Have a look at the following runic inscription. It was inscribed in
Stafangr (stave-fjord) shortly after a battle in which Ólafr Helgi
participated. What a fine fjord of staves these runes are!
alf(ga)ir bristr raisti stain þina aft arlik drotin sin
OI: Álfgeirr prestr reisti stein þenna apt Erling drótin sinn
ME: Álfgeirr priest raised stone this after Erlingr his lord
(i)s ain uas (ur) a(r)n(i) uiltr is han barþisk uiþ olaif
OI: es einn vas ýr/úr arni véltr es hann barðisk við Ólaf
ME: who one(=alone) was out of hearth(=home/life) tricked/deceived
when he fought against Ólafr
Wow! These runes may well have been raised by a 'priest', but they
still have a lot to say about the language of our less than Judeo-
Christian-Islamic ancestors. Although this language is very close to
standardized Old Norse, it does show some signs of antiquity. Notice
how the adverb 'aft' (ON eptir) is short when used before the object
in a non-sentence-final position. Notice also how 'var' (was) is
spelled 'uas' (as in the oldest Icelandic) and 'er' (who/when) 'es'
(also as in the oldest Icelandic). This inscription uses a turned
around áss-rune to indicate 'o' - which is not the case in other
inscriptions from Norway during this period. Although this spelling
was shortly to become standard, comtemporary inscriptions from
other 'fylki' (districts) use this rune only for nasalized 'a' and
its u-mutation (ao, hooked o). Finally, notice that the name 'Óláfr'
is spelled 'Ólaif(r)' (the inscriptional case is accusative). Other
districts must have had 'Álaifr', as this is both the expected form
and the form which actually occurs in comtemporary skaldic poetry.
The Proto-Norse form of the name is *Anulaibaz ('b' is pronounced in
medial positions as 'v'). In East Norse inscriptions (including also
the Norwegian ones) from the early Viking Age, the ýr-rune can only
represent 'R', but in West Norse the 'R' has already become 'r' by
900. This can be proven from inscriptional evidence. In fact, West
Norse inscriptions from the whole West Norse area show 'r' instead
of 'R' by 900 (Norvegr, Ísland, Færeyjar, Orkneyjar, Suðreyjar,
Hjaltland - everyplace 'christianized' by Óláfr Tryggvason according
to Ari and other old sources). Lastly, these runes have no form of
punctuation. They are in classic 'memorial' style. This inscription
has tremendous historical significance, as well as being of interest
linguistically. May you enjoy the view from this stave-fjord cross!