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What is it?
This broken knife blade is almost 2,000 years old. Currently preserved at a length of c.8cm, its original length is unknown, but was probably just slightly longer than this. On one side, the iron blade is incised with abstract decorations including a triangular shape and several concentric circles. The other side bears an inscription consisting of six runes, each c.5mm tall, followed by three circular indentations. The runes spell out hirila, a Proto Norse phrase that translates as ‘Little Sword’, which may refer to either the knife’s owner or the object itself. Runic inscriptions from this period are extremely rare, as literacy was restricted to a small intellectual elite; such an object must therefore have been a highly treasured possession.
Where was it found, and when?
The blade was found beneath an urn grave at a small burial ground east of Odense, on the island of Funen, Denmark, during excavations in November 2021. This area is rich in settlements and burial sites from the Roman Iron Age, and the burial ground in question is part of a small cluster believed to date to around AD 150. The knife had been pushed into the ground directly below the urn, which was not an uncommon practice in this period. Other grave goods found inside the urn, including an antler comb and three brooches, all point to the same date, very close to AD 150. The knife’s runic inscription was identified post-recovery, during conservation of the object.
Why does it matter?
The blade’s relatively poor state of preservation makes it impossible to identify signs of wear that might reveal how it was used, but this was clearly not an everyday tool. The knife’s decoration suggests that it would have served as a symbol of its owner’s status, perhaps as a warrior or warrior-to be.
The runic inscription is one of the very oldest known from Denmark. Inscriptions on elite objects including weapons and tools are found in later periods of the Iron Age – although they are by no means a common phenomenon – but examples as early as this are incredibly rare. Only one other item of such antiquity has been found, also dating to c.AD 150: an inscribed bone comb found in 1865, which was discovered on Funen as well. Nordic runes were invented in the first centuries AD, strongly influenced by the Latin alphabet, but adapted to the languages of Germanic tribes: Proto-Norse. These runes changed significantly over time, so the runic alphabet famously used in the Viking Age was very different to that of earlier periods. The discovery of even a short runic inscription from the mid-2nd century AD therefore represents an important opportunity to learn about the early use of writing in Nordic countries, and, by extension, about the language spoken during the Iron Age.
FIND OUT MORE: The object is in the collections of the Museum Odense (https://museumodense.dk/en/), but is not currently on display.
Text: Amy Brunskill / Photo: Rógvi Johansen/Museum Odense
