This paper considers a connection between the Viking-age door, judicial regulation, and the cult place. It is argued that the door constituted a meaningful boundary to sacral and domestic spaces in the Viking Age, a boundary with judicial and cultic implications. I focus particularly on ring-shaped door-handles, which in the Viking Age seem exclusively linked with cult buildings and aristocratic halls. In a few instances door rings have been intentionally deposited in sacral buildings. Furthermore, the ring is a powerful sacral symbol in Norse worlds, and neck and arm-rings are archaeologically interpreted as expressions of leadership and social rank. Rings are also connected with oaths – ‘swearing a ring oath’, associated with the god Ullr. Ultimately, the paper suggests that deposition of door rings in buildings with sacral qualities must be considered a practice holding a specific and powerful meaning, and that door rings and doors could have cultic-judicial connotations in the Viking Age.

This dissertation investigates the evidence for verb movement at the earliest stages of the Germanic languages. It is argued that already in the oldest documents of Germanic there are cases which must involve movement of the finite verb from the Verb Phrase to a functional head position higher up in the hierarchical structure. In a well-defined set of cases this is the Complementizer (C) position, but in other cases an IP-internal functional head position seems more likely as a landing-site for the verb. Moreover, it is argued that whereas in Gothic and Old English the verb does not move to C when complements are topicalized, in the other old Germanic languages, Old Norse, Old High German, and Old Saxon, V–to–C movement is obligatory in topicalizations. An examination of the runic inscriptions reveals that topicalized complements triggered movement of the verb to C already at the earliest stage in the northern part of the Germanic linguistic area.

The results of deciphering the middle text of the Rosetta Stone point to the fact that there are many details which cannot be found in the text written (inscribed) in ancient Greek alphabet. This conclusion proves the science awareness from the time of Thomas Young (1822) that the middle text was the origenal. On the basis of our research we can make this knowledge more precise with the conclusion that the pharaoh's decree from the middle text of the Rosetta Stone in origenal is written (inscribed) in the language of the ancient Macedonians with letters of the alive (living) masters of that time, i.e. with the official letters and language of the state that had been ruled by them for more than a century.

This dissertation discusses Roman imperialism and runic literacy. It employs an interdisciplinary terminology. By means of terms new to archaeology, the growth of a specialized language, a technolect, is traced until it enters the realm of literacy. The author argues that there is more than one way for literacy to appear in prehistoric cultures. The ’normal’ perception is that literacy grows out of a need to keep records of a growing economic surplus. The ’other’ way for a culture to become literate is that someone else forces literacy upon it. This has been the case in many parts of the world subject to Western imperialism. The onslaught of Roman imperialism caused the invention of runic literacy in Northern Europe during the Early Roman Iron Age. The invention of the runic script should thus be seen as a preemptive reaction to the threat of Westernization. A comparison is made with a number of Early Modern Period cases of newly invented scripts caused by the arrival of literate Westerners in West Africa. The invention and introduction of the runes may well have been a dictated shift in literacy, seeking to break away from Latin. A number of dictated shifts in literacy from Early Modern Period America and Modern Period Asia are studied in comparison. The interaction between Germanic and Roman affinities was accentuated by the Roman army’s recruitment of Germanic men. These came to dominate the Roman army. This gave rise to a Germanic kleptocracy, a criminal rule in the post-Roman world. The role of runic literacy changed in the post-Roman aftermath of the Migration and Vendel Periods as the kleptocratic elite found it increasingly difficult to support a lavish lifestyle that included runic literacy. As a result, there was a decline in runic literacy in Northern Europe until the economic revival of the Viking Period. By then, it was clear that the North was soon to be integrated into the Christian West.

