Kvinneby amulet: Difference between revisions

The '''Kvinneby amulet''' ([[Rundata|Öl SAS1989;43]]) is an 11th-century [[runic magic|runic]] [[amulet]] found in the mid-1950s buried in the village of Södra Kvinneby in [[Öland]], Sweden. The amulet is believed to date from roughly 1050-1130 CE.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simek |first=R |editor-first1=Klas |editor-first2=Peter |editor-first3=Andreas |editor-first4=Olof |editor-first5=Torun |editor-last1=Wikström Af Edholm |editor-last2=Jackson Rova |editor-last3=Nordberg |editor-last4=Sundqvist |editor-last5=Zachrisson |date=2019 |title=Tangible religion: Amulets, illnesses, and the demonic seven sisters |url=https://www.stockholmuniversitypress.se/site/books/10.16993/bay/download/2783/#page=384 |journal=Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion|doi=10.16993/bay |isbn=9789176350997 |s2cid=195459479 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The amulet is a square [[copper]] plate measuring approximately 5cm5&nbsp;cm on each side. Near one edge there is a small hole, presumably used for hanging it around the neck.

The inscription is one of the longest and best preserved for its time but it has proven hard to interpret. The "official"“official” [[Rundata]] interpretation is:

{{quoteblockquote|text=Here I carve(d) protection for you, Bófi, with/...… ...… ...… to you is certain. And may the lightning hold all evil away from Bófi. May Þórr protect him with that hammer which came from out of the sea. Flee from evilness! You/it get/gets nothing from Bófi. The gods are under him and over him.}}

{{quoteblockquote|text=Glory to thee bear I, Bove. Help me! Who is wiser than thee? And bear all in (the form of) evil from Bove. May [[Thor]] protect him with that hammer which came from the sea, (and which) fled from evil. Wit fares not from Bove. The gods are under him and over him.}}

Nilsson interprets: "“[T]he amulet is an invocation to the gods to protect Bove, especially while he is at sea."” This he bases on the carving of the fish, the mention of the sea in the text and the place where the amulet was found.

Nilsson understands the mention of Thor and his hammer as a reference of the story of Thor's fishing; where he threw his hammer at the head of [[Jörmungandr]], the Midgard serpent. Since Thor's hammer always returns to its thrower it might in this case be said that it 'fled‘fled from evil'evil’ and 'came‘came from the sea'sea’.

This might represent the runes 'nbh'‘nbh’ in some order. Nilsson suggests that the meaning is based on the names of the runes; thus the amulet should give a [[berkananBerkanan|björg]] from [[haglazHaglaz|hagl]] and [[naudizNaudiz|nauð]] or a "deliverance"“deliverance” from "hail"“hail” and "need"“need”. He adds that this is "not“not at all certain"certain”.

Ivar Lindquist took some 30 years to ponder the amulet. He offers a plethora of interpretations -– all, however, within the same central theme. According to Lindquist the amulet contains a solemn prayer to the Earth Goddess, referred to as 'Erka'‘Erka’, 'Fold'‘Fold’ and 'Undirgoð'‘Undirgoð’ (:the god beneath) and her 'single‘single son'son’ Thor.

Two of Lindquist'sLindquist’s suggested interpretations are:

{{quoteblockquote|text=Here I, in poetry am familiar with the god(dess) beneath, for me, Bófi, to save myself. Earth, I am known to thee! May the one son keep evil away from Bófi. May Þórr protect him with the hammer that smashes Ámr, the heavy Ámr. Flee, foul ill-wight! Get nothing from Bófi. Gods are under him and over him.}}

{{quoteblockquote|text=I here to Erka, the undergod of the world, for me, Bófi, to save myself. Earth, I am known to thee! And may the lightning raiser help evil from Bófi. May Þórr protect him with the hammer that smashes Ámr. Go the sea, Ámr! Flee, foul ill-wight! Get nothing from Bófi. Gods are under him and over him.}}

According to Westlund, Lindquist'sLindquist’s attempts at deciphering the "bind“bind runes"runes” at the beginning of the inscription are misguided. In Westlund'sWestlund’s opinion these are not complicated bind runes but elaborate forms of normal runes. To support his claim he compares the runes with an inscription found near [[Novgorod]] in 1983 and treated by the Russian runologist Elena Melnikova in 1987. This is material not available to Lindquist and Nilsson.

Westlund reads the first runes as "hiristikþirbirkbufi"“hiristikþirbirkbufi” and takes them to mean (in standardized West Norse) "Hér“Hér rísti ek þér björg Bófi.",” which would come out in English as "Here“Here I carve protection for you, Bófi."” This is a major change from Lindquist's interpretation. Instead of Bófi being the carver talking about himself we have a separate carver that addresses Bófi in the inscription.

Westlund goes on to refuse Lindquist'sLindquist’s "prayer“prayer to Earth"Earth” in favor of a more magical interpretation. While he rejects Lindquist'sLindquist’s interpretation of "me“me<small>R</small>fultihuþis"fultihuþis” ("with“with Earth in mind"mind”) and Nilsson'sNilsson’s interpretation of "samhu“samhu<small>R</small>hafikam"hafikam” ("that“that came from the sea"sea”) he does not offer alternative explanations. On the whole he suggests that Lindquist read too much into the inscription and tries to go for a more "mundane"“mundane” solution to the problem. His transliteration and translation of the whole inscription follow:

{{stub-expand section|date=June 2021}}

As part of her dissertation "Viking“Viking-Age Runic Plates: Readings and Interpretations"Interpretations”, Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath discusses this find. She chooses to read the "bindrunes"“bindrunes” at the start as a form of encryption which introduces meaningless staves to make reading more difficult, noting that bindrunes occur nowhere else in the inscription, even in places where they would have been useful. She advocates for a broad dating of 1050-11301050–1130.

* Pereswetoff-Morath, Sofia. (2019) [https://gustavadolfsakademien.bokorder.se/en-US/article/3792/viking-age-runic-plates Viking-Age runic plates. Readings and interpretations.] ''Acta Academiae Gustavi Adolphi 155''. Runrön 21. Uppsala. pp.&nbsp;113-151113–151. ISSN 0065-0897 and 1100-16901100–1690, {{ISBN|978-91-87403-33-0}}.

[[Category:ArchaeologyArchaeological ofdiscoveries in Sweden]]