New runic finds from medieval Oslo

Sammendrag

In 2021–2022, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) unearthed twelve small, portable objects with runes or rune-like markings during an excavation in Oslo. The excavation was conducted as part of large-scale archaeological projects linked to the construction of the Follo Line railway from Oslo to Ski, and it was related to the establishment of the new, enlarged Middelalderparken in Oslo. This article provides the first runological and archaeological analysis of the finds and their context. The objects, dating approximately from 1150–1350, contain inscriptions ranging from a few marks to longer and meaningful texts in Old Norse and Latin. The study highlights their significance as written and material evidence, following an integrated approach to runic artefacts as hybrid objects.