Gold horns from Gallehus

Reconstruction of the horns in the National Museum of Denmark

The gold horns of Gallehus were two drinking or blowing horns made of gold , which were found in 1639 and 1734 in Gallehus north of Mögeltondern in Southern Jutland . They are dated to around AD 400 (Germanic Iron Age ) and are among the most famous archaeological finds in Denmark . On them there was an early runic inscription in northwest Germanic language.

The horns gained great fame because of the enigmatic motifs and the runic inscription on the shorter horn, which is valuable for Germanic linguistics . In 1802 the horns were stolen and melted down by the goldsmith Niels Heidenreich . Today they are only known through drawings (engravings) and descriptions from the 17th and 18th centuries. Shortly after the theft, replicas of the horns were made, but not made of solid gold like the originals, but of gold-plated silver. These copies were also stolen from the National Museum in Jelling in September 2007 , but were found two days after the theft.

History of the find

The longer horn was discovered by accident on July 20, 1639 by a woman named Kristine Svendsdatter in Gallehus near Møgeltønder . King Christian IV later gave it to his son Christian. It was restored and placed in the royal art chamber. The most important description of the longer horn was provided by the universal scholar of antiquity Olaus Wormius in a treatise entitled De aureo cornu in 1641 , which also contains an engraving by Simon de Passe . The horn measured approx. 52 cm in length, approx. 71 cm along the underflow, had a diameter of approx. 10 cm at the opening and weighed approx. 3.1 kg.

The shorter horn was found by the farmer Erik Lassen on April 21, 1734 in the immediate vicinity of the first site. The research here is based on the report of the archivist Joachim Richard Paulli from 1734. The exact dimensions of the short horn are unknown, but it is known that at approx. 3.7 kg it weighed more than its longer counterpart. The second, short horn bears the longer runic inscription written in the older Futhark .

Both gold objects are made from an inner horn and several rings that are placed on top and decorated with animal and human figures. Only the outer rings had a high gold content.

Ole Worms drawing of the first horn from 1641

Image motifs

The gold horns are equipped with punched and three- dimensional image motifs. There are animal, human and star figures, some of which are depicted on both horns. Some motifs are borrowed from the Mediterranean.

The enigmatic illustrations have given rise to a large number of all uncertain interpretations. Many researchers tried to establish a connection to Norse mythology and different human figures on the horns as Tyr , Odin , Thor , rsp. Identify Freyr . Others wanted to relate the origins of the image motifs to the Byzantine world ( Lars-Ivar Ringbom ), discover a cryptic runic inscription on the long horn ( Willy Hartner ) or in the ornamentation a refined number symbolism around the number 13, the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden ratio circles, observe ( Heinz Klingenberg ). The interpretations are made more difficult by the uncertain accuracy of the images and descriptions available.

Runic inscription

The runic inscription in North or West Germanic was on the shorter of the two horns. Of the 32 runic symbols , the first 26 are hatched , the rest are simply attached. In three places there are word separators that consist of four superimposed points. The runic signs are:

ᛖᚲᚺᛚᛖᚹᚨᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ᛬ᚺᛟᛚᛏᛁᛃᚨᛉ᛬ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ᛬ᛏᚨᚹᛁᛞᛟ

Transliteration : ek hlewagastiz: holtijaz: horna: tawido

Transcription : ek χleu̯aǥastiz χoltii̯az χorna tau̯iđō / ŏ

Translation: “I, Hlewagastiz (probably: 'the famous guests'), Holtijaz ('who belongs to Holt'), made the horn”.

Joachim Richard Paulli's drawing of the second, short horn and its runic inscription

The inscription shows neither specifically North Germanic nor specifically West Germanic characteristics. It is therefore counted together with the other inscriptions in the older Futhark to the as yet undivided preliminary stage Northwest Germanic. This view was last specified (2013) insofar as the separation of Ur-Norse and Proto-West Germanic began as early as around the 3rd century, but the inscription by Gallehus from the then still existing transition area of the two still closely related variants of Germanic originates and therefore neither of the two language forms can be clearly assigned.

ek

The three words hlewagastiz , holtijaz and horna form an allotted rhyme due to their identical initials . The inscription is therefore metric and represents the oldest evidence of a Germanic long line : ek χléu̯àǥastiz χóltii̯az | χórna táu̯iđō / ŏ .

importance

According to Hartner, the gold horns were probably made due to the total solar eclipse on April 16, 413. A magical purpose is presumed. Obviously, future events - such as the impending end of the world, which according to the understanding of the time was heralded by a solar eclipse - should be averted.

reception

Since these finds were known several hundred years ago, they have often been mentioned in the literature. The most famous poem Die Goldhörner ( Guldhornene ) was written by Adam Oehlenschläger in 1802. Hans Christian Andersen also immortalized them in his poem from 1850. I was born in Denmark… . In 1931 the novel Die Hörner von Gallehus by the pastor and writer Gustav Frenssen was published.

