Dalecarlian runes

Dalecarlian runes
Dalecarlian runes.
Dalecarlian runes
Type alphabet
Languages North Germanic languages
Time period 16th to 20th centuries
Parent systems
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

The Dalecarlian runes, or dalrunes, was a late version of the runic script that was in use in the Swedish province of Dalarna until the 20th century.[1] The province has consequently been called the "last stronghold of the Germanic script".[1]

When Carl Linnaeus visited Älvdalen in Dalarna in 1734, he made the following note in his diary:

The peasants in the community here, apart from using rune staves, still today write their names and ownership marks with runic letters, as is seen on walls, corner stones, bowls, etc. Which one does not know to be still continued anywhere else in Sweden.[2]

The Dalecarlian runes were derived from the medieval runes, but the runic letters were combined with Latin ones, and Latin letters would progressively replace the runes. At the end of the 16th century, the Dalecarlian runic inventory was almost exclusively runic, but during the following centuries more and more individual runes were replaced with Latin characters. In its last stage almost every rune had been replaced with a Latin letter, or with special versions that were influenced by Latin characters.[3]

Although the use of runes in Dalarna is an ancient tradition, the oldest dated inscription is from the last years of the 16th century. It is a bowl from the village of Åsen which says "Anders has made (this) bowl anno 1596". Scholars have registered more than 200 Dalecarlian runic inscriptions, mostly on wood, and they can be seen on furniture, bridal boxes, on the buildings of shielings, kitchen blocks, bowls, measuring sticks, etc. Most inscriptions are brief but there are also longer inscriptions.[2]

The Dalecarlian runes remained in some use up to the 20th century. Some discussion remains on whether their use was an unbroken tradition throughout this period or whether people in the 19th and 20th centuries learned runes from books written on the subject. The character inventory was mainly used for transcribing Elfdalian.

Table

The following image, published in the scholarly periodical Fornvännen in 1906, presents the evolution of the Dalecarlian runes from the earliest attested ones in the late 16th century until a version from 1832:

Dalrunor.png

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jansson 1997, p.175
  2. ^ a b Jansson 1997, p.174
  3. ^ Enoksen 1998, p. 180

References

  • Enoksen, Lars Magnar (1998). Runor: historia, tydning, tolkning. Historiska Media, Falun. ISBN 91-88930-32-7
  • Jansson, Sven B. F. (1997 [1987]). Runes in Sweden. Stockholm, Gidlund. ISBN 917844067 X

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dalecarlian dialects — Dalecarlian Dalmål Spoken in Sweden Region Dalarna County Native speakers – Language family …   Wikipedia

  • Medieval runes — Type alphabet Languages North Germanic languages Time period 12th to 17th centuries …   Wikipedia

  • Runic script — Rune redirects here. For other uses, see Rune (disambiguation). Runic Type Alphabet Languages Germanic languages Time period …   Wikipedia

  • Younger Futhark — Infobox Writing system name=Younger Futhark type=alphabet languages=Old Norse time=8th to 12th centuries fam1=Phoenician alphabet fam2=Greek alphabet (Cumae variant) fam3=Old Italic alphabets fam4=Elder Futhark sisters=Anglo Saxon runes… …   Wikipedia

  • Elfdalian language — Övdalian/Elfdalian Övdalsk Spoken in Sweden Region Elfdalia (Dalecarlia County) (Northern Europe) Native speakers Around 3000  (date missing) …   Wikipedia

  • Elfdalian — Infobox Language name=Elfdalian nativename=Övdalsk familycolor=Indo European states=Sweden region=Elfdalia (Dalecarlia County) (Northern Europe) speakers=Around 3000 fam2=Germanic fam3=North Germanic fam4=East Scandinavian fam4=Dalecarlian… …   Wikipedia

  • Kensington Runestone — Infobox Runestone name = Kensington Runestone picture = caption = rundataid = country = USA region = Minnesota city = Originally Kensington currently located at Alexandria, Minnesota produced = contested artist = contested style = text native =… …   Wikipedia

  • Dalarna — Dalecarlians redirects here. For the film, see Dalecarlians (film). Not to be confused with Dalarna County. Dalarna Flag …   Wikipedia

  • Runic alphabet — Infobox Writing system name=Runic type=Alphabet languages=Germanic languages time=Elder Futhark from the 2nd century AD. fam1=Phoenician alphabet fam2=Greek alphabet (Cumae variant) fam3=Old Italic alphabet sisters=Latin alphabet children=Younger …   Wikipedia

  • Runic inscriptions — A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of Elder Futhark (some 350 items, dating to between the 2nd and 8th centuries AD), Anglo Frisian… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”