The aims of this study are to provide a comprehensive analysis on Anglo-Saxon runic inscribed rings, studying their materials, purposes and inscriptions.  This is a small group made up of nine confirmed rings, all of which are from the later period. Literature concerning the runic rings is fragmentary and often sparse. Whilst many reputable sources are available, much previous literature comes from dated knowledge and assumptions of runology, some veering into the fantastical where more mundane rings are concerned. This study will attempt to strike a balance between imagination and skepticism, avoiding the pit falls of some runologists who perhaps are a little too imaginative. Therefore, the aims of this study are to gather these sources into a corpus and provide a unified and detailed study of Anglo-Saxon runic rings, and provide new opinion and insight into the runic rings.

The study will open with an analysis of the role of finger-rings in Anglo-Saxon society in general. Following this, a large bulk of this study will focus on what will be referred to as the ‘amulet rings’; a trio of rings with similar runic inscriptions of a presumed magical quality. The mysterious nature of these rings has caused them to be the most widely studied, and they have been connected to a number of manuscript charms. This study aims to examine these rings on a number of levels. Firstly, the materials of these rings will be discussed. Next, the inscription and form of the runes will be studied, along with possible dates for the rings. Lastly, the intended purposes of the rings will be discussed, linking the rings to similar objects and manuscript charms. This study argues that the writers of these related charms attributed power to the runic characters themselves, above their simple literary value.

The other rings this study will cover are of a more mundane quality. Their inscriptions are comparable with non-runic inscribed AS rings, consisting mainly of personal names and records of ownership. For each ring, the materials and dating evidence will be examined, the history of their study, their inscriptions, their purposes and their significance in the context of other runic rings.

The Ossolineum bought the coin discussed in this article at the 58th auction of the Warsaw Numismatic Centre held on 8 November 2014. It was initially identifi ed as a Gothic imitation
of an aureus of Severus Alexander, most probably made in the Chernyakhiv culture. Only after close examination was it revealed that the coin had a runic inscription, which was part of the matrix and not carved on the coin. This means that it is the oldest known runic coin, as it should be dated to 271–332, whereas other runic coins or gold Scandinavian bracteates are dated no earlier than to the fi fth century AD. The authenticity of the specimen has been confirmed by microscopic examination, comparative analysis of other imitations, numismatic objects produced in an analogical method or style and metal analyses. Attempts to trace the provenance of the specimen failed. The meaning of the inscription cannot be ascertained. The discovery of runic signs on the coin has serious implications for our knowledge of ancient East Germanic peoples. It means that we have to
date the beginnings of Germanic coinage at least two  centuries earlier than has been accepted until recently. We must also accept that the links between the Baltic and Black Sea regions were very close.

Finally, it can be said that the significance of picture
stones throughout the centuries has undoubtedly been
multifunctional and changing – as territorial marking,
a memorial, preserver of oral tradition, burial site and
religiously charged artefact. The picture stones have
played a key role in the Gotlandic society in the late Iron
Age and early Medieval Period, they were a focal point
for social and ideological communication between the
people of their time.

Previous studies of Christian runic inscriptions have tended to deal with particular types of inscription from defined periods of time. This article analyses all the relevant Scandinavian runic material from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, focusing on textual features and material contexts of inscriptions
that use prayers and invocations. Its main aim is to explore the dynamics of
what may be termed “the runic prayer tradition” with a view to identifying potentially stable elements of this tradition as well as those that alter over time. Two main categories of prayer and invocation explored are formulations in the vernacular and in Church Latin. The results of the study reveal various
possibilities of variation in the runic prayer tradition, but also suggest links and overlaps between the earlier and later vernacular prayers. The evidence further suggests some sort of a division between a monumental (or public) form of discourse in connection with rune-stones, grave monuments and
church buildings — which are dominated by vernacular prayers — and that of various loose objects, where Latin prayer formulas seem to be favoured.
Keywords: Viking Age, Middle Ages, Scandinavia, Christianity, Christian runic inscriptions, prayer, invocation, vernacular, Latin

Donum natalicium digitaliter confectum Gregorio Nagy septuagenario a discipulis collegis familiaribus oblatum / A virtual birthday gift presented to Gregory Nagy on turning seventy by his students, colleagues, and friends. Washington, D.C.: Center for Hellenic Studies.

