The Rök Runestone and the End of the World [Elektronisk resurs]

• The Rök runestone from central middle Sweden, dated to around 800 CE, is famous, among other things, for a supposed reference to the emperor Theodo­ric the Great. This study proposes instead that the inscription deals with an anxiety triggered by a son’s death and the fear of a new climate crisis similar to the catastrophic one after 536 CE. Combining perspectives and findings from semiotics, philology, archaeology, and history of religion, the study presents a completely new interpretation which follows a unified theme, showing how the monument can be understood in the socio-cultural and religious context of early Viking Age Scandinavia. The inscription consists, according to the pro­posed interpretation, of nine enigmatic questions. Five of the questions con­cern the sun, and four of them, it is argued, ask about issues related to the god Odin. A central finding is that there are relevant parallels to the inscription in early Scandinavian poetry, especially in the Eddic poem Vafþrúðnismál . 

Ämnesord

Humanities and the Arts  (hsv)

History and Archaeology  (hsv)

Humaniora och konst  (hsv)

Historia och arkeologi  (hsv)

Languages and Literature  (hsv)

Språk och litteratur  (hsv)

Philosophy, Ethics and Religion  (hsv)

History of Religions  (hsv)

Filosofi, etik och religion  (hsv)

Religionshistoria  (hsv)

Genre

government publication  (marcgt)

Indexterm och SAB-rubrik

Rök

runestones

Viking Age

riddles

Eddic poetry

skaldic poetry

climate crisis