Danish Archaeologists Find Knife With Oldest Runic Script
Date
1/23/2024 7:15:36 PM
(MENAFN- AzerNews) Danish archaeologists have found a 2,000-year-old engraved knife
on the island of Funen, Azernews reports, citing
foreign media outlets.
It is believed that the knife is the oldest runic script found
in Denmark, and helps researchers understand the oldest writing of
the Scandinavian countries.
The knife is engraved with runes half a centimeter in size,
forming the word hirila, which means "little sword" in Old
Norse.
"We rarely found runes as ancient as those on this knife, and
this is a unique opportunity to learn more about the earliest
language of Denmark, and therefore about the language that was
actually spoken in the Iron Age. At that time, literacy was not
widespread, and therefore reading and writing were associated with
special status and power. At the beginning of the history of runes,
scribes formed a small intellectual elite, and the first traces of
the existence of these people in Denmark can be found on Funen,"
says runologist Lisbeth Imer from the Danish National Museum.
The knife was found next to an urn in a grave east of the city
of Odense on the island of Funen.
"This is an unusual find that speaks to the development of the
earliest Scandinavian language," says Jacob Bonde, curator of the
Odense Museum and the archaeologist who found the knife.
It is unclear who the knife belonged to, but it is assumed that
it was someone from a high-ranking member of the society.
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