The Kingmoor Ring (also Greymoor Hill Ring) is a Viking Age Anglo-Saxon (9th or 10th century) gold ring bearing a Futhorc inscription.
It was discovered in June 1817 at Greymoor Hill, Kingmoor, near Carlisle (54°55′0″N 2°58′30″W / 54.916667°N 2.975°W). By 1859, the ring was in the possession of the British Museum who has received it from the Earl of Aberdeen. A replica is on exhibit in the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle.
The ring is one of a small number of Viking Age rings with inscriptions, besides the Bramham Moor, Coquet Island, Cramond, Linstock Castle and Wheatley Hill rings.
The inscription is undeciphered. It reads
- ᚨᚱᛦᚱᛁᚢᚠᛚᛏᛦᚱᛁᚢᚱᛁᚦᚩᚾᚷᛚᚨᚴᛏᚨᛈᚩ᛭
- ærkriufltkriuriþonglæstæpo+
with an additional three runes written on the inside, ᛏᚨᚿ, amounting to a total of 30 signs.
Where k is the late Futhorc calc rune of the same shape as Younger Futhark Yr, and the s is the so-called "bookhand s" looking similar to a Younger Futhark k, ᚴ. The sequence ærkriu is also found on the Bramham Moor Ring, and is interpreted as a spell for staunching blood.[1] For this reason, the entire inscription is likely a protective or healing charm or spell with the ring serving as an amulet.[1]
Notes
References
- Page, Raymond I. (1999). An Introduction to English Runes (2nd ed.). Boydell Press. pp. 112-113. ISBN 0-85115-768-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=SgpriZdKin0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- Page, Raymond I., 'The Inscriptions,' Appendix A in D.M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100 in the British Museum (London): 67-90.
- Okasha, Elisabeth. "Anglo-Saxon Inscribed Rings." Leeds Studies in English, n.s. 34 (2003), 29–45.
- Mindy McLeod, 'Bind-runes in numerological rune-magic' in: Langbroek et al. (ed.), Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik vol. 56 (2002), p. 32f.
See also
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