Skandinavskie runieskie nadpisi. Teksty, perevod, kommentarij by E. A. Mel'nikova; V. T.

Pauto; Ja. N. apova

Review by: Elmer H. Antonsen
Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3 (SUMMER 1979), pp. 286-289
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of
Scandinavian Study
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286 Scandinavian Studies

long periods and home only briefly. He was servingmany small congregationsin
a radius of over fortymiles,but was oftenasked to go furtherafield,and he would
sleep in the homes of his parishioners,not always comfortably.
In the late summerof 1854 the Krens went for a month'svisit to Wisconsin,
theirmain object the meetingof Norwegianministersfromfourstates. Koren was
here an active participantin formingThe Norwegian Synod (though she does not
use those words) of which he subsequentlybecame president. The followingyear
Koren made another trip to Wisconsinwhere the Synod met again and returned
with the announcementthat the next year the meetingwould be held in their own
home and that would involve fourteenministers.
One cannot read this book withoutwishingto know more- to compare it with
other descriptionsof the times. Since no more of her lettershave been printed,
we have to go to othersimilarsources for furtherdescriptionof this period. There
are at least two other books by pastors' wives: Caroline Preus, Linkets Diary on
Land and Sea, 1845-1864,tr. and ed. by J. C. K. Preus and DiderikkePreus, Min-
neapolis, 1952; and Caja Munch's lettersfrom Wiota, Wisconsin,1855-1859 pub-
lished in a volume entitledThe Strange AmericanWay, tr. by Helene Munch and
Peter A. Munch, Carbondale, 1970. These women,as did the otherministers'wives,
helped to create a settingwhere their husbands could functionefficiently.Their
effortswithin the home and in the congregationformed a special milieu which
helped to cementthe fellowshipwhich the Norwegianscould enjoy in theirchurch.
Our book containsnot only the diary, which actually comprisesonly the part
of Elisabeth's life up to the birth of her firstchild, December 12, 1854, but also
lettersto her fatherafter that date. It is ably translatedand edited by the late
ProfessorDavid T. Nelson. The picturesare reproducedsomewhat better in this
reprint,and the cover pictureof the WashingtonPrairie Church of 1879 is a new
photographby Darrell Henning. It has a hauntingquality which suggeststhe far-
off timesdescribedin the book.
This book could well be on any readinglist for our high schools, as it gives a
factual account of experiencesfromthose early days of the conquest of the prairie.
The horizonbeforethe younggirlof today seems limitless.Still she is surelycurious
about the role her greatgrandmother played. This storygives details of two groups
of women of a bygoneday- the farmer'swife and that of the minister'swife.

Eva Lund Haugen

Belmont, Massachusetts

Mel'nikova,E. A. Skandinavskierunieskienadpisi. Teksty,perevod,kommentarij.

(Drevnejsie istocnikip istoriinarodov SSSR, ed. by V. T. Pasuto and Ja. N.
Scapova.) Izdatel'stvo "Nauka," Moskva, 1977. Pp. 276.

While the title,ScandinavianRunic Inscriptions,mightseem to promisea more

generaltreatment,the titleof the series,"The Oldest Sources on the Historyof the
Peoples of the USSR," places this volume in a narrowercontext: it deals only with
those inscriptionswhich shed light on contacts between Scandinavia and Eastern

