The runic alphabet in the Viking Age (ca. 800-1100) only consisted of 16 characters. These did not cover the Rune-Swedish phoneme system. One of the runes, the so-called os-rune, was used for at least 8 different phonemes. By tradition it has been used to date Viking Age runic inscriptions in the Scandinavian countries. The present work investigates the phonetic and phonemic value of the os-rune in Rune-Swedish inscriptions on stone, altogether 1,745 instances in 961 inscriptions. On the basis of the analysis, the accepted view of the chronological value of the os-rune is assessed, and is found to be non-valid. The regional variations in the use of the os-rune are also studied, particularly in the context of individual rune-carvers, but also to see if any dialectal variation is discernable. It is found that there is a marked consistency in the use of the os-rune for either rounded or unrounded vowels. Inscriptions, where both uses occur, are concentrated to one small geographical area. There are also areas, where the use of the os-rune for rounded vowels is the rule. / <p>Digitaliserad utgåva 2016, kompletterad med en lista över viktigare rättelser</p> / De vikingatida runinskrifternas kronologi

De vikingatida runinskrifternas kronologi

Denna uppsats undersöker runformerna belagda i gotländska inskrifter från medeltiden och reformationstiden. Syftet är delvis att inventera samtliga runformer, delvis att belysa deras bruk, utveckling och spridning ur ett kronologiskt och materialmässigt perspektiv. Inventeringen görs genom en typologisk modell som möjliggör identifieringen av runformernas distinktiva och redundanta drag, och följaktligen deras indelning i graftyper och graftypsvarianter. Den stora variationen som präglar runristarnas teckenuppsättning, liksom uppkomsten och utvecklingen av nya medeltida runformer förklaras ur olika synvinklar. För vissa graftyper, bl. a. den gotländska s-runan, blir alfabetsinterna utvecklingstendenser aktuella, såsom homogenitetsprincipen och hasta + coda‐principen. I andra fall har den latinska majuskelskriften, kalenderrunor och handskrivna runor haft inflytande på de gotländska runformerna. Även inskriftsföremålens material har visat sig vara en viktig faktor för vilka runformer man valde att rista. Graftyper med en kantig form användes t.ex. exklusivt i trä-, metall- och putsinskrifter. Möjligheten att använda runformer vid datering av inskrifter undersöks och kronologiska mönster samt några dateringskriterier för Gotlands medeltida inskrifter tas upp. Även uppgifter om vissa graftypers geografiska spridning ges, som t.ex. den gotländska m‐runan och den stungna l-runan, vars bruk är koncentrerade till Gotlands östra resp. sydvästra del.

The Viking Age rune-carvers and their readers used runes as a semiotic resource to convey and structure the messages on rune-stones. An analysis of the ways in which this resource is used together with other resources gives us a deeper insight into the relationship between writers and readers and into the written culture in which the rune-stones were produced. The present study treats runic carvings as multimodal texts in which different semiotic modes produce meaning by visual and verbal means. The roles played by runes in such texts are studied from three different perspectives. The empirical study in chapter 3 investigates how the verbal messages of the inscriptions interrelate with ornamental compositions. The most important convention found is that runic inscriptions usually start in the lower left part of the ornamental band in which they are inscribed. A second result is that there is a certain correlation between the visual and syntactic structure of runic texts. In chapter 4, Södermanlandic inscriptions employing more than one writing system are investigated. These carvings can be tied to a context of high social ambition in which at least two different, socially stratified discourses are expressed by means of the runes as a visual semiotic mode. Chapter 5 is devoted to non-lexical inscriptions, showing that such carvings are indeed runic texts despite their lack of verbal message. Different types of readers can use runic resources in different ways. Firstly, runes carry meaning independent of any verbal message, giving them significance even to illiterate readers. Secondly, literate readers can appreciate certain conventions of runic composition and, thirdly, one and the same runic text can be part of different discourses and hence be aimed at different kinds of readers. / <p>Disputationen sker på norska och svenska</p>