Can Anyone Here Translate Viking Runes?
 

Hi, all -

Was researching Viking "Scramasax," or "Seax," daggers when I stumbled across the three runes (attached). They have nothing to do with the knife, merely (allegedly) Viking as well. Can anyone decipher these, and are they really Viking?

Ragnar must know. :D

Thanks, folks!

john

Hi John,
From different times and places the runes can look different, but I have never seen runes look like this - sorry.
Jens

Remember that while they (runes) are understood to have their origin in northern Europe, by the middle of the Viking age, they were in use throughout most of of the continent.

The presence of runic-looking characters is not a sufficient condition to imply a Viking attribution IMO. That it is a bronze ring is not of much help either as they were in use from the British Isles to the eastern Mediterranean for the better part (over?) a millenium. :shrug:

The charcaters do appear to be runic in origin (at least derived from runes), but a search through my slides on runes and a follow-up check of runic sources online didn't turn up anything that shared the same appearance, which leads me to believe that if they are runes, they are an amalgamation of (at least) two characters.

Neat scramasax/seax though... Is it yours? If so, could you post dimensions?

I am not sure that they are runes.
If you can't find in in here, probably not. :)
http://www.google.com/search?q=runic...w=1397&bih=734

Thought as much
 

Hola, laEspada - Many thanks for your quick reply. Although I don't have the specifics or anything like your background in edged weapons at all, I kind of thought as much, given the generally "loose" nature of claims on eBay.

Like you, I doubt that those three characters are actual Viking runes (possibly Latvian, Belorussian or Ukranian - who knows?), nor is the bronze material any more definitive. I imagine a lot of rings (and bracelets and knives and etc.) were made of bronze during this era. They actually named an Age of Man's history after it -- the Bronze Age.

Still, over time, one gets to know what to look out for, and when unsure, I tend to bow out of the bidding, if in it at all. (You wouldn't believe all the creative phrasing used to skirt the genuineness issue: "Bronze ring from the AGE of the Vikings," as if that alone confers definitive origin as Viking. That's like calling every horror movie made in the 1960s as coming "from the AGE of GODZILLA!" Oy.

Thanks again for your prompt reply and your informative, thoughtful answer. I'll hold my cards for now and keep an eye out for only those that I KNOW to be of Viking manufacture.

Ciao for now!
Bjern Bjorn Yestjerday.

Thanks, Dave, laEspada, Jens!
 

Many thanks to you three for your timely and helpful replies. As Jens said, these things on actual engravings can morph over time and lighting conditions, so . . . it's kind of a toss-up. Without other Viking identification, I'd have to pass on this one.

thanks again!

John

Hi John,

Even without a solid Viking attribution, I'm always a sucker for bronze antiquities, be they from the Bronze Age or later. And I'm always a sucker for early symbols or writing (so as you might imagine, I like the ring :)). I had the chance a few years ago to acquire some Celtic bronze from a Bronze Age site on the Danube, and I was a little surprised at the simplicity of form and shape all the items had in common...

With regards to this ring though, regardless of whether it came from the Roman Mediterranean or the British Isles, I still like it... Just like the weapons we all collect, it too is a tangible, little time machine resplendent in history and with its own stories to tell. :)

Cheers,
Chris