The Bülach fibula is a silver disk-type

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

with

almandine Almandine (), also known as almandite, is a species of mineral belonging to the garnet group. The name is a corruption of alabandicus, which is the name applied by Pliny the Elder to a stone found or worked at Alabanda, a town in Caria in Asia M ...

inlay found in

Bülach , neighboring_municipalities= Bachenbülach, Eglisau, Embrach, Glattfelden, Hochfelden, Höri, Rorbas, Winkel , twintowns = Santeramo in Colle (Italy) Bülach () is an historic town and a municipality in Switzerland in the canton ...

Canton Zürich Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

in 1927. The

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

grave in which it was found (no. 249) dates to the 6th century and contained the remains of an adult woman. The fibula, dated by most recent commentators to the latter half of the 6th or early 7th century,For an overview, refer to Findell 2012, page 382. bears an

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...

runic 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 El ...

, the only one found in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

to date.

Inscription

The inscription begins : :frifridil du aftm ''f''_runes_as_well_as_the_ ''f''_runes_as_well_as_the_Ansuz_(rune)">''a''_rune_mirrored. ''Frifridil''_is_an_endearing_name_for_a_male_friend_or_lover_( ''f''_runes_as_well_as_the_Ansuz_(rune)">''a''_rune_mirrored. ''Frifridil''_is_an_endearing_name_for_a_male_friend_or_lover_(Old_High_German">OHG_''fridil'',_

''f''_runes_as_well_as_the_Ansuz_(rune)">''a''_rune_mirrored. ''Frifridil''_is_an_endearing_name_for_a_male_friend_or_lover_(Old_High_German">OHG_''fridil'',_Middle_High_German">MHG_''friedel'')._''du''_is_the_second_person_singular_pronoun,_already_differentiated_from_the_common_West_Germanic_languages.html" "title="Middle_High_German.html" ;"title="Old_High_German.html" ;"title="Ansuz_(rune).html" ;"title="Fehu.html" ;"title=".. with the first and the third Fehu">''f'' runes as well as the Ansuz (rune)">''a'' rune mirrored. ''Frifridil'' is an endearing name for a male friend or lover (Old High German">OHG ''fridil'', Middle High German">MHG ''friedel''). ''du'' is the second person singular pronoun, already differentiated from the common West Germanic languages">West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided into t ...

''þu'', lending the inscription an early Old High German or Alemannic German character. The remaining part of the inscription is read differently by various authors. Also, the mirrored runes have suggested change of reading direction to some. Krause and Jankuhn (1966) read :fri ridil du fat mik l l with only two ''l'' runes, translating "you, my lover, embrace me, leek! leek!", interpreting the ''l'' runes as abbreviating "leek" (''*

laukaz or is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the ''l''-rune , meaning "water" or "lake" and meaning "leek". In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called "ocean". In the Younger Futhark, the rune is called "waterfall" in Icelandic and "wat ...

''), symbolizing fertility or prosperity (leek is strongly associated with nubile women in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

). Klingenberg (1976) has :frifridil iddu udf mik. (l) u (l) l l reading the first ''lid'' as implied by mirroring the ''dil'' and the ''fud'' as implied by mirroring the ''du f'' in conscious obscuring of the obscene content, ''lid'' meaning "penis" and ''fud'' meaning "vulva", and interpreting the ''l'' runes as phallic symbols, again abbreviating ''lid'', resulting in a translation of " , yourlover with the penis, you with the vulva: receive me; leek! penis! leek! penis!" Opitz (1977) similarly has :fri ridil iddu udf mik (l d l dl d'' :"lover - penis; you - vulva; receive me; (penis) penis penis" dismissing Klingenberg's ''k'' and ''d'' at the end of the inscription as conjectured. Later interpreters have dismissed the "''l'' runes" as mere accidental scratches, and the sexual reading of Klingenberg and Opitz as the product of an excited imagination. Looijenga (1997) reads a mere uninterpretable ''aftmu''. The undisputed reading of ''frifridil'' however establishes the inscription as a dedication among lovers.

References

External links

Runenprojekt Kiel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulach Fibula Archaeology of Alemannia Bülach Elder Futhark inscriptions Individual items of jewellery Individual brooches

Inscription

See also

References

Further reading

External links