This
runic inscription states that it was carved by a man named Þórir into a piece of wood while visiting the church during the
mass of
Saint Olaf during the
Middle Ages. Olaf was king of Norway from 1015 to 1028 C.E. and legally recognized
Christianity as the nation's religion in 1024, and in the century after his death was recognized as a
saint. His feast day is celebrated on July 29, the date of his death. The inscription testifies to lingering beliefs in the
pagan Norns, the female beings who rule the fates of the various races in
Norse mythology. Here Þórir blames the Norns for his troubles, just as the characters do in the
Reginsmál and
Sigurðarkviða hin skamma of the
Poetic Edda. One of the
Bryggen inscriptions, listed as
B145 or as N B145 M under
Rundata, also refers to the Norns. ==Inscription==