Birsay 1 (S-ORK-003)

Provenance

Discovery: Found during the 1934+ excavations re-used as a building stone.

Findspot: Birsay and Harray, Orkney, Scotland (National Grid Reference: HY 2398 2850)

Current repository: Scotland National Museums of Scotland (inv. no. X.2015.27)

Last recorded location(s): Now in National Museums of Scotland (X.2015.27).

Support

Trove: 1797

Object type: Slab

Material: Orkney flag

Dimensions: H 0.63 × W 0.31 × D 0.12 m

Condition: According to Padel (1972, 55) the stone has been broken and the two pieces cemented together.

Inscription

Text field: The ogham inscription is along the narrow face of the stone. The inscription starts several inches in from the left edge and runs parallel with the long edges to within an inch or two of the right edge (Forsyth 1996, 77). The stemline is 495mm in length though the inscription is only 370mm. The letters are placed centrally on the stem, so the clear stem at the end may perhaps be a stylistic feature. The letters are generally fairly tightly spaced, though successive letters of the same aicme are clearly differentiated.

Letters: The inscription features angled letter strokes and a hammerhead A albeit ‘carelessly carved’ (Forsyth 1996, 79). The letters are ‘squarish’ in outline. The execution technique is unknown.

Date: Sixth to twelfth century

Edition

Ogham text: ᚋ̣ᚑ

Transcription: ṂONNORRAVVRR

Critical apparatus:

Three features combine to give an unambiguous indication of the direction of reading - the forward slope of b- and h-aicme consonants, the hammer-head A and several angled vowels (Forsyth 1996, 77).

Translation

The meaning of the text remains unclear.

Commentary

The text appears to be complete and may represent a single personal name.

Padel (1972, 60) suggested the text might represent Old Norse Norænn ‘Norse, Norwegian’, though, as he admitted the interpretation is unlikely because the adjective would not end in -r. Likewise his suggestion that 0 is Old Norse ó ‘from’ is not very likely (Forsyth 1996, 80).

References

Forsyth 1996, 76-81
Padel 1972, 54-58

Visiting the Birsay 1 (S-ORK-003) Ogham Stone

The Birsay 1 (S-ORK-003) stone is one of Scotland's finest early medieval monuments — and well worth the journey. Whether you're a dedicated epigrapher, a history enthusiast, or simply someone who loves exploring ancient places, seeing a 1,500-year-old inscription in person is an experience unlike any other.