Kragehul I
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Kragehul I is a migration period lance-shaft found in Funen bearing the Elder Futhark inscription
- ekerilazasugisalasmuhahaitegagagaginugahe[?]lija[?]hagal(a)wijubig?
The first part is read as
- ek erilaz asugisalas muha haite, gagaga
Interpreted as "I, the Erilaz of Asugisalaz am called Muha" followed by some sort of battle cry or chant. Asugisalaz contains ansu- "god" and gisala- "sprout, offspring". Muha may either be a personal name, or a word meaning "retainer" or similar. The runes of gagaga are displayed as a row of three bindrunes based on the X-shape of the g rune with sidetwigs attached to its extremities for the a. A similar sequence gægogæ is found on the Undley bracteate.
The gagaga and the remaining part of the inscriptions have prompted varying and partly fanciful interpretations.
Schneider (1969) opts for bull sacrifice, reading g-a as "gift, god!" and the remaining as
- Ginugahelija Hagala wiju bi g[aia].
- "the mighty roarer [the sacrificial bull], the Hagal, I dedicate to the spear".
Düwel (1983) reads the thrice repeated g-a as g[ibu] a[uja] "I give good fortune". For the second part of the inscription, he has
- ginu-ga he[lmat]lija ... hag?l(a) wi[g]ju bi g[aia].
- "magical-"ga", the helmet-destroying hail I dedicate to the spear"
Pieper (1999) reads g-a as g[ebu] a[nsu] "gift to the god [Odin]", with following
- ginu-ga hellija hag?la wiju bi g[ebu].
- "magical-god-gift, hellish hail I dedicate upon this gift"
[edit] References
- Düwel, Klaus, Runenkunde 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1983.
- Pieper, Peter, "Fluchweihe" oder "Weihefluch": Imitative Kampfesmagie bei den Germanen nach dem Zeugnis von Runeninschriften in: Studien zur Sachsenforschung, 13, 1999, 303-324.
- Schneider, Karl, Runische Inschriftenzeugnisse zum Stieropferkult der Angelsachsen in: Festschrift für Edgar Mertner, (hg.) Fabian, Bernhard, Suerbaum, Ulrich. München 1969, 9-54.
