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Imer The Narsaq stick[a] is a","datePublished":"2019-04-13","dateModified":"2019-04-13","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki19\/author\/lordneo\/#Person","name":"lordneo","url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki19\/author\/lordneo\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9645c498c9701c88b89b8537773dd7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9645c498c9701c88b89b8537773dd7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Enzyklop\u00e4die","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/wiki4\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/download.jpg","url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/wiki4\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/download.jpg","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/53\/Narsaq_stick_drawing_by_Imer.jpg\/300px-Narsaq_stick_drawing_by_Imer.jpg","url":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/53\/Narsaq_stick_drawing_by_Imer.jpg\/300px-Narsaq_stick_drawing_by_Imer.jpg","height":"198","width":"300"},"url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki19\/narsaq-stick-wikipedia\/","wordCount":3709,"articleBody":"  An illustration of the four sides of the Narsaq stick by runologist Lisbeth M. ImerThe Narsaq stick[a] is a pine twig inscribed with runic symbols dating to ca. 1000. The stick was discovered in Narsaq in Greenland in 1953 and was quickly seen as a significant find, as it was the first Viking Age runic inscription discovered in Greenland. The stick has two sentences of ambiguous and obscure runic text. One suggested interpretation of the first sentence is “He who sat on a tub saw a tub” while another is “On the sea, the sea, the sea is the ambush of the \u00c6sir”. The other sentence refers to a maiden named “Bibrau” who may be sitting on the sky. The runic alphabet is carved on one side of the stick in a short-twig form. Yet another side has a series of carefully carved symbols of unclear meaning, possibly cipher runes or some sort of tally.Scholars have suggested various possibilities for the purpose of the stick. Relatively mundane ideas include that the text is a play on words, a pedagogical exercise in runic ambiguity or a riddle. Magical and religious purposes have also been suggested, with the stick being a pagan plea for protection against the dangers of the sea or possibly a case of love magic. Various parallels have been suggested, particularly with runic inscriptions from Bergen in Norway.Table of ContentsDiscovery and archaeological context[edit]Description[edit]The first sentence[edit]The second sentence[edit]Cipher runes?[edit]Purpose and parallels[edit]References[edit]Works cited[edit]Discovery and archaeological context[edit]  The site where the Narsaq stick was discovered. A sign gives information on the archaeological excavations.Remains of old habitation in Narsaq were first discovered by Aage Roussell in 1935. The site was placed under conservation order but in 1945 the restrictions were lifted since surface examination of the ruins had not indicated that they were especially valuable. In 1953 a local man, K. N. Christensen, was collecting mud for agriculture at the site of the ruins. He discovered artifacts made of bone and wood in the mud, including a runic stick. Christensen stopped digging and sent the artifacts to the National Museum of Denmark.In the summer of 1954, archaeologist Christen Leif Pagh Veb\u00e6k undertook excavations at the site and found various remains, including arrowheads which could be dated to the oldest period of Norse settlement in Greenland. Further excavations were conducted in 1958 and 1962 and smaller-scale studies took place in 1998\u20132005. Radiocarbon analysis of the site confirms that the oldest layer dates to ca. 1000. The stick was found in the middle of the living area of the farm. Five other objects with runic symbols have been discovered at the site, all with short and difficult to interpret inscriptions.The Narsaq stick was the first Viking Age runic inscription to be discovered in Greenland. Writing in 1961, runologist Erik Moltke described the find as “epoch-making”[b] and more important than even the Kingittorsuaq stone.Description[edit]The pine stick is natural and only slightly worked. Erik Moltke argued that it must have been carved in Greenland since only in a tree-poor country would a self-respecting rune-carver deign to use such a wretched piece of wood. When found, it was broken into two pieces but this did not cause much damage to the runes. The stick was later glued back together. It has a length of 42.6 cm and the broader sides have a width of 2.4 cm at the widest.The four sides were labeled A, B, C and D by Moltke. Sides A and C are the broad sides and sides B and D are the narrow sides.