knife engraved with ancient letters

A knife discovered by archaeologists in a tomb on the island of Funen, Dan Mach was inscribed with the ancient Norse inscription "hirila", meaning "little sword".

A nearly 2,000-year-old carving on a knife believed to be runes - an ancient Norse script considered the oldest ever found in Denmark - has been discovered by archaeologists.

The inscription was carved into an 8cm long iron knife and was found in a tomb beneath a vase near the city of Odense on the Danish island of Funen. Five characters, each about 0.5 cm high, followed by three grooves, spell "hirila", which means “little sword” in Old Norse.

Runes are letters in several Germanic alphabets that were used in Northern Europe from ancient times until the Latin alphabet was adopted instead.

Together with an inscribed bone comb found nearby in 1865, they are the oldest runes ever found in Denmark.

Jakob Bonde, the curator of the city museum and the archaeologist who discovered this ancient knife, said that at first he thought it was a normal knife because he could not see the runes, but after being made clean, the characters gradually appear.

“This is like receiving a message from an ancient person. It was an extraordinary find for us and indicative of the development of the earliest Norse languages. And for me personally, it's great to have this discovery," he said.

The inscription is believed to refer to the knife and not the owner. The knife will be on display at the Odense Museum in Møntergaarden from February 2 along with other artefacts found at the site.

The knife is believed to be about 800 years older than the Jelling stones discovered in Jutland (Denmark), including one erected by King Harald Bluetooth around 965 to commemorate his parents. grandfather. The inscription on the stone, commonly known as the “Danish birth certificate,” describes King Harold's achievements and contains the oldest image of Christ in Northern Europe.

Lisbeth Imer, a rune researcher at the National Museum of Denmark, said the discovery could help reveal more about Danish history.

“It is very rare that we find ancient runes like those on this knife, and it offers a unique opportunity for us to gain more knowledge about Denmark's earliest written language – and therefore about the actual language was said in the Iron Age," Imer shared.