Transliteration The following transcription mostly copies the graphic analysis provided by
Ottar Grønvik (1985). Some of the individual characters are unclear, and other analyses may disagree with certain parts. (For example, Grønvik analyzed
fokl as
foki.) • Panel 1: :
nissolusotuknisᴀksestᴀin :
skorinni????mąʀnᴀkdąnisn?r?ʀ :
niwiltiʀmąnʀlᴀgi?? • Panel 2: :
hinwᴀrbnᴀseuwilʀmᴀdeþᴀim :
kᴀibᴀibormoþᴀhunihuwᴀʀob :
kąmhᴀr??ąhiąlątgotnᴀfiskʀ :
oʀf???ᴀuimsuwimądefokl?f?ą :
????gąląnde • Panel 3: :
ᴀ???isurki Translations ;Krause and Jankuhn (1966)
Wolfgang Krause and
Herbert Jankuhn,
Die Runeninschriften im älteren Futhark (1966) offered the following interpretation: • Panel 1: :''Ni's sólu sótt ok ni saxe stæin skorinn. '' :
Ni (læggi) mannʀ nækðan, is niþ rinnʀ, :
Ni viltiʀ mænnʀ læggi ax. • Panel 2: :
Hin(n) varp *náséo mannʀ, máðe þæim kæipa í bormóþa húni. :
Huæaʀ of kam hæráss á hi á land gotna. :
Fiskʀ óʀ f(ir)na uim suim(m)ande, fogl á f??????? galande. • Panel 3: :
Alu misyrki Based on this reconstruction, the following translation is offered: • Panel 1: :"It is not touched by the sun and the stone is not scored by an [iron] knife. No man may lay [it] bare, when the waning moon runs [across the heavens]. Misguided men may not lay [the stone] aside. " The stone has been prepared in accordance with tradition; the stone is untouched by sunlight, and not cut with iron. It should not be uncovered during the waning moon, and should not be removed from its place. • Panel 2: :"The man sprinkled this [stone] with corpse-sea (blood), with it he rubbed the tholes of the well drilled boat. As who came the army-god hither onto the land of warriors? A fish swimming out of the terrible stream, a bird screaming into the enemy band" Someone has stained this stone with blood (
kenned as
corpse-sea); perhaps as part of a sacrifice to facilitate the passage of the deceased or call on whatever power the inscription is addressed to. The
heráss is the "god of armies" - a
psychopomp god (i.e. an early form of
Odin) who comes to the land of the living to take the deceased to an afterlife. • Panel 3: :"Protection against the wrong-doer" ;Grønvik (1985)
Ottar Grønvik (1985) offers a more prosaic interpretation. Panel 3 above is relegated to the middle, as part B: :A1
(hiu þwer) hin warp naseu wilʀ made þaim kaiba i bormoþa huni :A2
huwaʀ ob kam harie a hit lat :A3
gotna fiskʀ oʀ firnauim suwimade foki af (f)a(nwan)ga lande :B
a(i a)u is urki :C1
ni s solu sot uk ni sakse stain skorin :C2
ni (witi) maʀ nakdan is na wrinʀ ni wiltiʀ manʀ lagi(s) (Parenthesis denotes reconstructed or anticipated forms) The Old Norse equivalent is here said to be: :A1
Hjú þverr, hín varp násjó *Vill: máðe þeim keipa i bormóða húni. :A2
Hverr of kom her á hitt land? :A3
Gotna fiskr ór firney-ím, svimande foki af fán-vanga lande. :B
Æ ey es yrki! :C1 ''Ne's sólu sótt, ok ne sakse, stein skorinn;'' :C2
ne víti maðr, nǫkðan es ná rinn, ne viltir menn, lægis! Translation: :A1
The household wanes, *Vil threw a death wave over those ::
The oarlocks wore out for, with the tired mast-top :A2
Who brought the horde to the land afar? :A3
The godly-fish from Firnøy’s streams ::
Swimming in the drift of the land of shining meadows. :B
Be it of help, I work this. :C1
Not has the sun seen, nor the sword shorn, this stone, :C2
Do not seek who call forth the naked dead, ::
Nor wildly men, this bed of rest! According to this interpretation, A1 is a description of a shipwreck in bad weather. The mast seems to have broken, and the oars could not save them, as a mythical creature, *Vil (possibly the sea-god
Aegir, or simply divine will,) casts a wave upon the boat. Parts A2, A3 and B explains the fate of the deceased. As A2 asks how they will get to the land beyond, A3 replies that a divine creature in the shape of a fish will lead them to the land of shining meadows. Part B prays that the work of the one writing this will help.
Firney is probably not a place name, but possibly
Fear-island or
Far-island, and a kenning for the realm of the dead. Part C1 says that the inscription was done at night, and not by using steel. This probably pertains to ancient grave-rituals, but the exact meaning is unclear. C2 issues warning directed at
necromancers and mad (or mentally ill) people to prevent them from desecrating the grave. ==Meter==