Gothic runic inscriptions
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Very few Elder Futhark inscriptions in the Gothic language have been found in the territory historically settled by the Goths (Wielbark culture, Chernyakhov culture). This is due to the early Christianization of the Goths, with the Gothic alphabet replacing runes by the mid 4th century.
There are about a dozen candidate inscriptions, and only three of them are widely accepted to be of Gothic origin: the gold ring of Pietroassa, bearing a votive inscription, part of a larger treasure found in the Romanian Carpathians, and two spearheads inscribed with what is probably the weapon's name, one found in the Ukrainian Carpathians, and the other in eastern Germany, near the Oder.
Ring of Pietroassa
A gold ring (necklace) found in 1837 in Pietroassa (recte Pietroasa, north-western Romania, some 50km south of Satu Mare), dated to the ca. AD 400, bearing a Elder Futhark inscription of 15 runes. The ring was stolen in 1875, and clipped in two with pliers by a Bucarest goldsmith. It was recovered, but the 7th rune is now destroyed:- gutani [?] wi hailag
The identity of the 7th rune as othala has been called into question. A reading as ingwaz is gutani(i)ŋwa hailag "sacred to the Ingwaz of the Goths" (compare the association of Ing with the "East Danes" in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem). Reichert (1992) however, in the most recent and most thorough re-evaluation to date (as of 2005), concludes that a reading as othala is untenable. The lower part of the rune is now missing, but on close inspection, it appears evident that its upper part forms no closed loop, leading to a reading of gutani j[er] wi hailag (Ulfilan gutane jer weih hailag) "sacred to a good year/harvest of the Goths", putting the votive inscription in the context of a fertility cult.
Spearhead of Kovel
The head of a lance, found in 1858 Suszyczno, 30 km from Kovel, Ukraine, dated to the early 3rd century [link] [link]
The spearhead measures 15.5 cm with a maximal length of 3.0 cm. Both sides of the leaf were inlaid with silver symbols. The inscription notably runs right to left, reading tilarids, interpreted as "rushing towards the target", either of a warrior, or of the spear itself. It is identified as Gothic because of the nominative -s (in contrast to Proto-Norse -z).
A 1880 casting of the spearhead is exhibited in Berlin, a 1884 casting in Warsaw. The object itself was lost, reappeared in 1939, was taken to Germany, and was lost again during the WWII.
Spearhead of Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg
The head of a lance, found in Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg, in the Mark Brandenburg between Berlin and the Oder River, inscribed with ranja (Ulfilan rannja, "the runner"). [link]Spindle whorl of Letcani
Spindle whorl found in Letcani, Romania, dated to the 4th century- adonsufhe :rango:
Buckle of Szabadbattvan
Silver buckle found in Szabadbattvan, Hungary, dated to the early 5th century.- marings
Literature
- Marstrander, Carl, De gotiske runeminnesmaerker; NTS 3 (1929) 25-157.
- Ebbinghaus, Ernst, The question of Visigothic runic inscriptions re-examined, GL 30:4 (1990) 207-214.
- Dietrich, Franz Eduard Christoph: de inscriptionibus duabus Runicis ad Gothorum gentem relatis, Marburg (Elwert) 1861.
- Loewe, Richard: Der Goldring von Pietroassa; IF 26 (1909), 203-208.
- Graf, Heinz-Joachim, Gutanio wi hailag oder Gutaniom hailag ? - Zur Lesung des Ringes von Pietroasa, GRM 31 (1943) 128-129.
- Reichert, Hermann: GUTANI ? WI HAILAG, Die Sprache 35 (1993) 235-247.
External links
- http://syllabus.gmxhome.de/gotica/Runica.html
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