Memorial stones in Gallehus

In 1907, when South Jutland / North Schleswig was German, two memorial stones were erected in Gallehus. The historian Peter Lauridsen had located the exact sites and contacted Otto Didrik von Schack, on whose estate Schackenborg the site was located. The purpose of the memorial stones was to establish the Danish claim to an ancient Danish territory by referring to the magnificent North Germanic objects. If a Danish inscription had not been approved by the Prussian authorities, the names of the finders alone (Kristine Svensdatter and Erik Lassen) would have made the desired national statement possible, according to the initiators. However, the project could also be implemented in Danish after Northern Schleswig came back to Denmark in 1920. Ironically, the stones had to be brought from the Harz region because the marshland in the area has no boulders and the import of granite from Bornholm would have been too costly.

literature

Arthur Beer: Hartner and the Riddle of the Golden Horns , Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 1, p. 139 (1970). bibcode : 1970JHA ..... 1..139B
Wolfram Euler: The West Germanic - from its formation in the 3rd to its breakdown in the 7th century - analysis and reconstruction. Verlag Inspiration Un Limited, London / Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-9812110-7-8 . Pp. 27-37 and p. 205.
Ottar Grønvik : Runinskriften på gullhornet fra Gallehus. In: Maal og minne. 1999, 1, ISSN 0024-855X , pp. 1-18.
Willy Hartner: The gold horns of Gallehus . In: Bild der Wissenschaft , 1972, 11, ISSN 0006-2375 , pp. 1210-1216.
Willy Hartner: The gold horns of Gallehus . F. Steiner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-00078-X (first 1969).
Heinz Klingenberg : Runic writing - writing thinking - runic inscriptions . Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1973, ISBN 3-533-02181-5 .
Wolfgang Krause, Herbert Jankuhn: The runic inscriptions in the older Futhark. I. text, II. Plates . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1966.
Morten Axboe, Wilhelm Heizmann , Hans Frede Nielsen: Gallehus. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 10, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-015102-2 , pp. 330-344.

Remarks

↑ Brazen art theft: thieves steal national symbols. In: Spiegel Online . September 17, 2007, accessed June 9, 2018 .
^ Lars-Ivar Ringbom: Gallehushornensbilder , Acta Academia Aboensis, Humaniora, 18, Åbo Akademi, 1949.
↑ Klingenberg: Runenschrift - Script Thinking - Runic Inscriptions , Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1973.
↑ Wolfram Euler: The West Germanic - from the formation in the 3rd to the breakdown in the 7th century - analysis and reconstruction. , London / Berlin 2013. p. 205.
↑ R. Lühr: The poems of the skald Egill . Dettelbach 2000. pp. 9-10.
↑ G. Darms. Brother-in-law and brother-in-law, rooster and chicken. The Vrddhi derivation in Germanic. Munich 1978. p. 459.
^ R. Lühr: The poems of the skald Egill . Dettelbach 2000. p. 307.
↑ Wolfram Euler, Konrad Badenheuer: Language and Origin of the Germanic Peoples , London / Hamburg 2009, p. 208.
^ Franz Krojer: Stars over Gallehus? In: Astronomie der Spätantike, die Null und Aryabhata , Differential-Verlag, Munich 2009, p. 133 ff. ( PDF )
^ Inge Adriansen: Erindringssteder i Danmark. Monumenter, mindesmærker og mødesteder , Museum Tusculanum, Copenhagen 2011, ISBN 978-87-635-3173-3 , p. 160 f.

Web links

Commons : Goldhorns of Gallehus - Collection of images, videos and audio files

National Museum of Denmark - Gold horns of Gallehus (English)
Drawing of the shorter horn and the inscription (Titus, Uni Frankfurt)
Interpretations and literature in the rune project Uni Kiel

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 26, 2005 .

55.71 9.533333Coordinates: 55 ° 42 ′ 36 ″ N , 9 ° 32 ′ 0 ″ E

[SPON-506222-1] Brazen art theft: thieves steal national symbols. In: Spiegel Online . September 17, 2007, accessed June 9, 2018 .

[2] Lars-Ivar Ringbom: Gallehushornensbilder , Acta Academia Aboensis, Humaniora, 18, Åbo Akademi, 1949.

[3] Klingenberg: Runenschrift - Script Thinking - Runic Inscriptions , Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1973.

[4] Wolfram Euler: The West Germanic - from the formation in the 3rd to the breakdown in the 7th century - analysis and reconstruction. , London / Berlin 2013. p. 205.

[5] R. Lühr: The poems of the skald Egill . Dettelbach 2000. pp. 9-10.

[6] G. Darms. Brother-in-law and brother-in-law, rooster and chicken. The Vrddhi derivation in Germanic. Munich 1978. p. 459.

[7] R. Lühr: The poems of the skald Egill . Dettelbach 2000. p. 307.

[8] Wolfram Euler, Konrad Badenheuer: Language and Origin of the Germanic Peoples , London / Hamburg 2009, p. 208.

[9] Franz Krojer: Stars over Gallehus? In: Astronomie der Spätantike, die Null und Aryabhata , Differential-Verlag, Munich 2009, p. 133 ff. ( PDF )

[10] Inge Adriansen: Erindringssteder i Danmark. Monumenter, mindesmærker og mødesteder , Museum Tusculanum, Copenhagen 2011, ISBN 978-87-635-3173-3 , p. 160 f.