Why Knotrune?

Knotted runes are a very rare style of medieval rune. I have discovered two new inscriptions in knotted runes in Borgund stavechurch, which have been officially verified by James Knirk of the Norwegian Runic Archive.

The first one is shown on the background to this blog, in colour. It says KP! I discovered it in 2004, when I was studying runology in Oslo. I had just learned about these knotted runes in class, so was most excited to spot this one on a family holiday on which we visited Borgund stavechurch, the best preserved stavechurch in Norway.

When I got back to class, I mentioned I had seen the knotted runes in Borgund stavechurch. I was met with the response ‘what knotted runes in Borgund stavechurch?’ It turned out that nobody had noticed them before, so I was the proud discovered of brand new runes!

That was an exciting moment for an aspiring runologist. Not all runologists get to discover new inscriptions, so I was very lucky to find one as a lowly MA student.

The second one is shown in black and white on my header. I discovered that one by desk runology! I spotted it in a photograph in a book. But it was verified on the excursion of the 7th International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions in 2010.

http://www.khm.uio.no/forskning/publikasjoner/runenews/7th-symp/home.html

So now I have discovered not just one, but two new inscriptions in knotted runes. My official title, bestowed by James Knirk, is Knotted Rune Woman, but that is a little long for a blog title.

And what are knotted runes? Well, you should notice the twiddly bits in the middle of the runes, where it looks a bit like the curvy bits are tied onto the straight bits. Those are the knots.