[c] Side A has an inscription with linguistic content and Side C has what looks like cipher runes. These are both elegantly cut. Side B has the younger fu\u00feark alphabet. It uses the same form of runes as side A but may have been cut by a less skilled hand. Some additional marks on two of the sides appear to be mere scribbles or tests. The inscription on side A uses short-twig runes but the form of the s rune is unusual, it has the form normally used for the R rune.The runes on side A apparently form two sentences each starting with an \u00d7 sign. The inscription reads as follows: \u00d7 \u0105\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: is\u00a0: \u0105sa\u00a0: sat \u00d7 bibrau\u00a0: haitir\u00a0: mar\u00a0: su\u00a0: is\u00a0: sitr\u00a0: \u0105\u00a0: blan\u1ecb  The final i is uncertain and it is possible that something is lost at the end.The first sentence[edit]  The ambiguous first sentence: \u0105\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: is\u00a0: \u0105sa\u00a0: sat with an unusual type of s rune.The first sentence (\u0105\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: sa\u00a0: is\u00a0: \u0105sa\u00a0: sat) is highly ambiguous. Runic sa can stand for a number of Old Norse words, including the pronoun s\u00e1 (“that one”), the verb s\u00e1 (“saw”) and the noun forms s\u00e1 (“tub”) and s\u00e6 (“sea”). There are similarities between this sentence and runic inscriptions from Norway, in particular B 566 from Bergen which reads in part huatsasaerisasasiksasaerisasa and has been taken to mean “What did he see who looked into the tub? He saw himself, he who looked into the tub.” (Hvat s\u00e1 s\u00e1, er \u00ed s\u00e1 s\u00e1? Sik s\u00e1 s\u00e1, er \u00ed s\u00e1 s\u00e1.) The text is then a play on three s\u00e1 homonyms. Texts similar to that on B 566 are also found on B 617 from Bergen and A 162 from Trondheim and there is a further possible parallel on a bone discovered in Sigtuna in Sweden in 1995.An interpretation of the first sentence of the Narsaq stick as a play on homonyms was first proposed by J\u00f3n Helgason who took the sentence to mean “He who sat on a tub saw a tub.” (\u00c1 s\u00e1 s\u00e1 s\u00e1 es \u00e1 s\u00e1 sat.), noting as a parallel an Icelandic quatrain which plays on s\u00e1 homonyms. This interpretation has been called “very convincing”[d] and “the most appealing”.[e]Other interpretations have been proposed. Erik Moltke took the first sentence to mean “On the sea, the sea, the sea is the ambush of the \u00c6sir.” (\u00c1 s\u00e6, s\u00e6, s\u00e6 es \u00c1sa s\u00e1t), indicating that the sea is treacherous for anyone not favored by the gods. Helgi Gu\u00f0mundsson further suggested that the gods in question would be \u00c6gir and R\u00e1n and that s\u00e1t should be understood as “dwelling place”. Another proposal was offered by \u00d3lafur Halld\u00f3rsson: “He who did not see the sea saw the sea.” (\u00c1 s\u00e6 s\u00e1 s\u00e1 es \u00e1 s\u00e6 s\u00e1at). In this interpretation the sentence is a riddle with the answer ‘mirage’ given in the second sentence.The second sentence[edit]  The second sentence: bibrau\u00a0: haitir\u00a0: mar\u00a0: su\u00a0: is\u00a0: sitr\u00a0: \u0105\u00a0: blan\u1ecb. The a and b runes have switched places compared to more common short-twig usage.The second sentence (bibrau\u00a0: haitir\u00a0: mar\u00a0: su\u00a0: is\u00a0: sitr\u00a0: \u0105\u00a0: blan\u1ecb) is mostly straightforward but the first and last words are difficult. The sentence can be translated as “bibrau is the name of the maiden who sits on blan\u1ecb” (bibrau heitir m\u00e6r s\u00fa es sitr \u00e1 blan\u1ecb). The word or name bibrau is unknown elsewhere. Moltke took its first component to be bif- (“movement” or “shaking”) as in Bifr\u00f6st and gave Bifrau, Bifrey and Bifr\u00f3 as possible renderings. The b rune is then used for a sound more often represented by the f rune. This is a relatively archaic feature, found in some North Atlantic inscriptions such as the Ballaugh stone cross. \u00d3lafur Halld\u00f3rsson suggested the rendering Bifbr\u00e1 which he took to mean “mirage” like Icelandic t\u00edbr\u00e1 and Faroese lognbr\u00e1 and to answer what he saw as a riddle in the first sentence. Helgi Gu\u00f0mundsson saw Bifr\u01eb\u0301 as the most likely option and points out that Norwegian and Swedish r\u00e5 is a word for v\u00e6ttir or mythical beings.The ending of the word blan\u1ecb is uncertain and Moltke suggested blanum as a reconstruction. He took this to be dative of Bl\u00e1inn, one of the names of the primordial giant out of whose skull the blue sky was made. The sense would be that the maiden sits on the blue sky. Helgi Gu\u00f0mundsson argues that the expected dative of Bl\u00e1inn is Bl\u00e1ni and that this fits well with what can be seen of the runic word. The sense “blue sky” has been adapted, with some hesitation, by several scholars. An alternative proposal by J\u00f3n Helgason is to take blan\u1ecb to represent bl\u00e1nni, the dative singular of bl\u00e1 (“pond” or “marsh”) with the suffixed article. J\u00f3n proposes this with the caveat that this is a rather early inscription for the suffixed article to make an appearance.Cipher runes?