Bryggen inscriptions
The Bryggen inscriptions are a find of some 670 medieval runic inscriptions on wood and bone found from 1955 and forth at Bryggen in Bergen, Norway. It has been called the most important runic find in the twentieth century. Before the find of these inscriptions, there was doubt whether the runes were ever used for anything else than inscriptions of names and solemn phrases. The Bryggen find showed the everyday use that runes had in this area, and presumably in other parts of Scandinavia as well. Another important aspect of the find was that many of the inscriptions were obviously at least as recent as the 14th century. Previously it was believed that the use of runes in Norway had died out long before.
The inscriptions have numbers for Bergen finds, mostly "B" followed by three figures.
Many of the inscriptions follow the formula Eysteinn á mik,, and were most likely used as markers of property - like modern day name tags. Some contain short messages of different types, such as Ást min, kyss mik and others have longer messages such as business letters and orders. Yet others contain short religious inscriptions, often in Latin, such as Rex Judæorum In nomine Patris Nazarenus and may have been intended as amulets.
The inscriptions are currently kept at Bryggens Museum in Bergen, and some are on display.
Examples found at Bryggen or nearby
| B # | Transcribed Text | Normalized Text | English translation | Object inscribed | External image links |
| B001 | øystein:ami hærmaþr haæþrmþr hærmaþr maria | Eysteinn á mi Herrmaðr Herrmaðr Herrmaðr Maria. | Eystein owns me warrior warrior warrior Maria | Runekjevle | |
| B003 | auema | Ave Maria | Hail Mary | Wooden plate | |
| B004 | ioa | Jóhann á | Johan owns | Skull of walrus | |
| B005 | rexiudeorum innomini patrisnazarenus | Rex Judæorum In nomine Patris Nazarenus | King of the Jews in the name of the Father of Nazareth | Part of a small wooden cross | |
| B006 | benatit a g l a la lagla bastii marhret. a g la ag l a ba. flkarel barolis | Wooden cross | |||
| B007 | amia | Ave Maria | Hail Mary | Bottom piece of a wooden bowl | |
| B008 | lyþkatmnæruþkit | Shoe | |||
| B009 | 3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 3/5 = fuþor þbiss | Fuþor | Fuþor | Cane | |
| B010 | tar | ||||
| B011 | felleg er fuþ sin bylli fuþorglbasm | Féligr er fuð sinn byrli Fuðorglbasm. | Lovely is the pussy, may the prick fill it up! | Flat wooden stick | |
| B012 | inra | ... inr á | ... in owns | Flat wooden stick | |
| B013 | mikæl petr ioanes andres lafranz tomas olafr klemet nikulas allerhælger mengiætaimin notouk dahilfsminsouk salokuþsemikoksihni=kuÞkifiosbyrokkafomarih | Mikjáll, Pétr, Jóanes, Andreas, Lafranz, Thomas, Ólafr, Klemetr, Nikulás. Allir helgir menn, gæti mín nótt ok dag, lífs míns ok sálu. Guð sé mik ok signi. Guð gefi oss byr ok gáfu Mariu. Hlpi mér Klemetr, hjalpi mér allir Guðs helgir | Michael, Peter, John, Andrew, Lawrence, Thomas, Olaf, Clement, Nicholas. All saints, guard me night and day, my life and soul. God see me and bless. God give us... and Mary's gifts. Help me Clement, help me all God's saints. | Flat wooden stick, with a hole at the end. | |
| B014 | dus | deus | god | Piece of wood, shaped into a narrow cross. | |
| B015 | iuairfuþo | ....fuþo | ... fuþo | Wood stick. | |
| B016 | a | Piece of wood | |||
| B017 | ost min kis mik fuþorkhniastbmly | Ást min, kyss mik Fuþorkhniastbmly | My love, kiss me Fuþorkhniastbmly | Wooden stick | |
| B018 | þr:inliossa:log:rostirriþatbiþa: yþænþuætnuka:ældiriþsuahiþar: sdælakumlynhuithaklko lotakahbohasar:fiartar:tahs kuiþi þækanukabækiiar | Piece of wood | |||
| B019 | yakæyrfiar rakæyrfiar | Squared broken wood piece | |||
| B020 | blm | ||||
| B149 | kya: sæhir : atþu: kakhæim: þsak: akist: rþis | Gyða segir at þú gakk heim | Gyða tells you to go home | Wooden stick |
Interesting facts
- One of the Bryggen inscriptions, listed as B145 or as N B145 M under Rundata, refers to the pagan Norns. It has both a complete alliterative verse and Virgil's famous verse "Omnia vincit amor et nos cedamus amori" engraved.
- Another one, listed as N B368 M was written on the wax tablet and was supposed to be hidden under the layer of wax with some trivial writing. It was a top-secret message calling to someone to change the sides in the civil war: "I would ask you this, that you leave your party. Cut a letter in runes to Ólafr Hettusveinn's sister. She is in the convent in Bergen. Ask her and your kin for advice when you want to come to terms. You, surely, are less stubborn than the Earl." The letter was continued on another wax tablet. Ólafr Hettusveinn is probably Olav Ugjæva, died in 1169.
- B 257 is a poetic charm, apparently a piece of love magic, similar in content to a curse in the Eddaic poem Skírnismál.