The inscription, found on the
fibula's foot and carried out in the tremolo or assay puncture technique, remains the subject of lively debate. The controversy revolves primarily around whether the graphemes are to be understood as runic, proto-runic or Latin characters. Finds from
Vimose – particularly a comb with the inscription dated to 160 CE – are generally considered to be the oldest runic artifacts yet found. If the inscription on the Meldorf fibula is runic, then it has far-reaching implications regarding the question as to the origin and development of the
Elder Futhark.
Interpretations Düwel and Gebühr (1981) suggest that the inscription contains four runes, reading (left to right) , which they interpret as meaning or . Attested cognates and related words would include:
Old Saxon and
Old High German , ; Old Saxon and Old High German , ; Old Saxon and Old High German , ;
Gothic in , or . This interpretation has been widely criticised as epigraphically and linguistically irregular, however (Odenstedt 1989, Mees 1997). Düwel's interpretation gained renewed attention with the discovery of Wijnaldum B, a small golden pendant of possibly Mediterranean origin dated to 600 CE, in
Wijnaldum,
Friesland in 1953 and 1990. On the back is a runic inscription which Looijenga (1997) and Düwel (2001) took to read as , . Looijenga (2021:383, n.7) has since withdrawn her reading of the inscription, however, seeing it now as only featuring meaningless scratches. Odenstedt (1989) interprets the inscription as being composed in the
Latin alphabet, reading (right to left) , which he translates as a personal name, the gender of which remains uncertain; if feminine , if masculine, . Seebold (1994) also agrees with this interpretation. Mees (1997), like Düwel, interprets the inscription as runic, but instead reads (right to left) , which he translates as . Other possible readings include Latin , runic or Latin , , or runic , , . The fibula is kept in
Gottorp, Schleswig-Holstein. ==See also==