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A Runic Inscription from Bergakker (Gelderland), the Netherlands

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A RUNIC INSCRIPTION FROM BERGAKKER (GELDERLAND), THE NETHERLANDS by A.V.AJ. Bosman (Amersfoort) & T. Looijenga (Groningen) I. Archaeological context (A.V.AJ. Bosman) On the 12th of april 1996 the find of a gilded silver scabbard mount with a runic inscription was reported from Bergakker near Tiel in the Betuwe. This former habitat of the Batavi is situated in the river estuary of the Rhine. The site Bergakker is well-known for its metal finds. After a slit was dug on the former orchard earlier this year several amateur-archaeologists collected metal finds by using metal-detectors. It seems that on the site a large concentration of metal finds, mainly bronze, is available. Most of it can be described as scrap. It contains broken or damaged objects such as fibulae and cut off rimfragments from bronze vessels. Also some large lumps of melted bronze were discovered. One fibula fragment ;s also melted. All these finds indicate that scrap metal was collected and reused at this site. Pottery or building material have not been found. The oldest metal finds can be dated in the early Roman period: coins, of which one with an illegible countermark and Aucissa fibulae. Also finds from the rniddle and late Roman period occur. The latest finds are two early medieval 'vijfknoppenfibulae' dating around 500 AD. The most spectacular find is a scabbard mount in gilded silver. Its measurements are: length: 83 mm width: 19 mm (top); 10 mm (bottom) height: 14 mm weight: 33.9 gr. Also this piece can be described as scrap. The top part of the mount is rnissing, another decorated piece may have been welded onto the plate. Undemeath this plate is a decoration of half circles and points. The same decoration can be found on the front as the most inner line of a decoration with mainly ridges and grooves. The sides are decorated with larger ridges and grooves. Paral1els for this type of decoration occur on late Roman girdle mounts such as from Gennep (NL), dating in the second half of the 4th century AD. The Gennep finds are con­ sidered to be produced in Lower Germany. On the undecorated and ungilded back is a runic inscription. Except for the top and two cuts on the edge of the opening on the bottom no traces of wear are visible (the mount was cleaned electrolytic). Paral1els for the mount are hard to find. In general late Roman weapons are scarce, only small parts are found in fortresses. Very Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 11:28:21PM via free access 10 seldom weapons occur in cemetaries. At the same site a Roman altarstone was found when a part of the field was leveled in the 1950s. The stone was dedicated to the indi­ genous (Batavian) goddess Hurstrga, dating in the second half of the 2nd or first half of the 3rd century AD. The toponym 'Bergakker' suggests that the site is higher than its surroundings. This may have been caused by riverain deposits. These graunds are in this region inhabited from the Iran Age well into medieval times. The site could have functioned as a ritual centre during the Roman period. On it metal votiv objects could have accumulated. The centre could have been dedicated to Hurstrga. A parallel can be found at the tempelsite Empel (NL) which was dedicated to the Batavian god Hereu/es Magusanus. Also at Empellarge quantities of metal were found. At Bergakker scrap metal was collected and reused. This may have taken place in early medieval times (end of the 5th - first half of the 6th century), based on the date of the fibulae. The melting of metal was probably done within or near a settlement. The scabbard mount must have arrived at the settlement as a fragment or the scabbard was dismantled at the site. The absence of finds later than 500 AD indicate that the site was in use until the late Roman or early medieval period. The object may be dated into the 4th or 5th c. II. The runic inscription (T.Looijenga) The inscription is at the undecorated back of the scabbard mount, as is usual for runic inscriptions. The runes are neatlY cut with some sharp instrument and clearly legible. The fashion according to which the runes are carved is not unlike other runic inscriptions on metal. Although some parts suffered from corrosion, the shapes of the characters can be made out without any difficulty. The runes are of the older fupark-type; there are no Anglo-Frisian features. One character is anomalous and hitherto unattested. It has the shape of a double-lined Roman capital V and occurs four times in the inscription. One other character, S, appears twice in double lines, and once in single lines. The S is in three strokes. It is remarkablysmall, shorter