The Arguel inscription (french: L'inscription (runique) d'Arguel) is an
Elder Futhark inscription
A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of E ...
of uncertain authenticity, dated to the 5th or 6th century. It was claimed to have been discovered by a student of law, Robert Milliat, next to a
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
at the foot of a cliff at
Arguel in the French
Doubs department
Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.[Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...]
. It was first presented at the ''Rhodania'' archaeological congress of 1921.
Description
The stone is a piece of chalk, measuring 6 cm in length, weighing 75 grams, bearing an inscription in four lines on one side, plus a single line on the reverse side, reading
:
:arbita? / wodan / l???o?haŋ / ?e? // kim
in Michel's 1921 drawing and transcription rendered as:
:
:arbitan / wodan / luugowhaŋ / res // kim
Readings
The precise reading is uncertain. The first line has been read as either ''arbitan'', ''arbitah'' or ''arbitam''. Michel's ''luugowhaŋ'' has also been read as ''liuhophang'' or ''luihophang''. The ''res'' has also been read as ''rei'' or ''rej'', ''r'' transcribing a
ᛉ (''z'') rune, while the ''s'' in Michel's drawing has the shape of the later
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries.
The ...
ᛋ rune.
The inscription has no generally accepted translation, but all scholars who have commented agree that the second line is an attestation of the theonym
Wodan
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victor ...
.
Suggestions for readings and translations include:
*''Arbitan Wodan luug ow hangr eikim'', meaning either "Arbitan, Wodan, has closed the battlefield with spears" or "Wodan has hidden Arbitan on the hill of oaks" (M. Perennot 1922)
*''arbitah Wodan liuhophang rej kim'' "seize the heritage, Wodan; take the light from the mighty" (J.-A. Bizet)
*''arbi tah Wodan luihop hang reikim'', interpreted as a
defixio
A curse tablet ( la, tabella defixionis, defixio; el, κατάδεσμος, katadesmos) is a small tablet with a curse written on it from the Greco-Roman world. Its name originated from the Greek and Latin words for "pierce" and "bind". The table ...
or curse of a dispossessed heir (G. Bizet, 1964); Bizet further identifies the inscriptions as
East Germanic
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...
, confirming the probably association with the
Burgundians.
Looijenga (2003) states that in her opinion the inscription is a falsification.
["I have not inspected these items, but find-histories and photographs were self-evident." ]
See also
*
List of runestones
References
*Lydie Joan, ''Carte archéologique de la Gaule. Le Doubs et le territoire de Belfort'', vol. 25/90, Editions MSH (2003), {{ISBN, 978-2-87754-082-7 (with Michel's 1921 drawin
Carte archéologique de la Gaule: 25/90. Le Doubs et le territoire de Belfort.
*H. Michel, ''Rhodania'' 3e congrès (1921), 481-482.
*R. Milliat, 'L'inscription runique d'Arguel', ''Archéologia'' 12 (1966).
*R. Milliat, 'Le caillou d'Arguel', ''Archéologia'' 13 (1966).
*G. Bizet, 'Die runische Inschrift von Arguel', in: ''Jahrbuch des Marburger Universitätsbundes'' (1964), 41-52.
Elder Futhark inscriptions
Odin