Runestone from Kingittorsuaq

The runestone of Kingittorsuaq (old spelling: Kingigtorssuaĸ) is listed under number GR 1 in the Rundata catalog for Greenland . It is a rune stone that was found in 1824 by the hunter Pelimut (Filemon) on Kingittorsuaq , an island in the Upernavik Archipelago in northwest Greenland.

The approximately 10 cm long rune stone made of mica slate lay in a group of three piles of stones that formed an equilateral triangle on the top of a mountain. The stone, dated to the Middle Ages (between 1250 and 1333), is exhibited in the National Museum in Copenhagen .

inscription

Transliteration of the inscription:

: el = likr: sikuaþs: so = n: r: ok: baan = ne: torta = r son: | : ok: enriþi: os son: la = ukardak: in: fyrir: gakndag | hlopu: ua = rda te: ok rydu:

Old Norse transcription:

Erlingr Sigvatssonr ok Bjarni Þórðarson ok Eindriði Oddsson laugardaginn fyrir gangdag hlóðu varða þe (ssa) ok ryðu

The German translation of the text on the stone reads:

Erlingr Sigvarðsson and Bjarni Þórðarson and Eindriði Oddsson [possibly also Ásson], built this pile of stones on the Saturday before the day of the request, and drove ...

The last part of the runic inscription is a group of six unidentifiable characters that some believe to be a secret message.

The day of petition (rogation) is April 25th. The men couldn't have sailed to Kingittorsuaq, far north of their settlements, that early in the year. They must have wintered in the area.

literature

James Robert Enterline: Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America. Center for American Places, JHU Press, 2002, pp. 127-129, ISBN 0-8018-6660-X

Web links

Entry Kingittorsuaq in Den Store Danske Encyklopædi (Danish)

Individual evidence

↑ James Robert Enterline: Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America. Center for American Places, JHU Press, 2002, pp. 127-129, ISBN 0-8018-6660-X
↑ ^a ^b Runesten fra Kingittorsuaq, Upernavik ( memento from June 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Danish National Museum
↑ ^a ^b Magnus Olsen: Kingigtórsoak-stenen and sproget i de Grønlandske runeinnskrifter . In: Norsk tidsskrift for sprogvidenskap . 1932, p. 189-257 .
↑ Carol S. Francis: The Lost Western Settlement of Greenland, 1342 (PDF; 2.45 MB), master's thesis, California State University, Sacramento 2011, p. 31.

[Enterline-1] James Robert Enterline: Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America. Center for American Places, JHU Press, 2002, pp. 127-129, ISBN 0-8018-6660-X

[Nationalmuseet-2] Runesten fra Kingittorsuaq, Upernavik ( memento from June 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Danish National Museum

[:0-3] Magnus Olsen: Kingigtórsoak-stenen and sproget i de Grønlandske runeinnskrifter . In: Norsk tidsskrift for sprogvidenskap . 1932, p. 189-257 .

[4] Carol S. Francis: The Lost Western Settlement of Greenland, 1342 (PDF; 2.45 MB), master's thesis, California State University, Sacramento 2011, p. 31.