Well, I've finished my attempt at Rune assignment #2 and I'm shocked to find
the articles listed with their solutions to be quite.... strange. My
interpretation at least makes sense.

I would like some help on polishing my Old Norse translation.

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The Kvinneby amulet by Lazarus Chernik

Beginning with the fish, we may assume that the inscription is primarily
Christian.

We find this supported by the first 8 runes spelling out Christ's name:
'kiristiR'

Assuming that the bindrunes actually say something, we break out the runes
that make up each of them and lay them out. Then we order them the same
within each bindrune. The pattern begins with the primary letter as read
normally, such as 'k' for the first bindrune, and then begin from the top
and work our way down so that the following words appear: 'kanR rkk smk kR
þk'. If this is correct then, we should be able to find a successfull and
simple translation for each of the bindrunes.

Bindrune #1a: kanR = konR = Son
Bindrune #1b: kanR = kon[on]R = King
[Isa]
Bindrune #2: rkk = rekk = Man/Warrior
[Isa]
Bindrune #3: smk = samka = gathering
[Tyr]
[Isa]
Bindrune #4: kR = gaR = flock
Bindrune #5: þk = thykk = thick

Embedded sentance reads:
'konR rekk samka gor þokk'
"Son/King gathers warriors (into a) thick flock."

We may be done here but just in case:
The rune 'Tyr' may stand for itself as has been shown to occur in other
inscriptions (just as the 'Madr' does).

Now the embedded sentance reads:
'konR rekk samka [tyr] gorþokk'
"Son/King gathers [god's] warriors (into a) thick flock."

Since both King and Son are common names for Christ in every Christian
culture AND the proposed sentance translation uses common Christian
terminology, 'flock', and describes a common Christian theme, uniting
disparate people/kingdoms under a single cause, the final proposed
interpretation of the this part of the inscription is, in all likelyhood,
accurate. The introduction of 'Tyr' into it may or may not be original, but
it doesn't change or harm the meaning in any way, and may actually
contribute to it positively. Especially, when trying to identify it's owner.

The inscription without the hidden sentance may be transliterated thus:

kiristiRþirbirk
bufimiRfultihu
þisþeRuisinbral
tilufranbufaþorkith
ansmiRþemhamrisamhuR
hafikamflyfraniluit
feRekiafbufakuþiRu
untiRhanumaukyfiRhan
um (fish of Christ)

Breaking up into sensical words:

kiristiR þir
birk bufi miR fultihu þis
þeR uisin bralt ilu fran bufa
þor kit hans miR þem hamri sam
huR hafi kam
fly fran iluit
feR eki af bufa
kuþiRu untiR hanum auk yfiR hanum (fish of Christ)

Putting into Old Norse (to the best of my limited ability):

Kristur þer
bjorg Bufi meir fullhu(gi) þis
þer visin brolta illr fran Bufa
Þor gæt hann mier þem hamr sem
Hver hafi koma?
Fly fra illvæti
Fara eigi af Bufa
Goðir undir hann ok yfir hann
(fish of Christ)

Translating into English:

Christ,
protector of Bufi, your great hero.
You certainly (commandingly?) toss evil from Bufi.
Thor guards with his great hammer.
Who has come?
Evil, Flee from here!
Fare not towards Bufi!
Gods are under him and over him!
(fish of Christ)

Bufi is a Christian man, for whom war is no stranger, and he is probably a
figure of prominence. The inscription is long and educated and most likely
knowledgeable of old heathen traditions, hard to die out. He probably
considers himself a proud warrior with Christ and/or right on his side.

The combination of Christian and Norse heathen imagery is not uncommon in
charms and invocations. Dr. Stephen Flowers translation of the Icelandic
text "Galdrabok" has many such examples. It's a practical 'Hedge your bets'
form of prayer for protection. The addition of the 'Tyr' rune to the
bindrune sentance is particularly notable because the heathen god Tyr was
the one warriors worshipped in order to achieve revenge and/or righteousness
by victory. The invocation of Thor is quite common and survived in Iceland
well into the 21st century in folk traditions. Thor's hammer evolved into
many germanic traditions for whom the original symbolism may have been lost.
The commentary of 'God' or 'Gods' being both over and under him is
expecially interesting, because the Norse heathen world-view named 9 worlds,
two of which lie above this one, and 2 of which lie below, with an
additional one each in the four cardinal directions. In that world-view,
Gods often travelled through all the worlds, and some prominent gods (Baldr
and Hel) actually lived below this world. Overall, the imagery in this
suggests that Bufi, or the one who carved it, was not yet willing to put all
of his faith in one religion alone.

©Lazarus Chernik 04-23-02, All rights reserved.
lazarus@...

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I'm sure that the line breaks may be better done if any alliteration could
be considered but I'm not that good yet. I'm going to tweak this and turn it
in as an article for someone. Comments anyone?

-Laz