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Name of Odin attested 150 years earlier than previously thought!

A really cool discovery made by Danish runic and language history researchers from a huge gold treasure which turns out to be the oldest attested mention of the god Odin not only in Scandinavia but in the world.

Two Danish articles that I translated below, but tl;dr summary:

A historical discovery made my Danish archeologist, runic researchers and language history researchers reveals that there's attestations of the old norse god Odin by name about 150 years earlier than previously thought (not just in Scandinavia, in the world). The translation of a runic inscription on a bracteate contains the phrase "he is Odin's man", and the bracteate is dated to the 5th century. This means that at least in Denmark, there is an attested belief in Odin (and most likely the other old norse deities) much earlier than previously thought, but it is generally the oldest attestations to the named deity "Wōd[a]nas" (Odin) thus far discovered (previously oldest attestation was from southern Germany and the 6th century. In Denmark the oldest previous attestation was 8th century bone amulet). The discovery has also opened up new ways of translating runic inscriptions this old, which could help with further research of older texts that have previously been untranslatable.

EDIT: Also English article https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/oldest-reference-norse-god-odin-found-denmark-treasure-97704339

Translation and Danish articles below, which also has images.

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/guldfund-afsloerer-danskerne-troede-paa-odin-thor-og-loke-langt-tidligere-end-foerst?fbclid=IwAR0x2RkzqvGCVn87f_W5gBMcp9B8jbCWEiXV-JX2j4ZmOvRh_1XEWJ9hOkU

Gold find reveals: The Danes believed in Odin, Thor and Loki much earlier than first thought

Runes on a huge gold treasure from Jelling show that Odin is mentioned 150 years earlier than has been seen before. The discovery shakes the whole of Norse mythology.

When the two amateur archeologists Jørgen Antonsen and Ole Schytz made the spectacular gold find in a field near Jelling almost two years ago, they also greatly shook our knowledge of Norse mythology. It turns out that one of the gold pieces contains the world's first attestation by name of the Norse god Odin. The so-called Vindelev treasure was previously described as the most spectacular runic find since the golden horns. But the name of the god gives this one an extra edge: - It is the first time in world history that Odin's name is mentioned, and it takes Nordic mythology all the way back to the beginning of the 5th century. That makes the Vindelev find even more spectacular, says script researcher Lisbeth Imer from the National Museum. According to the researchers, this means that the gods we know from Norse mythology were already known at the beginning of the 4th century, which is 150 years earlier than previously proven.

The discovery was made after the researchers spent quite some time trying to decipher the runes and carvings on the 22 gold objects with a weight of around 800 grams, so-called bracteate. On one of the bracteates the sentence 'He is Odin's man' is included and refers to the bracteate's portrait of an unknown king or “great man”. And it is this sentence that shows that the belief in the Nordic gods was real, earlier than people have believed until now. However, deciphering exactly what the runes actually meant has not been an easy task.

“The runic inscription has been the most difficult to interpret in my 20 years as a runologist at the National Museum, but the discovery is also absolutely fantastic,” explains Lisbeth Imer.

According to the researchers, the discoveries are important because they contribute to Danish history being rewritten.

“I have not seen such well-executed runes and such a long text on a Danish find from this period since the golden horns,” says Lisbeth Imer. “It could become a key to understanding other prehistoric runic inscriptions that we have not been able to read so far.

Krister Vasshus, who specializes in ancient language history in Scandinavia, is also pleased with the new finds. “We have found the proof in black and white, and it is a huge discovery. I can't put my arms down in pure ecstasy,” he says. According to the researcher, it is very rare that researchers even get the opportunity to examine similar material. “This type of inscription is extremely rare, we find one perhaps every 50 years, and this time it has turned out to be world history,” explains Krister Vasshus.

The Brakteaten is currently on display at the National Museum.

https://videnskab.dk/forskerzonen/kultur-samfund/verdens-aeldste-odin-fundet-i-vindelev?fbclid=IwAR366iLS8MWtkeWTrrqlIbMxygGlZ-tAWG9FJXFsqDRIabHh3o5LgMphBzo

The world's oldest Odin found in Vindelev

Ancient gold medallions found by amateur archaeologists turn out to be the oldest examples of the god Odin's name in the entire world.

In December 2020, two old friends and amateur archaeologists go for a walk with a detector in a field in Jelling. Little did they know that with the findings from this trip they were writing the history of Denmark - and gave us the most difficult task we have ever faced as runologists and language experts respectively. The Vindelev treasure, as the find has been called, with its 800 grams of real gold, is one of the largest gold treasures found here in recent times. It fascinates not only because of the red ancient gold, but also because of the bracteates - i.e. gold medallions - with runes found in the treasure. They write the history of Denmark.

100 years older than the earliest find so far Two of the bracteates have some very long inscriptions in which the name of the supreme god of the Æsir, Odin, appears. The bracteates are dated to the fifth century and are thus the oldest examples of the god Odin's name in the whole world - at least for now. The oldest inscription previously in which the god Odin appears is from the southern German area. At a large burial ground near Nordendorf, the god's name was found scratched on the back of a suit buckle dating to the second half of the 6th century. In Denmark, we have to go back to the first half of the 8th century, i.e. on the threshold of the Viking Age, before we have Odin's name represented on a piece of a human skull from Ribe. Here, Odin is invoked as one of three gods who will help the owner of the amulet from illness. Odin's name is a well-known runic inscription from all over the world and is found, among other things, in a number of continental and Old English written sources, for example 'Origin of the Langobards', 'Sächsisches Taufgelöbnis' (the Old Saxon baptismal vow) and 'Nigon Wyrta Galdor' (The formula of the nine herbs). In this article, we will talk about why the Vindelev treasure is completely unique, and why the runic inscriptions on the old bracteaters have been one of the most difficult tasks for us.

