoric.  The son of Varin apparently died in the Danish/Frankish wars 812-815 AD.

The second part is an invocation of Thor and the unmentional Odin hidden in three riddles regarding divine myths in the encrypted frame consisting of symbols and incantations. Inside the frame we find two kennings in the text – a Valkyria and the EinherjaR. It must be a hidden prayer asking Odin to receive his son as an EinherjaR in Valhall – probably with the later picture stone in Tjängvide as a close parallel.

The stone shall also be regarded as a manifestation of power. Varin erected a pagan Swedish counterpart to the Frankish culture in perfect accordance with the context, when the Christian emperor threatened the pagans in Southern Scandinavia.