Rundata
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The Joint Nordic database for runic inscriptions (Swedish: Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project started on January 1, 1993 at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runic inscriptions in a machine-readable way for future research. In the current edition, published September 18, 2004, there are over 6000 inscriptions in the database. A new edition is being prepared for 2006.
The project's database is freely available for download via the Internet with a client program, called Rundata, for Microsoft Windows and ASCII text files for other operating systems.
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[edit] Format of entries
Each entry includes the original text, its format, location, English and Swedish translations, information about the stone itself, et cetera. The stones are identified with a code which consists of up to three parts.
The first part describes the origin of the inscription. For Swedish inscriptions this contains a code for the province, and, for Extra-Nordic inscriptions, a code for the country (not ISO 3166).
Province code:
- Bo - Bohuslän
- D - Dalarna
- G - Gotland
- Gs - Gästrikland
- Hs - Hälsingland
- J - Jämtland
- Lp - Lappland
- M - Medelpad
- Nä - Närke
- Sm - Småland
- Sö - Södermanland
- U - Uppland
- Vg - Västergötland
- Vr - Värmland
- Vs - Västmanland
- Ög - Östergötland
- Öl - Öland
Country code:
- BR - British Isles
- DR - Denmark
- FR - Faroe Islands
- GR - Greenland: List of Rune Inscriptions in Greenland
- IR - Ireland
- IS - Iceland
- N - Norway
The second part of the code consists of a serial number or a previous method of cataloging.
The third part of the code is a character which indicates the age (Proto-Norse, Viking Age, or Middle Ages) and whether the inscription is lost or retranslated.
- # - inscription lost, later replaced with †
- $ - newly retranslated
- M - inscription from the Middle Ages
- U - inscription in Proto-Norse, i.e. before ca 800.
- [inscription from the Viking Age, if M or U are not present]
As such, U 88 would mean that the stone is from Uppland and that it is the 88th to be catalogued. This system has its origin in the book Sveriges runinskrifter (English: Runic Inscriptions of Sweden)
[edit] Original reference works
The catalog numbers refer to a variety of reference works and scholarly publications. Some of the more notable of these include:
- Sveriges runinskrifter, various volumes.
- Jacobsen, Lis, Erik Moltke (1941-42). Danmarks runeindskrifter. Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaards Forlag.
Other bibliography information is available inside the Rundata client program by pressing F4.