Gold pendants Excavations carried out by the Vejlemuseerne showed that in the area where the treasure was found, there had been a farm consisting of several longhouses and fences. The treasure therefore presumably belonged to the local magnate or king, who buried it inside the house or near the house. In the 5th and 6th centuries, rich magnates or minor kings used gold pendants to show off their status and wealth. The motif on these pendants, called bracteate, was inspired by the Roman imperial medallions. Many bracteates show a male person seen in profile, possibly in the company of a four-legged animal, which is probably a horse.

Is it Odin? For many years, researchers have debated whether the people depicted on the bracteates are the god Odin, or whether they are kings, princes or magnates. The runic inscriptions on the Vindelev bracteates mostly indicate the latter. Perhaps bracteates were given away to important alliances. Saxo Grammaticus writes about the legendary king Frode that he had a gold necklace that could be used as a reward. This chain was composed of different links, which alternated with images of kings. Such chains with bracteates have been found in several places in Denmark.

Long runic inscription with the name Odin One of the bracteates from Vindelev is very special and very valuable for research. It has a long runic inscription which is particularly well-formed and which makes linguistic sense. The inscription runs in a circle around the motif of the bracteate, which shows the face of a king seen in profile and with a nice hairstyle. In front of the face is a swastika and a semicircle - perhaps symbolizing the sun and the moon. Below the face stands a four-legged animal, probably a horse, with a marked harness and something sticking out of its mouth. The horse's ear points towards the king's open mouth.

Erased and written out in one go Although the runes are very well formed and immediately easy to read, we have problems understanding the text. This is due, firstly, to the fact that the bracteate is very worn, so that the runes in important places are almost completely gone. Secondly, the inscription is written out in one go. That is, there is no pause between words, nor are there any signs showing where one word ends and the next begins. In addition, the language on the bracteate is more than 1,500 years old.

On the trail of a hunter The first part of the text of the bracteate is particularly difficult, because there are partly words we do not know from other sources, partly words which do not seem to fit with the developments in the history of the language. The inscription possibly begins with the word hostiōz, which can mean 'sacrificial animal' (in the plural). In that case, it is a Latin loanword, which would mean that the word hostia was borrowed from Latin and embedded in the Old Norse language. In the long sequence that follows, there is probably a declaration that someone is helping a hunt or a hunter. We may also encounter a personal or nickname Jaga, which may even have been perceived as a pun on the verb 'to hunt' (“at jage”).

A king's locket? We are most certain of the last part of the inscription. It says iz Wōd[a]nas weraz, which can be translated as 'he is Odin's man'. But who is this man of Odin? It must be the hunter who may have had the (nick)name Jaga. And who is the hunter or Jaga? We know that Saxo calls the images on bracteates kings, and we know that the bracteates imitate Roman emperor depictions. We must therefore interpret the inscription as a presentation of the depicted person, who is the king. The king is referred to as Odin's man, which points to his divine legitimacy, and perhaps also tells us that he is the supreme cult leader of that society.

Another Odin inscription in Vindelev The long inscription appears to have been copied on one of the other bracteates, but in a much more poorly executed reproduction. This bracteate also shows a king seen from the side with a nice hairstyle above a horse with its ear pointing towards the king's mouth. In front of the face are the same symbols as on the first bracteate and in addition three dots which perhaps symbolize the stars. The inscription runs in a circle around the motif, and some of the characters are clearly runes, while others just look like or are blurred long lines. It seems that whoever made the inscription in the matrix did not fully understand the text, but copied the appearance of the characters as best they could.

Is there perhaps a holy text with the same meaning? The meaning of the inscription has clearly been the same as on the first bracteate, but there is a detail which means that it cannot be interpreted as a direct copy of the first: the name Odin is spelled in a different way, and also it appears that the scribe has exchanged two runes. Where he actually wanted to write woþanas, he has written þowa(nas). The two runes, which represent the sounds /w/ and /þ/, are almost identical, which makes them easy to confuse - especially when the runes are only 2mm high. This means that there once existed a third inscription with the same content as on the two bracteate. It must have been a very important and perhaps sacred text that many have been interested in copying. There could be many good reasons for being filled by Odin's power and magical abilities as a king.

The solution to an old riddle The long and complete inscription on the bracteate from Vindelev is the key to a number of unsolved riddles in the Iron Age. It shows that Odin is a very old deity, who was already known in the 5th century, and that the images of the bracteates should rather be interpreted as kings than as the god himself. And so it is the key to understanding how illegible bracteate inscriptions originally made sense.

A funny detail is also that the bracteate with the poorly executed text from Vindelev has a stamp-identical twin from Bolbro on the outskirts of Odense, made with the same pattern. The Bolbro bracteate was found in 1852 and has since then been in the National Museum's collections. There has thus been an ancient Odin inscription in the National Museum's exhibitions for the past 170 years - but no one knew that until the Vindelev treasure was found. Lisbeth M. Imer and Krister S. K. Vasshus will publish a scientific article about the runic bracteates from Vindelev in the international journal NOWELE (North-Western European Language Evolution), which will be published in April-May 2023. The Vindelev treasure can be seen in the National Museum's Danish exhibition 'The Hunt of Danish history' for the rest of 2023. The Bolbro bracteate is part of the permanent exhibition at the National Museum.

#odin*#odin #heathenry #norse mythology #forn sed #runes #archeology #asatru #danish history #old norse history

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