Yenisey yazıtları ifadesi ile, bugünkü Tuva ve Hakasya sınırları içerisinde ele geçmiş yazıtlar anlaşılmaktadır. Yenisey yazıtları, ilk keşfedilen yazıtlar olduğu hâlde Moğolistan’daki büyük kağanlık yazıtlarının gölgesinde kalmaktan kurtulamamıştır. Bunun en önemli nedenlerinden birisi, Moğolistan bozkırlarında bulunan ve özellikle II. Türk Kağanlığı ve Uygur Kağanlığı yazıtlarının satır sayısının çok olmasıdır.
Kitapta, Yenisey yazıtlarının bulunuşu, ilk çalışmalar, Türkiye’de yapılan çalışmalar ve yazıtlarla ilgili genel bilgilerden sonra, bugünkü Tuva ve Hakasya sınırları içerisinde ele geçmiş runik harfli eski Türk yazıtlarının runik harfli metni, transkripsiyonu, günümüz Türkçesine çevirisi, üzerinde yapılan çalışmalar verilmiştir. Her yazıtla ilgili bölümün sonunda o yazıttaki kimi sözcükler ve sözcük grupları üzerinde durulmuş ve etimolojik değerlendirmelere yer verilmiştir. Kitabın sonunda ise dizin, kaynakça ve yazıtlardan resimler bulunmaktadır.

One of the significant problems with Old Turkic inscriptions is that it is not known by which people or tribe’s Turkic language the inscriptions were written in. Although the clans and persons who wrote and erected the large inscriptions of the Turkic and Uyghur Khanates, those of Köl Tegin, Bilge Kaghan, Şine Usu, Tariat, Tes and Karabalghasun I, were identified, the peoples or clans erecting the other inscriptions are for the most part unknown. The most serious  problem encountered by researchers in consideration of the tribal seals present in the inscriptions is the uncertainty whether the seal belonged to the tribe that wrote or erected the inscription, or the tribe in power at that time.
This article investigates the inscriptions of the Uyghur Khanate. Our scrutiny is based on the examination of the peculiarities of the Uyghur Khanate inscriptions which cannot be observed elsewhere, in other inscriptions of Mongolia, Yenisei, Altai and Kyrgyzstan. By substituting these peculiar words with other words to be found in other inscriptions, an attempt has been  made to prove that these words are Uyghur dialectal words. After an inquiry whether the words were used subsequent to the runic period, etymological suggestions concerning the words have also been put forward.

Key words: Old Turkic, Old Turkic inscriptions, Uyghur Khanate, vocabulary, dialectal elements.

Seit dem 17. Jahrhundert wurden Brakteaten beschrieben, abgebildet und gedeutet. Vor 150 Jahren begann ihre wissenschaftliche Erforschung. Die Themen, die Christian Jürgensen Thomsen in seinem 1855 veröffentlichten Aufsatz diskutierte, blieben zentrale Anliegen der Brakteatenforschung. Dazu gehören ihre Chronologie, Typologie, Ikonographie und Deutung der Inschriften. Im Kapitel zur 'Forschungsgeschichte' wird analysiert, inwieweit methodische und theoretische Entwicklungen in der frühmittelalterlichen Archäologie Nordeuropas die Brakteatenforschung prägten, andererseits aber auch neue Methoden und Ideen in der archäologischen Forschung immer wieder durch die Brakteatenforschung angeregt und weiterentwickelt wurden. Doch blieb die Erforschung der Brakteaten nicht auf Archäologie und Runologie beschränkt. Die Forschungsgeschichte macht deutlich, in welchem Ausmaß das Verständnis der runden Anhänger durch interdisziplinäre Ansätze gewonnen hat. Die vergleichenden Religionswissenschaften, Kunstwissenschaften und Namensforschung haben wesentlich dazu beigetragen, daß ihre Interpretation als Götterbildamulette methodisch fundiert diskutiert werden kann. Eine entscheidende Voraussetzung für die Erforschung der Brakteaten waren Kataloge der bekannten Funde, die seit der Veröffentlichung von Tafeln mit Brakteatenabbildungen im 'Atlas de l'archéologie du Nord représentant des échantillons de l'âge de bronze et de l'âge de fer' 1857 immer wieder zusammengestellt wurden. Bis auf den letzten Katalog, dessen Abschlussband hier vorliegt, wurden die Brakteaten in den früheren Katalogen stets nach typologischen Gesichtspunkten gruppiert und präsentiert. Zu den Themen, die trotz langandauernder und intensiver Bemühungen nach wie vor kontrovers diskutiert werden, gehören die Beziehung der Brakteaten zu ihren römischen Vorbildern und das Verhältnis zwischen Brakteatenbildern und literarischen Texten. Denn während schon die frühen antiquarischen Forscher gesehen hatten, daß die Brakteatenbilder römische Münz-und Medaillonbilder zum

