2,000-Year-Old Knife With Denmark’s Oldest Runes Found On Funen

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - When museum inspector and archaeologist Jakob Bonde dug up a  2,000-year-old knife with a runic inscription from a burial ground near Odense on the island of Funen, he did not know the find's significance. Of course, Bonde was aware the ancient knife was valuable, but who would have thought that its runic inscription was 800 years older than the runes on the Jelling stones?

Aerial view of a field near Odense. Credit: Adobe Stock - dudlajzov

Runes played an essential part in the lives of the Vikings. As previously mentioned on Ancient Pages, "the word "rune" comes from Old Norse and means "Secret knowledge and wisdom." Thousands of inscriptions in stone, wood, and metal have been unearthed, and each item gives us a glimpse into a culture that believed in the power and protection of the gods, telling fortunes and casting spells, and the glory of war.

The Vikings believed runes were created when their chief god Odin speared himself to the cosmic world tree, Yggdrasil, in hopes of receiving secret knowledge. The great Norse god Odin himself was regarded as the "Father of the Runes."

According to Norse mythology, Odin speared himself to a tree so that he could receive the knowledge of the script. Suspended for nine windy nights, he learned their mysteries, which he passed on to his people." 1

"In "Havamal" (or 'Words of the High One'), which is one of the poems in the Codex Regius of the Elder Edda, it describes how to obtain the priceless runes, Odin voluntarily sacrificed himself on the Yggdrasil tree without bread and drink, until he died." 2

Once Odin learned the secrets of the runes, he shared his knowledge with the other gods, and Heimdallr revealed much of these treasures to the people, but certainly not all of them.

Every runic discovery provides information about the lives of Norse people and Vikings.

The find on Funen was unexpected but of great importance.

"At first, we thought it was an ordinary iron knife, which is interesting in itself, but nothing unusual. It was only when one of our conservators was gently cleaning it that she really opened her eyes," Bonde told the Danish Radio (DR).

Once the rust and dirt had been removed from the small knife blade, five engraved runes became visible, and it was obvious this was no ordinary iron knife.

The five runes are interpreted as the word 'hirila', which in Old Norse can mean 'Little Sword'.

Archaeologists are currently unable to determine whether 'hirila' is the name of the knife or the name of the knife's owner. Still, the knife was undoubtedly extremely valuable to the people who buried it 2,000 years ago, explains Jakob Bonde, and it has not become less significant since.

"It is a unique experience to stand with such an old and finished written language. It is one of the most amazing things an archaeologist can experience because it is an incredibly rare find. With such a find in our hands, we come face to face with the past.

Expand for references