Data-Based Runes Macrostudies. On the Bryggen Runic Inscriptions

Abstract

This volume of The Bryggen Papers focuses on the almost 700 runic inscriptions found over the course of the Bryggen excavations in Bergen, Norway. The medieval inhabitants of Bergen inscribed runes onto a variety of materials: wooden sticks, bones, ceramics and even leather shoes. The topics they wrote about varied, ranging from religious invocations to vulgar descriptions of their fellow townspeople. Nor were these inscriptions static; it is possible to identify trends in the way inscriptions changed over time with the development of the medieval settlement, influenced by concurrent historical events. Information as to the potential geographic origins and social status of some of the carvers, who saw fit to record their names, can also be derived from the inscriptions.This interdisciplinary study exemplifies how the theoretical framework of relational databases can be utilised to support in-depth comparisons of runic inscriptions. Rather than being a more traditional study of the content of the inscriptions, it assesses the suitability of different data models and demonstrates how relational database management systems can become powerful tools for conducting runological research, benefiting the broader field of runology and epigraphic studies in general. The study also makes use of the digital format by directly linking to other runic databases to supplement the information provided here. The authorElisabeth Maria Magin, PhD (b. 1987) has a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Proto-and Prehistoric Archaeology and Scandinavian Philology from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany, and received her doctoral degree for her interdisciplinary thesis on the runic inscriptions from Bryggen at the School of English, University of Nottingham. She has taught Old Norse, medieval Scandinavian literature and runology at the universities of Bergen and Oslo, and worked for several years as an assistant on the edition of South Germanic runic inscriptions published in 2020. She is currently undertaking a MSCA (Marie Curie-Skłodowska Actions) project aiming to create the infrastructure for digital editions of runic inscriptions at the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo.

Women in Medieval Bergen. Gender and Material Culture

“…97;XII,no. 47) and archaeological remnants, such as labels with female names (Johnsen 1990;Liestøl 1991, Magin 2021, 2023 may indicate the presence of presumably high-ranking business women -e.g. owning tenements and running housing and accommodation.…”