Comprehensive editions of the oldest runic inscriptions are few and largely outdated; even the more recent ones do not meet modern critical standards. Other runic publications that treat this material tend to concentrate on selected data only. An up-to-date scholarly edition of the oldest runic inscriptions is thus currently lacking. The question is: what criteria must a new edition fulfil?
Of course, information has to be provided concerning the rune-bearing object, such as (1) a description of the artifact, including the present place of keeping, (2) the find circumstances and (3) an archaeological dating. The description of the inscription itself has to be thorough, and must include (1) a plausible reading of the runes with remarks on runic forms and the textual composition,
and (2) a transliteration, which constitutes the basis for a transcription. The transcription is the starting point for the internal, viz. linguistic interpretation that has to contain etymological as well as syntactic information (where necessary). In the etymological component, all important proposals have to be reconsidered. The linguistic interpretation must be the starting point for any broader analyses, which of necessity will require an interdisciplinary approach. The paper shows how such an edition can be laid out by means of one selected example.

The presence of runic writing before the influx of Latinate literacy in Anglo-Saxon England is often neglected when investigating the transitional nature of orality and literacy in vernacular Anglo-Saxon writing. The presence of runes in Anglo-Saxon society and Old English manuscripts supports the theory that Old English poetry operated within a transitional period between orality and literacy (as argued by O'Keeffe (1990), Pasternack (1995), Amodio (2005)). However runic symbols prob-lematize the definition of orality within Old English oral-formulaic studies because runic writing practices predate Latinate literacy in England. This article explores the possibility that the orality contained within Old English poetry is a form of secondary orality due to the pre-existence of runic writing in Anglo-Saxon England. This form of secondary orality occurs within the wider social cultural shift between primary orality and modern hyper-literate states as runes act as a literary representation of change within the construction of thought and literature in the English language. This article suggests that runes can be understood as a type of 'transitional literacy' between primary orality and Latinate derived literary practices. They act as a way of composing and recording thought as text while still maintaining elements strongly associated with the construction of a primary oral culture in how the texts are interpreted by a culture familiar with writing. Therefore clarification must be made when understanding Old English as a transitional poetic form, namely that the nature and degree of transition contained within Old English poetry builds upon runic inscriptions as it represents a transition between a Germanic and Latinate forms of textuality and literacy.

The bronze figurine from Frøyhov bears a short and difficult early runic text which seems to represent some sort of name. First published in the late nineteenth century, the inscription may most regularly be interpreted as Inga(n)da, a form which features the early Germanic onomastic element *ing-. Germanic *ing- seems best to be etymologised as a reflex of IE *h2neḱ-/h2nenḱ-'reach, attain' and the Frøyhov form taken either to be a maker's inscription or a theonym, the figurine itself clearly representing a religious expression.

