View source for Gothic runic inscriptions

{{Short description|Elder Futhark writings}}
Very few [[Elder Futhark]] [[Runic inscriptions|inscriptions]] in the [[Gothic language]] have been found in the territory historically settled by the [[Goths]] ([[Wielbark culture]], [[Chernyakhov culture]]). Due to the early [[Christianization]] of the Goths, the [[Gothic alphabet]] replaced [[runes]] by the mid-4th century.

There are about a dozen candidate inscriptions, and  only three of them are widely accepted to be of Gothic origin: the gold ring of Pietroassa, bearing a votive inscription, part of a larger treasure found in the [[Romania]]n [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]], and two spearheads inscribed with what is probably the weapon's name, one found in the  [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] Carpathians, and the other in eastern Germany, near the [[Oder]].

{{Contains special characters|Runic}}

==Ring of Pietroassa==
{{main|Ring of Pietroassa}}
A gold ring (necklace) was found  in 1837 in '''Pietroassa''' (''recte'' [[Pietroasele]], south-east [[Romania]], [[Buzău County]]), dated to ca. AD 400, bearing an [[Elder Futhark]] inscription of 15 runes. The ring was stolen in 1875, and clipped in two with pliers by a Bucharest goldsmith. It was recovered, but the 7th rune is now destroyed. The inscription reads:

<blockquote>
{{runic|ᚷᚢᛏᚨᚾᛁ [?] ᚹᛁ ᚺᚨᛁᛚᚨᚷ}}{{pad|2em}}{{xlit|got|gutani [?] wi hailag}}
</blockquote>

In pre-1875 drawings and descriptions the missing rune was read as [[othala]] ({{runic|ᛟ}}),<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.arild-hauge.com/arild-hauge/eu-rune-pietroassa.gif |title=Eu Rune Pietroassa}}</ref>, giving {{runic|ᚷᚢᛏᚨᚾᛁᛟᚹᛁ ᚺᚨᛁᛚᚨᚷ}} ({{xlit|got|gutaniowi hailag}}). This was interpreted in various ways:
* {{xlit|got|gutanio wi hailag}} "sacred to the gothic women";
* {{xlit|got|gutan-iowi hailag}} "sacred to the Jove of the Goths"{{r|Loewe 1909}} with Jove interpreted as [[Thunraz]];
* {{xlit|got|gutani o[thala] wi hailag}} "sacred inheritance of the Goths" ({{xlit |got|gutani}} is the genitive plural, for Ulfilan {{lang|got|𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌴}} ({{xlit|got|gutane}})).

The identity of the 7th rune as othala had been called into question until a photograph, taken for London's [[Arundel Society]] before the ring was vandalised, was republished, showing clearly that othala is correct.{{r|Mees 2004}}. How to interpret {{xlit |got|gutanio}} remains a matter of some dispute among [[runology|runologists]], however.{{r|Nedoma 2003}}

==Spearhead of Kovel==
[[File:Spearhead of kovel.png|thumb|280px|The spearhead of Kovel]]
The head of a lance, found in 1858 [[:uk:Сошичне|Suszyczno]],<ref>{{SgKP|XI|609|Suszyszno}}</ref> 30&nbsp;km from [[Kovel]], [[Ukraine]], dated to the early 3rd century.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.arild-hauge.com/arild-hauge/eu-rune-kowel.jpg |title=Eu Rune Kowel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de/abfragen/standard/literatur2.asp?findno=23&ort=Kowel&objekt=Lanzenblatt|title=Literatur zu einer Inschrift|access-date=2006-04-11|archive-date=2020-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127060602/http://www.runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de/abfragen/standard/literatur2.asp?findno=23&ort=Kowel&objekt=Lanzenblatt|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The spearhead measures 15.5&nbsp;cm with a maximal width of 3.0&nbsp;cm. Both sides of the leaf were inlaid with silver symbols. The inscription notably runs right to left, reading '''{{transliteration|got|tilarids|i=no}}''', interpreted as "thither rider" or, more likely, {{lang|de|Ziel-Reiter}} ("target rider" in modern German),<ref>"target rider" = sure hitter, perhaps a case of wishful thinking. See Prof. Johannes Hoops (Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 17).</ref> the name either of a warrior, or of the spear itself. It is identified as East Germanic (Gothic) because of the nominative ''-s'' (in contrast to [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]] ''-z'').
The ''t'' and ''d'' are closer to the Latin alphabet than to the classical Elder Futhark, as it were <{{runic|TᛁᛚᚨᚱᛁDᛊ}}>.