[edit]  The inscription on side C of the Narsaq stick as presented by Bernard Mees.Side C of the stick is carefully carved with 49 signs using the same technique as on the A side. The row begins with four apparently normal runes, aaal, but then continues with a repeated symbol with the appearance of a bind-rune formed of k and reversed upside-down k. These symbols are divided into groups with one-point division marks. In the middle of the line there are again some normal runes, aaaaa, followed by more bind-runes of the same type.  The meaning of this row of symbols is unknown. Moltke compared the carving to known systems of coded runes based on the principle of dividing the runic alphabet into three groups (\u00e6ttir) and referring to each rune by the number of the group and its location within the group. He was unable to arrive at an interpretation in this manner. Nevertheless, Moltke argued that the symbols are carved and organized with such care that they must have a meaning. Marie Stoklund similarly comments that “The inscription has not yet been deciphered, though it looks as if it ought to make sense”. Jonas Nordby is less certain that the carvings are based on a cipher system, suggesting that they might be some form of tally.Purpose and parallels[edit]Erik Moltke saw the Narsaq stick as a pagan artifact with religious or magical significance. In his interpretation, the maiden Bifrau is a benevolent mythological being as well as possibly an asterism. She is invoked for protection on the treacherous sea. The core of the magic could be encoded in the cipher runes which might contain the name of the runemaster or a magical word. Helgi Gu\u00f0mundsson pointed out that a virgin sitting on the sky was reminiscent of Christian ideas but that this did not seem to throw any light on the text. He also suggested a similarity to lines from the Eddic poem Vaf\u00fer\u00fa\u00f0nism\u00e1l: “Hr\u00e6svelgr he is called who sits at the end of the sky”.[f]In addition to other inscriptions with word play on s\u00e1, scholars have pointed more generally to inscriptions and manuscript texts containing repeated s+vowel elements. Two runic sticks from Bergen (B 524 and B 404) contain s+vowel formulas next to references to attractive women. This has been seen as a parallel to the ‘maiden’ and repeated sa of the Narsaq stick. Scholars have speculated that some form of love magic was involved. There are also obscure occurrences of s+vowel repetitions in manuscript texts including sisisill bivivill in a manuscript of the Prose Edda and sa sa sa sa sa salutem in domino sa in a manuscript from Bergen.J\u00f3n Helgason suggested that the stick had a pedagogic function with the inscription intended to illustrate the ambiguity of runic writing. He makes a lighthearted suggestion that the carver was Erik the Red himself and the pupil his son Leif and stages a conversation between the two.^ Also known under the designations GR 76 and Narsaq \u00d817a 1.^ Danish epokeg\u00f8rende.^ Imer has another enumeration of the sides; Imer-A is Moltke-A, Imer-B is Moltke-D, Imer-C is Moltke-B, Imer-D is Moltke-C.^ Swedish mycket \u00f6vertygande.^ Norwegian det mest tiltalende.^ Old Norse Hr\u00e6svelgr heitir, er sitr \u00e1 himins enda.References[edit]Works cited[edit]Imer, Lisbeth M. (2017). Peasants and Prayers: The Inscriptions of Norse Greenland. Odense: University of Southern Denmark Press. ISBN\u00a0978-8776023454.Knirk, James (1994). “Learning to write with runes in medieval Norway”.  In Lindell, Inger (ed.). Medeltida skrift- och spr\u00e5kkultur. Nordisk medeltidsliteracy i ett diglossiskt och digrafiskt perspektiv II. Nio f\u00f6rel\u00e4sningar fr\u00e5n ett symposium i Stockholm v\u00e5ren 1992. Stockholm: S\u00e4llskapet Runica et Medi\u00e6valia. pp.\u00a0169\u2013212. ISBN\u00a09188568024.MacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006). Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. Boydell Press. ISBN\u00a01843832054.Sanness Johnsen, Ingrid (1968). Stuttruner i vikingtidens innskrifter. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.Stoklund, Marie (1993). “Objects with runic inscriptions from \u00d8 17a”. Meddelelser om Gr\u00f8nland, Man & Society. 18: 47\u201352.Veb\u00e6k, C. L. (1993). “Narsaq \u2013 a Norse landn\u00e1ma farm”. Meddelelser om Gr\u00f8nland, Man & Society. 18."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki19\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Enzyklop\u00e4die"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki19\/narsaq-stick-wikipedia\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Narsaq stick – Wikipedia"}}]}]