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 Reviews 287

Europe. Included in the treatmentare 97 runic inscriptionsin the youngerfu^ark

found in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and containing(or thoughtto contain)
referencesto Eastern Europe, 23 inscriptionsrelatingto Byzantium,and 24 inscrip-
tions foundon the present-dayterritoryof the USSR.
The book is excellentlyorganizedas a referencework for historians. It begins
with forewordsby the editorand by the author,settingforththe aims of the series
and of this firstvolume. It continueswith an introductionwhich discusses very
adequately such necessarybackgroundmattersas the rise and developmentof runic
writing,ornamentationon runic monuments,dating runic inscriptions,the history
of the scholarlyinvestigationof runic inscriptions,runic inscriptionsas historical
sources,and runicinscriptionsas a source for the historyof Eastern Europe.
The firstchapter (pp. 39-132) presentsthe inscriptionsfrom Scandinavia by
geographicallocation of the find: Denmark,Norway,and Sweden,with the Swedish
inscriptionspresentedby province: Vstergtland,Vstmanland,Gstrikland,Got-
land, Sdermanland,Smland, Upland, land, and stergtland. There is a short
introductionto each region,placingthe inscriptionstreatedinto theirlargerhistorical
context. A Supplement(pp. 125-32) containsthose Scandinavianinscriptionswhich
referto Byzantium. For each inscription,there is a descriptionof the monument,
its locationand knownhistory,its decoration(if any) , and a discussionof its dating.
The textis thengivenin transliteration with a translationinto Russian, followedby
a discussionof the contentsof the inscription,includingpalographieand linguistic
problemswhen necessary.
The second chapter (pp. 133-69) is devoted to the inscriptionsfound in the
Soviet Union, includingsectionson those executedin the older fujpark(contributed
by M. A. Tixanova), on runic graffition Oriental coins (by I. G. Dobrovol'skij,
I. V. Dubov, and Ju. K. Kuz'menko), and on inscriptionsin the younger fufcark
(with a contributionby V. P. Petrenkoand Ju. K. Kuz'menko).
The rest of the volume consistsof a very extensivebibliographywith a list of
abbreviations (pp. 170-75), an Old Icelandic-Russian word-list (pp. 176-83), a
reference-guide to subjects and themes(pp. 184-97), a geographicalguide (pp. 198-
209), an index of rune-masters(p. 210), an index of proper names (pp. 211-15),
a Russian-Scandinavianindex of runic inscriptions(pp. 216-17), a Scandinavian-
Russian index of inscriptions(pp. 218-19), a very briefEnglish summary(p. 220),
and 54 plates of photographsand drawings (pp. 221-74).
There are two maps, one locating the inscriptionsin Scandinavia (p. 34) and
one locatingthe areas of Eastern Europe referredto by toponymsfoundin the runic
inscriptions(p. 37). Table 1 (p. 12) presentsthe developmentof runic alphabets;
Table 2 (p. 33), the distributionof inscriptionsmentioningEastern Europe; Table 3
(p. 33), the same in the various Swedish provinces; while Table 4 (pp. 144-45)
gives basic data for the Oriental coins with runic graffitiin the possession of the
Ermitage (Leningrad), includingthe dynasty,moneyer'sname, place of mintage,
year, denomination,diameter,weight,location of the graffiti(i.e. obverse or re-
verse), location of the find,and presentlocation of the coin.
Since the inscriptionsfoundin Scandinavia are well known to Westernscholars,
of greatestinterestto them will be the presentationof those found in the Soviet
Union. Here we can speak of a "corpus edition,"albeit a small one, for all known
inscriptionsare treatedin detail with extensivebibliographicalreferences.Of these

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288 Scandinavian Studies

24 inscriptions,fouron potsherdsand twelveon Orientalcoins have not been treated

in Westernpublicationsand should be brieflydescribedhere.
During archeologicalexcavations from 1957-62 near the village of Lepesovka
(Belogorskijrajon, Xmel'nickaja oblast', Ukraine), four potsherdswere found with
runes of the older fufrarkinscribedin the wet clay. No. 122 (according to the
numberingof inscriptionsin this volume) shows the sequence Iwl, in which the
branchof the first/ proceedsfromsomewhatbelow the top of the staff,while that
of the second / extendsfromthe top. The middle rune, which Tixanova reads as
w or p (p. 140), is clearly w, since the pocket is located at the top of the staff
(drawing on p. 265). No. 123 contains a mark which resemblestwo left-oriented
/-runesintersectedat a 45 angle frombottomleftto upper rightby a third (right-
oriented) /-rune(drawing,p. 265). Tixanova interpretsthis clusteras representing
three/-runes,but such a readingseems impossibleto me. If anything,the marks
would have to be classifiedas pseudo-runic.Nos. 124 and 125 (not depicted) are
describedas having a z-rune with branchesat the top. Tixanova dates the settle-
mentat Lepesovka betweenthe end of the second centuryafterChristand the third
quarter of the fourthcentury,but the potsherdsthemselvesare attributed"not to
the earliestphase of the life of the settlement"(p. 141).
A fifthobject found in the diggingsat Lepesovka, a circularclay spindle, is
discussed as No. 126, but Tixanova doubts that the markingscan be considered
runic. From the photograph(p. 265), however,it would appear that the marking
consistsof an irregularly scratchedzigzag fromapproximately11 o'clock to 5 o'clock,
followedby what looks to me to be very definitelythe runes dkuw of the older
fuj)ark.
Twelve Orientalcoins fromthe dynastiesof the Ommiadsand Abbasids,minted
between701 and 820 A.D., display runesof the older fujmrkscratchedon themwith
a sharp instrument.Of these, three are from the Timerev Hoard (Jaroslavskaja
oblast', end of the ninth century; found in 1973), one is fromthe Elmed Hoard
(Kazanskaja gubernija), and the othersof unknownprovenience.No. 127 (Abbasid
dirhem,second half of the eighthcenturyto the firsthalf of the ninth) has on the
obverse the runesgud 'god(s)'. No. 128 (Ommiad dinar, 701-02 A.D.) has on the
obverse what is read by the authors of this section as kutr or kuls, which they
believecould be interpreted as Gautr or Gauts (propername or designationof Odin),
or as gups 'god's', or gts 'property'. No. 129 (Ommiad dinar, 714-15 A.D.) is read
as having small runes k and h and large runes t and a, the whole taken to be a
"magic formula." The other coins display only one or two runes apiece: no. 130
(Ommiad dirhem,729-30 A.D.) k; no. 131 (Abbasid dirhem,777-78 A.D.), no. 132
(Abbasid dirhem,819-20 A.D.), and no. 133 (Abbasid dirhem,802-04 A.D.) k and
s; no. 134 (Ommiad dirhem,740-41 A.D.), no. 135 (Abbasid dirhem,783-84 A.D.),
no. 136 (Abbasid dirhem,772-73 A.D.), no. 137 (Abbasid dinar, 77O's A.D.), and
no. 138 (Abbasid dirhem,776-77 A.D.), merelyan 5-rune. It is mentionedthat
there are other coins with marks which mightbe runic,but since the authors are
not certain,theyare not described. Similarrunicgraffition Orientalcoins foundin
Scandinavian hoards are discussedby U. Linder Welin, "Graffition OrientalCoins
in Swedish Viking Age Hoards," Kgl. HumanistiskaVetenskapssamfundet i Lund,
rsberttelse1955-56, v. Ill, pp. 149-71).
In a book devoted to Scandinavian sources on ancient Russian history,it is