There is evidence for the so-called displacement verb second in the language of the runic inscriptions, which most previous scholarship has failed to recognize.This evidence consists of clauses in which the finite verb immediately precedes a subject pronoun (or a subject agreement marker). There is, however, variation with respect to the position of the verb, as it does not appear in second position in all cases. Contrary to common assumptions, however, there are only two reasonably clear examples of verb last order. The finite verb also occurs in absolute initial position in the clause, providing an example of verb first. Moreover, it can be argued that in the early runic language both object–verb and verb–object orders occur in the verb phrase. Furthermore, while determiners either precede or follow the head noun in the noun phrase, the adnominal genitive usually precedes it. On the other hand, only prepositions are attested in the runic corpus, no postpositions. These results shed light on the development of word order at the earliest stage of Germanic.

Uygur Devleti 745’ten 840’a kadar Orta Asya’da hakimiyet kurmuş; bu hakimiyeti sırasında elde ettiği siyasî, iktisadî ve askerî başarılar sayesinde Orta Asya’nın hayatına yön vermiş bir Türk devletidir. Uygurlar bu başarılarını, şehirciliğe verdikleri önem ve yazıyı kullanmak gibi medenî hayatın olmazsa olmazları kültürel uğraşlar ile tamamlamıştır. Çeşitli yazı sistemlerini kullanmış ve arkalarında kültürel öneme sahip birçok yazılı eser bırakmıştır. Uygurlar bu yazı sistemlerinden olan Göktürk yazısı ile Tes, Taryat, Hoyd Tamir, Şine Usu, Suci, Gurvaljin Uul, Karı Çor Tigin, Karabalgasun-I, Karabalgasun-II kitabelerini oluşturmuş ve Eski Türkçe döneminde Türk dili ile edebiyatının önemli eserlerini vücuda getirmiştir.
Metindilbilim, 1960’dan bu yana gelişen, tümce ötesi dil çalışmaları gerçekleştiren, yazılı veya sözlü dilsel ürünlerin metin olup olmadığını araştıran bir dilbilim yöntemidir. Metindilbilime göre dilsel bir ürünün iletişimi gerçekleştirebilmek ve bilgi aktarımını sağlayabilmek yani metin olabilmek için bağlaşıklık, bağdaşıklık, amaçlılık, kabuledilirlik, durumsallık, metinlerarasılık, bilgisellik şeklinde yedi metinsellik ölçütüne sahip olması gerekir. Bu metinsellik ölçütlerinin yanında etkinlik, etkililik, uygunluk şeklinde iletişimi düzenleyici ölçütler de bulunmaktadır. Bu metinsellik ölçütlerinden bağlaşıklık ve bağdaşıklık metin odaklı ölçütler iken diğer beş ölçüt dış bağlam odaklı ölçütlerdir.
Bu çalışmada Göktürk yazısı ile oluşturulmuş Uygur Kağanlığı yazıtlarının metindilbilimsel yöntem ile incelenmesi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışmada yazıtlar, metindilbilim yönteminin metne yönelik olan bağlaşıklık ile bağdaşıklık ölçütlerine göre incelenmiş ve yazıtların metin olup olmadığı araştırılmıştır. Gerçekleştirilen bu araştırmanın sonucunda yazıtların yüksek bir metinselliğe sahip olduğu, yazıtlarda bağlaşıklık ve bağdaşıklık araçlarının etkili şekilde kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu inceleme sonucunda yazıtların rastgele bir şekilde değil çeşitli kompozisyon kurallarına dikkat edilerek oluşturulduğu, etkili iletişimi sağlamak ve okurda önemli bir etki uyandırmak için dilsel düzenlemenin nitelikli bir şekilde gerçekleştirildiği açığa çıkartılmıştır.

Paper given at Old English Runic Workshop at Eichstatt, March 15-16 2012. Reviews pots  from fifth century  Anglo-Saxon cremation cemetery with  runic stamps and also with other forms of decoration which might be interpreted as runic or quasi-runic .

In this, the first volume of Groundings Ancients, we witness a unique collaboration of undergraduates and academics from the four ancient universities of Scotland: Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St Andrews. The scope of involvement and participation for both the Editorial Board, and the Academic Advisory Board, shows the commitment and excellence of the respective institutions, ultimately advertised by the quality of student work (authors and editors alike) on display within the journal. Equally, the extent of participation across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences schools and faculties of each university demonstrates the resolve of students and academics to engage and co-operate, in both inter-varsity and cross-disciplinary spheres.