An 1880 casting of the spearhead is exhibited in Berlin, an 1884 casting in Warsaw. The original was looted by Nazi archaeologists from its Polish owner in 1939 and it was lost altogether at the end of World War II.

==Spearhead of Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg ==
[[File:Spearhead of Müncheberg.png|thumb|250px|The spearhead of Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg]]
The head of a lance, found in Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg, in [[Brandenburg]] between [[Berlin]] and the [[Oder River]], inscribed with {{runic|ᚱᚨᚾᛃᚨ}} ({{xlit|got|ranja}}) (Ulfilan {{lang|got|𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌾𐌰}} [{{xlit|got|rannja}}], “router”).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de/abfragen/standard/deutung2.asp?findno=22&ort=Dahmsdorf&objekt=Lanzenblatt|title=Deutungen zu einer Inschrift|access-date=2006-04-13|archive-date=2020-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127205837/http://www.runenprojekt.uni-kiel.de/abfragen/standard/deutung2.asp?findno=22&ort=Dahmsdorf&objekt=Lanzenblatt|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Spindle whorl of Letcani==
[[Spindle whorl]] found in [[Lețcani]], [[Romania]], dated to the 4th&nbsp;century.
<blockquote>
{{runic|ᚨᛞᛟᚾᛊᚢᚠᚺᛖ ᛬ᚱᚨᛜᛟ᛬}}{{pad|2em}}{{xlit|got|adonsufhe :rango:}}
</blockquote>

==Buckle of Szabadbattyán==
Silver buckle found in [[Szabadbattyán]], [[Hungary]], dated to the early 5th&nbsp;century, perhaps referring to the "Mærings" or [[Ostrogoths]].{{dubious|date=November 2017}}
<blockquote>
{{runic|ᛗᚨᚱᛁᛜᛊ}}{{pad|2em}}{{xlit|got|mariŋs}}
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[List of runestones]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
 {{r|Loewe 1909|r=
  {{cite journal
   |last=Loewe |first=Richard
   |title=Der Goldring von Pietroassa
   |journal=[[Indogermanische Forschungen]]
   |volume=26|year=1909|pp=203–8
  }}
 }}
 {{r|Mees 2004|r=
  {{cite journal
   |last=Mees |first=Bernard
   |title=Runo-Gothica: The runes and the origin of Wulfila's script
   |journal=Die Sprache
   |volume=43 |date=2004 |pp=55–79
  }}
 }}
 {{r|Nedoma 2003|r=
  {{cite journal
   |last=Nedoma |first=Robert
   |title=Pietroassa, § 2. Runologisches
   |journal=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde
   |volume=23 |date=2003 |pp=155–58
  }}
 }}
}}

==Further reading==
*[[Carl Marstrander|Marstrander, Carl]], 'De gotiske runeminnesmaerker', ''Norsk tidskrift for sprogvidenskap'' 3 (1929), 25-157.
*Ebbinghaus, Ernst, 'The question of Visigothic runic inscriptions re-examined', ''General Linguistics'' 30 (1990), 207-14.
*Dietrich, Franz E.C., ''De inscriptionibus duabus Runicis ad Gothorum gentem relatis'' (Marburg: Elwert, 1861).
*Graf, Heinz-Joachim, 'Gutanio wi hailag oder Gutaniom hailag? - Zur Lesung des Ringes von Pietroasa', ''Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift'' 31 (1943), 128-29.

{{list of writing systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gothic Runic Inscriptions}}
[[Category:Elder Futhark inscriptions]]
[[Category:Germanic archaeological artifacts]]
[[Category:Gothic writing|Runic]]
[[Category:Byzantine Empire-related inscriptions]]