Krister Vasshus

In 2020 a large gold hoard was discovered in Vindelev, Jutland, Denmark, containing almost 800g of gold. Among the hoard’s artefacts are six runic bracteates discussed here. Two bracteates give important contributions to central discussions in bracteate research. IK 737 is similar to the well-known bracteate IK 58 from Funen. It demonstrates that the much-discussed sequence does not read houaz, but rather horaz, weakening its direct connection to Óðinn through one of his many bynames. IK 738 has one of the best executed inscriptions on a bracteate. The inscription consists of 34 runes (including bind-runes) and its final sequence ‘He/who [is] Óðin’s man’ is a crucial contribution to the discussion of who is depicted on the bracteates, Óðinn or a king? The wording rather indicates the latter.

The etymology of the Old Norse personal name Vífill has long been a debated problem. The name occurs in sagas (such as Hrólfs saga Kraka), Landnámabók, medieval manuscripts, and in runic inscriptions in both the elder and the younger futhark. Some scholars have viewed it as a sacral name which developed from a noun meaning 'priest, holy man', whilst others consider it to be a byname meaning 'beetle', etymologically identical to Eng. weevil. The runic inscription from Veblungsnes, ekirilaʀwiwilan, is the basis for the sacral interpretation, as several scholars have argued that the name (gen.) wiwilan must be a diminutive of wiwaR from the Tune stone. wiwaʀ is in turn interpreted as a sacral name deriving in one way or another from the IE root *wik-, *weik-meaning 'consecrate, holy'. The author summarizes the discussion that has lasted for eight decades, and where several problems have been made apparent. One such problem is the length of the vowel in both the Proto-Scandinavian Wīwila (Wiwila) and Old Norse Vífill, and the author argues against the conclusions which scholars have made before him, thus leaving the question unresolved. Another problem is that wiwaʀ has three possible etymologies 1) 'fighter', 2) 'consecrator', and 3) 'the darting one', so the name Wīwila (Wiwila) does not have a clear origin as a sacral name. Etymology 1) and 2) has parallels in other Germanic personal names. The literary sources never explicitly refer to a Vífill as a functionary of the cult, but indications of sacral roles can be found in two legendary sagas. Wīwila (Wiwila) is obviously used by the elite, like the two Vífills in the legendary sagas. In Landnámabók however, slaves bear the names, and there are no other examples of name bearers in the kings' sagas, suggesting the elite did not use the name in the later parts of the Viking age. After discussing the runic and literal transcription of w and b and their development, and the apparent status of name bearers over time, the author concludes that we likely have two names with separate etymologies that gradually merged into one name. The Proto-Scandinavian Wīwila (Wiwila), with the above-mentioned etymologies, merged over time with the word meaning 'beetle', thus lowering the status of the name. Although there are indications of sacral roles for name bearers, the author concludes that the etymology of this name remains unresolved, as a profane etymology cannot be ruled out.

This paper is a thorough study of place names containing lund(a/e) on the Norwegian west coast, where I have categorised the names into three groups: ‘sacral names’, ‘profane names’ and ‘undetermined names’. The background for placing these 38 lund(a/e) names in these groups is an investigation of the onomastic environment each name occurs in. When other sacral place names can be found in near proximity to a lund(a/e) name, there can be a reason to assume a cultic connection between the two names. An example of an onomastic environment containing names with possible cultic connections is Lunde – Sørbø – Hove – Skeie – Skeiane – Høyland (church) in Sandnes municipality. At times the distance between a lund(a/e) name and other sacral names can be too great to assume a cultic connection, and other times it can be unclear whether a name truly carries a sacral meaning or not. In cases where there are no sacral names close to a lund(a/e) name at all, the  nterpretation must be profane.

The information given from looking at tax levels of farms have been used to explain size, age and importance of the farms. I have therefore looked at tax levels of all farms within three kilometres from each lund(a/e) name, hoping it would be helpful to determine which category the name should be placed in. This, however, has proven to be an unsuccessful approach, and I have suggested this might be due to the sacred lund (sacred grove and/or sacrificial grove) being a cultivated outlaying field without any larger arable land and production connected to it. In some cases I have used archaeology in this research, and urge any further investigations of Scandinavian lund(a/e) names to use archaeology as a method more thoroughly than what I have done in this paper.

In total there is a minimum of 36% sacral lund(a/e) names in the three counties Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland and Rogaland. This number is close to the 30% sacral lund(a) names Per Vikstrand (Gudarnas platser, 2001) found in his research, indicating a similar distribution of this particular group of names in Norway and Sweden. However, both Vikstrand’s and my own research is on a limited area, and not representative for the countries as a whole. The highest percentage of sacral lund(a/e) names can be found in Rogaland, although in total there are more lund(a/e) names in Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Regional differences seem to be evident, and further research in the field is required.

As recorded in written sources between the first and the thirteenth centuries, the Germanic peoples used sacred groves. Onomastic evidence confirms that the sacred groves were used in Scandinavia through place-names like Närlunda, Frølund and Guslund. In addition, places with names in lund without Nordic deity-names have also been used as sacred groves, which is indicated by archaeological evidence from lund-locations such as Lunda in Södermanland. The study of the name-environments around lund-names presented in this paper indicates the same. This study is made up of lund-names recorded in Norske Gaardnavne in western and southern Norway and their surrounding name-environments. In this area there are no theophoric place-names in lund. Sacral names containing heilagr, guð/goð, vé, hǫrgr, hof or Nordic deity-names have been collected in order to get an overview of potential sacral name-environments where lundnames can be interpreted as sacred groves. If an early medieval church or names in eik, skeið or leik are present, this may also be indications of pre-Christian
cultic activity. 21,3% of the lund-names in Aust- and Vest-Agder, Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal appear in a sacral name-landscape, and are thus interpreted as sacral. This number should be compared to the 30% sacral names of this group found by Per Vikstrand (2001) around lake Mälaren in Sweden, and the 2,4% found by Birgit Eggert (2011) in Denmark. Further studies in lund-names could provide a better picture of their distribution in Scandinavia, as well as show the distribution of both theophoric and other sacral names within this group.