"Viking" Runestone U-617 from Uppland, Sweden - After 700 CE
This runestone was claimed to have the word "Viking" in it. It doesn't.
This runestone was claimed to have the word "Viking" in it. It doesn't.
(January 9, 2025) This runestone is near the Bro church in Uppland Sweden. Its center image is the letter "T" meaning "astrology-magic." Photo from Wikimedia Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U_617,_Bro_2.jpg
This runestone is generally claimed to be the source of the Old Norse word "vikingr" which was first mentioned in the 1801 "The History of the Anglo-Saxons" by English historian Sharon H. Turner and repeated ever since.
But the word "Viking" actually comes from the Old English wicing and Old Frisian wizing appearing almost 300 years earlier. It derives from wic "village, camp" (large temporary camps were a feature of the Viking raids), related to Latin vicus "village, habitation" seen at the end of city names as "wick." (https://www.etymonline.com/word/Viking )
In English
Uppland is a Swedish province just north of Stockholm.
(January 9, 2025) The conventional translation is as follows:
kinluk × hulmkis × tutiR × systiR × sukruþaR × auk × þaiRa × kaus × aun × lit × keara × bru × þesi × auk × raisa × stain × þina × eftiR × asur × bunta * sin × sun × hakunaR × iarls × saR × uaR × uikika × uaurþr × miþ × kaeti × kuþ × ialbi × ans × nu × aut × uk × salu
Ginnlög, Holmger's daughter, sister of Sygröd and of Göt, she had this bridge built and this stone erected after Assur, her husband, son of Earl Haakon. He was a national defender against the Vikings with Geter [?]. God now help his spirit and soul
This translation is full of names which is a clue that it is a failed translation. Names are a linguistic cheat because they can cluster any arbitrary set of letters. Also, the letter assignments are completely wrong.