than the other runes (apart fram the k). There is one bindrune, forrning wa, an unusual combination. The runes run fram left to right. The words are separated by division marks: three times composed of two dots and one time of four dots. The inscription contains four words. The last word is followed by a zig­ zag line, filling up space. A similar technique can be found for instance on the Pforzen (South Germany) silver belt buckle (sixth c.). The significance of the Bergakker find is considerably. Never before have runes been found in the Rhine estuary. Also its age is significant; fifth century, but the fourth century is equally possible. As stated by the first author, its date has not yet finally been fixed. It might be the oldest Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 11:28:21PM via free access 11 runic find from regions near the Rhine; the other runic finds in South Germany and the Rhineland are dated from the 6th-7th centuries. (One exception is the Aalen neck ring, a stray find from Baden­ Württemberg, dated fifth c.). Moreover, the Betuwe find emerged from the left bank of the Rhine, within the limes. This does not necessarily mean that runic writing was executed in the Rhine area at a rather late date. The fact that especially runic objects from the 6th-7th centuries have come to our knowledge may very weH be due to their way of depositing: in Merovingian row-grave fields. Runic knowledge may have existed considerably longer in these re­ gions. At any rate, the Betuwe find appears to be a missing link in the development and propagation of runic writing. Description 0/ the runes: Considering the fact that the inscription is neatly divided into four parts, one may assume that the carver meant to render a legible text, existing of four words. This is the starting point for trying to identify the value of the individual runes and finally to establish a transliteration. The first rune is an h, single-barred, which does not seem not to point to some Frisian or Continental influence, since these runic traditions used a double-barred h, as far as we know. The fact that it is single­ barred, could point to the Scandinavian or early English runic traditions. This deserves consideration only when the dating of the Bergakker find is at least fifth century; before that we are probably dealing with a common Germanic runic alphabet. The inscription contains double and single runeforms. The double runeforms are no 'mirror' runes in a strict sensel. To my mind both mirror runes and double runes are runic varieties, which may have been part of the initial runic stock; one may call both varieties 'ornamental' runes, restricted to form-variation only, having no consequences for the phonetic value. Such ornamental runes should therefore not be confused with the additional runes of the Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet. Ornamental runeforms appear relatively often in areas bordering or near the North Sea. Firstly, there are the famous mirror runes repre­ senting w and I' on the objects found in lllerup (Jutland) and Vimose (punen), dated circa 200 AD. The Gallehus (Jutland) inscription (circa 400 AD) has runes in double and single lines. As to ornamental runes, the Fallward (near the Weser mouth) inscription ksamella [a]lguska i (4/5th century) contains an a rune with three side twigs. The Spong HiH ums (East Anglia, 5/6th century) bear stamped mirror runes. The Oostum (prov. Groningen) inscription (8th century) has a b rune with 1 The existence of mirror runes, or "Spiegelrunen", has convincingly been demonstrated by Pieper 1987. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 11:28:21PM via free access 12 three loops and an h rune with three bars. The Westeremden B (prov. Groningen) inscription (no date) contains ornamental and mirror runes and double-barred h. The Britsum (Friesland) inscription (no date), the Kragehul (Fyn) and Lindholm (Skäne) inscriptions contain multi-lined runes. The Wijnaldum A antler piece (no date) contains mirror runes and single runes. Quite some bracteates (2nd half 5th - beginning of the 6th centuries) bear ornamental and mirror runes. Maybe the inscriptions carried out in the so-called 'tremolo' style, e.g. zig-zag lines, belong to the 'ornamental runes' category too: 0vre Stabu (Norway, 2nd half 2nd century), Nresbjerg (Jutland, circa 200 AD) and Meldorf (Schleswig­ Holstein, 50 AD). The Bergakker find has double runes and a single­ barred h. The second rune is a, the *ansuz rune. The third rune has only one side-twig to the right, at the middle of the head-staff. After scrutinizing the following runes, its value may be established. The fourth character is anomalous, at first sight it resembles no known rune.
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