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 Reviews 289

not surprisingthat a good deal of interestwould revolve about the validity of the
theorythat the firstRussian state was foundedby Scandinavians,i.e. the so-called
Norman theory. V. T. Pasuko notes in his Editor's Foreword, "It is paradoxical
that Russian historiography( 18th-beginningof the 20th century), as well as, by
the way, internationalhistoriography, engagedin the controversyover the Norman
theoryfor two hundredyears,passed these sources by. Could it be because they,
though meagerly,neverthelessconvincinglytestifyagainst the Norman concept of
the formationof the Old Russian state?" (p. 5). As Mel'nikova states in her
discussion of this question, the runic inscriptionsare mostly from the eleventh
century,describecontemporary events,and cannotbe used to draw conclusionsabout
earliertimes: "Accordingly,as a resultof theirrelativelylate appearance,the runic
inscriptionscannot be used as an argumentfor the Norman theoryof the formation
of the Russian state" (p. 23). One mightadd that they also cannot be used against
it, since they simplymake no mentionof political events of this nature.
Althoughmost of the materialand views expressedin this book are well known
to Western runic scholars, Mel'nikova has made an important contributionby
assemblingand synthesizingthe data from widely disparate sources into a single
referencework which is of interestto all studentsof the historyof Northernand
Eastern Europe, as well as to runologists.

Elmer H. Antonsen
Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

[Anon.] Universityof Leeds. A Catalogue of the Icelandic Collection. Leeds:

UniversityLibrary, 1978. Pp. ix + 166. 18.00.
When the author and historianBogi ThorarensenMelste died in 1929, the
Universityof Leeds purchasedhis private library,and the Icelandic Collection of
BrothertonLibrary came into being. In subsequentyears, the originalcollectionof
some 5,325 books and pamphlets has more than doubled through purchase and
donation. Now with the publication of a handsome catalogue, the Universityof
Leeds Icelandic Collection becomes more readily accessible. Some scholars may
- but all will be delighted
evince surprise - at the extent of the Icelandic holdings.
In addition to items located in the Icelandic Collection, the catalogue lists
related materialin the Scandinavian collectionof the Universityof Leeds, notably
materialon historical,archaeological,and linguistictopics relatingto Iceland or the
Scandinavian countriesin general. The catalogue is arrangedin alphabetical order
according to author, editor, or title, and provides cross referencesas an aid in
tracingan item. A subject index is appended (pp. 161-66).
Unfortunately insufficientand inconsistentanalysisof the holdingspreventsthe
catalogue from achieving fully the desired impact. Despite copious (and not in-
frequentlysuperfluous)cross references, the catalogue reflectsonly imperfectlythe
breadth of the Leeds Icelandic Collection. For example, series- such as Annaler
(Aarbpger) for nordisk Oldkyndighedog Historie- are listed with an indicationof
volumes to be found in the Icelandic Collection, but not of the contentsof the
volumes. Moreover, the catalogue does not always list separately,or consistently

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