Runamo

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[
Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae's illustration of a part of the "inscription".] Runamo is a cracked dolerite dike that was for centuries held to be a runic inscription and gave rise to a famous scholarly controversy in the 19th century. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).] ] It is located 2.7 km from the church of Bräkne-Hoby in Blekinge, Sweden. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).] ] For hundreds of years people said it was possible to read an inscription, and learned men referred to it. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916)] ]

As early as the 12th century, the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus reported in the introduction to his "Gesta Danorum" that the runic inscription was no longer legible being too worn down. This had been established by a delegation sent by the Danish king Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182) to read the inscription:Later in book 7 of "Gesta Danorum", Saxo explains that it was a memorial by the Danish king Harald Wartooth to his father's great deeds:

In spite of Saxo's report that the inscription was illegible as early as the 12th century, the Danish physician and antiquary Ole Worm declared in the 17th century that he had managed to read four letters in the description: "Lund" [ [http://www.sydostran.se/002.lasso?id=36431&lay=nyheter An article in Sydöstran] , retrieved January 1 2006.] .

There was considerable interest in the inscription during the Gothicismus of the early 19th century.Andersson 1947:222] The Swedish writer Esaias Tegnér referred to it in his unfinished poem on the giantess Gerðr and Axel who became bishop Absalon of Lund.Andersson 1947:222] In 1833, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters sent an expedition led by a Dano-Icelandic scholar named Finn Magnussen. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).] ] Brate 1922:135] The mission was to explore the signs making use of geological and artistic expertise,Andersson 1947:223] including the geologist Johan Georg Forchhammer. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).] ] At first, Finn Magnussen was unable to read the signs, but resolving to read them from right to left and by interpreting some of them as cipher runes, he was able to discern a poem.Andersson 1947:223] This poem was an incantation by Harald Hildekinn (sic.), i.e. Harald Wartooth, for victory against the Swedish king Sigurd Ring at the Battle of Brávellir,Andersson 1947:223] or stanzas from the skaldic poem that the champion Starkad composed on the battle. [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).] ] Brate 1922:135]

Magnussen's report made the famous Swedish scientist Jöns Jacob Berzelius undertake his own study in 1836, and he concluded that the inscription was nothing but natural cracks in the rock.Andersson 1947:223] Magnussen defended his thesis in an extensive publication in 1841, but the Danish archaeologist Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae made a third study at the location in 1844, which turned the general scholarly opinion towards Berzelius' theory.Brate 1922:135] Andersson 1947:223] Since then, it is generally considered to be a dolerite dike with cracks. [The article "Runamo" in "Nationalencyklopedin".]

ee also

* Pareidolia

Notes

Bibliography

*Andersson, Ingvar. (1947). "Skånes historia, till Saxo och Skånelagen". P.A. Norstedt & söners förlag/Stockholm.
* [http://www.runor.se/bra/bra67.htm Brate, Eric. (1922). "Sveriges runinskrifter", online.]
*Saxo Grammaticus. "Gesta Danorum", English Book I-IX: [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/DanishHistory/ Online Medieval and Classical Library]
*The article "Runamo" in "Nationalencyklopedin" (1995).
* [http://runeberg.org/nfcc/0641.html The article "Runamo" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1916).]

Other external links

* [http://www.brakne-hoby.se/net/Br%E4kneHoby/Turism+och+historia/Hobys+historia/Runamo Runamo, at the site of Bräkne-Hoby.]