Archaeologists discover the world's oldest rune stone

In 2021, archaeologists from the Museum of Cultural History were investigating an ancient burial site at Lake Tyrifjorden near Oslo when a sandstone slab with runes dating back 2 000 years was found in one of the graves. This is the oldest datable rune stone in the world.

"To have such a find fall into our laps is a unique experience and a dream come true for all runologists," says runologist Kristel Zilmer, professor of written culture and iconography at the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo, who has spent the last year working on interpreting the inscriptions on the runestone while her colleagues worked on dating the grave.

The remains in the grave have been radiocarbon dated to between 1 and 250 AD. The oldest known runic inscription to date is a spearhead from Toten in eastern Norway. The spear dates from around 200 AD and the inscription on it represents the word raunijaR (challenger). Some runic inscriptions are also known from Denmark, probably the oldest there was a runic inscription on a spearhead probably from the 2nd century. The Swedish Kylver stone from the island of Gotland dates from around 400 AD. It is believed to be the oldest runic inscription that depicts the entire runic alphabet.

The newly discovered Svingerud stone is the oldest datable rune stone. It bears a considerable number of runes, including atypical runic patterns (such as a B with two extra loops, making it look like two compound B runes), grid lines, zigzag patterns, and other shapes. It may not be clear in all cases, and it is also possible that the stonemason was just learning runic writing, as this is a period in the very early days of runic writing.

On the face of the dark square sandstone slab, with a side length of about 31 cm, are the eight most legible runes. Translated they sound like "idiberug", according to museum experts this may be the name of a person, written in the sense of a dedication, i.e. "for Idibera". But it could also refer to the name of the family, and other possibilities are not excluded. However, if it is indeed a name, the rune stone could identify the remains of the deceased person.

Rune scripts vary widely and their interpretation can be complex. Experts have been working for over a year to decipher this inscription. Quite a lot is known about the Viking period in Norway thanks to many written sources, but much less information comes from the Roman period, especially about the Proto-Norse language spoken in Norway and Scandinavia in general. This makes the newly discovered rune stone a rare opportunity to get to know this period better.

The runic script has also changed a great deal over the millennium, from the earliest Roman Iron Age records to the more recent Viking runes of the 11th-12th centuries. This is also why the stone will be studied further. In the meantime, it will be briefly exhibited at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.

Roman Němec

Sources: thehistoryblog.com, sciencenorway.no

detail of the inscription on the front of the stone

Svingerud stone

Rune stone in situ

Runic letters on the Vimose ridge (above) from Denmark, below the Kylver stone from Gotland is the oldest known example of the entire runic alphabet

The 24 letters of the oldest runic alphabet were used by all Germanic tribes around the North Sea until 800 - map shows sites with runic finds