Sandavágsstein

The Sandavágur runestone on a postage stamp (the inscription in the background is from the Kirkjubøstein .)

The Sandavágsstein ( Faroese Sandavágssteinurin ) is a rune stone that was found in Sandavágur on the Faroe Islands in 1917 . It probably dates from the 12th century. The stone is now in the church in Sandavágur.

The inscription reads:

þorkæl: onondarsun: austmaþrafruhalande: bygþe: þena: staþ: fyst

In standardized Old Norse :

Þorkell Onondarsonr, austmaðr af Rogalandi, bygði þenna stað fyrst.

German:

Torkil Onundarson, Ostmann from Rogaland , lived in this place first.

An Ostmann is a Norwegian from the perspective of the Faroese and Icelanders . The stone thus proves that the first settler at this point was a Norwegian, namely Torkil, the son of Onundur (in today's Faroese personal names ).

The Sandavágsstein is next to the Kirkjubøstein and the Fámjinsstein one of three well-known Faroese rune stones and is the second oldest surviving written document of the Faroe Islands after the Kirkjubøstein.

literature

• Höskuldur Thráinsson et al .: Faroese. An Overview and Reference Grammar . Tórshavn 2004.

Web links

• Faroestamps.fo - Historic Writings (English and German)