Preface
Figures
Tables
Chapter 1 What is runology?
1.1 The role of paleography
1.2 Proper focus
1.3 Runology and mythology
Chapter 2 The oldest recorded Germanic
2.1 Linguistic reconstruction
2.2 Linguistic inventories vs. linguistic structures
2.3 Proto-Germanic vowels
2.4 Late Proto-Germanic
2.5 Defining Proto-Germanic
2.6 The end of Proto-Germanic
2.7 What's in a name?
2.8 Northwest Germanic: Language and inscriptions
2.9 The end of Northwest Germanic
2.10 Conclusion
Chapter 3 The earliest Germanic writing system
3.1 The nature of runes
3.2 The older, or Germanic fuþark
Chapter 4 The graphemic system of the older runes
4.1 Uncertain runes
4.2 Distinctive features
4.3 Variant runes
Chapter 5 The fifteenth rune
5.1 Earlier attempts at deciphering
5.2 The rise of comparative linguistics
5.3 The conflict over Schleswig-Holstein
5.4 Peter Andreas Munch
5.5 Ludvig Wimmer
5.6 Present-day scholars
5.7 Reinterpretation
5.8 Chronology
5.9 Northwest Germanic /r/ and /z/
5.10 Conclusion
Chapter 6 Age and origin of the fuþark
6.1 Earlier views on the age and origin
6.2 Erik Moltke and the Danish theory
6.3 A structural approach to the question of origins
6.4 The Latin theory
6.5 “Primitive alphabets”
6.6 Inscriptions on metal
6.7 Writing traditions
6.8 Conclusion
Chapter 7 Reading runic inscriptions
7.1 Directionality and arrangement
7.2 The Järsberg stone
7.3 Other runestones of more than one line
7.4 The Tune stone
7.5 A question of alignment: The Opedal stone
7.6 Hidden boustrophedon
7.7 Transposed runes
7.8 Conclusion
Chapter 8 Dating runic inscriptions
8.1 Linguistic and runological evidence
8.2 Pseudo-evidence for dating
8.3 No help from archeologists: The Strøm whetstone
8.4 Different materials, different shapes?
8.5 Relative dating from linguistic evidence
8.6 Chronological stalemate in the older period
Chapter 9 Sacral or secular?
9.1 Magical “solutions” and their consequences
9.2 “Imaginative” and “skeptical” runologists
9.3 Not intended for human eyes
9.4 The assumed magical power of the runes
9.5 The runemaster, erilaz, as “runemagician”
9.6 The runemaster and the cult of Odin
9.7 “Runic tradition” through the millenia
Chapter 10 Runic typology
10.1 The role of typology
10.2 The nature of the corpus
10.3 Inscriptions with isolated words
10.4 Names in isolation
10.5 Single runes
10.6 Isolated names on loose objects
10.7 Isolated names on stones
10.8 Commemorative inscriptions
10.9 Inscriptions without verbs
10.10 Symbols of office
Chapter 11 Phonological rules and paradigms
11.1 Laws of final syllables
11.2 The phonological rules
11.3 Root-consonant and i-stems
11.4 Repatterning of the paradigms
11.5 Confirming evidence
11.6 The genitive plural and trimoric vowels
11.7 Proto-Indo-European vowel sequences
Chapter 12 Some controversial grammatical forms
12.1 Proper names in -o
12.2 Proper names without endings
12.3 Nouns with nominative -s
12.4 The verb /faihijanan/
12.5 The ghost-form irilaz
Chapter 13 Runic syntax
13.1 Linguists’ use of runic inscriptions
13.2 Descriptive adjectives
13.3 Attributive genitive
13.4 Pronominal modifiers
13.5 Position of the verb
13.6 Conclusion
Chapter 14 “Archaicizing” inscriptions
14.1 Vernacular vs. elevated style
14.2 The Setre comb
14.3 The Ellestad stone
14.4 The Strøm whetstone
14.5 The Björketorp and Stentoften stones
14.6 The Jelling stones 1 and 2
Chapter 15 The Weser runebones
15.1 Pieper’s rehabilitation of the Weser inscriptions
15.2 Pieper’s “imaginative” runological interpretation
15.3 Critique of Pieper’s interpretation
15.4 A “skeptical runological” interpretation
Chapter 16 Old English digraphic spellings
16.1 Diphthongs or monophthongs?
16.2 The rise of syllabic variants
16.3 Pre-Anglian developments
16.4 West Saxon developments
16.5 The role of the runes
References
Index of inscriptions
Index of runic words
Index of names
Index of subjects