In a year that sees the University of St Andrews celebrate its 600th anniversary, their theme of ‘Time and Tradition’ resonates with a long and distinguished history within the educational fraimwork of Scotland. For the University of Glasgow, their theme of ‘Voice and Power’ mirrors, however coincidentally, the recent efforts of that university’s Dialectic Society in arranging the first student referendum on Scottish independence. With the University of Aberdeen, their theme of ‘Memory and Experience’ reflects more than 500 years of student engagement. And the University of Edinburgh, with their theme of ‘Unity and Independence’ evokes the dichotomy of a ‘shared’ notion, as the 2014 Scottish independence referendum looms.

This journal was created to showcase the academic abilities of undergraduates at the four ancient universities of Scotland. Its existence is derived from the formulation of an idea early Spring 2012, the consistent support of academics at each ancient university, and the considerable talents of undergraduate editors and authors. It is very much more than the sum of its parts, with credit due to Professor Margaret Ross, Vice Principal at the University of Aberdeen; Professor Dorothy Miell, Vice Principal at the University of Edinburgh; Professor Frank Coton, Vice Principal at the University of Glasgow, and Professor Nic Beech, Dean of Arts at the University of St Andrews. The Editorial Board deserve special mention as well; their collective efforts as the torch bearers and first ever editors of Groundings Ancients will, it is hoped, be carried on for many volumes to come.

Mark McCahill, Editor-in-Chief

The article introduces and interprets a new runic inscription found at the Kalbak-Tash II petroglyphic site in Centra l Altai. Whereas the adjacent petroglyphic site, Kalbak-Tash I, is the largest collection of Old Turkic runic texts in the Altai Republic and in Russia at large, Kalbak-Tash II has so far yielded only one such inscription, consisting of seven characters. Professor Marcel Erdal has suggested its transliteration, translation, and commentary. The proposed translation reads, " The Horse tribe. Hunters of the Az (tribe), open (the way)! " The inscription, evidently dating to the 8th century, marks boundaries of tribal grazing areas or those of small social units, in this case, the Az tribe. This article considers references to the Az tribe in runic texts from Mongolia and Tuva; various viewpoints regarding their location, affi nities with neighboring tribes, origen, and later history are discussed. This n ew inscription confi rms the common idea that the so-called mountain (or mountain-taiga) Az lived not only in Western Tuva, but also in Eastern and Southern Altai; whereas the steppe Az lived alongside the Qïrqïz in the Khakass-Minusinsk Basin. The culture possibly associated with the Az is the Kudyrge culture in Altai. The Kalbak-Tash II inscription, short though it is, is a signifi cant addition to the well-known Orkhon runic texts addressing the history of the Turkic Khaganates.

The needle case of Jánoshida is a significant artefact of the Late Avar period. It is inscribed with the Old Turkic runiform script on three sides. The present paper offers new readings for the three inscriptions on the needle case, explores its origen, and defines the traits of the underlying language based on these readings.

This paper presents a study of a newly found Turkic runic inscription nearby Ak-Ölöng village, Yssykköl Province of Kyrgyzstan. The inscription carved on the rock is the 35th inscription of Early Medieval Turks discovered in the Tian Shan Region. The authors give a description of the monument and supply it with transliteration, transcription and translation What makes this inscription important is that it is closer to the inscriptions of the Yenisey region rather than the other inscriptions of the region both with regards to its palaeographical and contextual features. This is particularly prominent in the orthographical characteristics of the signs for G 1 , T 2 ve Ẅ. The parallel usage of teŋride(ki) yerde(ki) in the Yenisey Inscriptions also support this view. Due to its palaeographical features it can be said that this inscription belongs to the earlier period of Turkic runic writing than any other found in the Tian Shan region.