ORKNEY RUNES.*

TEE aim of all antiquarian study is to develop the character and habits of nations ; to describe the various phases of society ; and to note the different political, social, and moral conditions under which the human race has prolonged its existence. Among the most interesting objects of such research are the tumuli, or grave- mounds, of the ancients, which may be classed among the most venerated institutions of the realm, inasmuch as they are the living examples of a dead antiquity, and thus teach us the most valuable lessons.

During the last few years Mr. J. Farrar, M.P., has been carry- ing out a series of excavations in some of these early tumular monuments of Orkney. In July, 1861 he opened a large mound called Mesehowe, near the famed "Stones of Stennis." This was found to contain a vaulted chamber, with three small cells annexed, approached by a long, well-secured 'gallery from the outside, all constructed of slabs of stone, some of them of great size. While the excavations of this remarkable mound were in progress, several lines of Runic cha- racters were discovered, of various sizes, and on various parts of the walls, so that when the work was completed the number was about a thousand. Figures of dragons, serpents, a cross, a seal, and a horse were also found cut on the slabs. The horse has eight legs, and is supposed by Mr. Mitchell to be either an emblem of the magic art of Thorer, or a representation of Sleipne, Odin's- wonderful horse of the Northern mythology, which was said to- have had eight feet or legs, and to have been the swiftest horse in the world. The Runes were in good preservation, and in the book to which we have drawn attention in the heading of this paper, we have been favoured not only with a detailed account of the excavations, but we have also a very excellent translation of each of the thirty-three inscriptions. Mr. Mitchell endeavours to make his book as attractive as possible, by giving us lithographic copies of the inscriptions, with a Runic version, and a translation into Danish and English ; a description and ground. plan of the cave ; a short account of the Runic literature of Scandinavia, in which he takes a brief view of the inscribed monuments of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and of those found in Scotland, England, and the Isle of Man. He also gives us an interesting historical narrative of four different expeditions of Norwegian sovereigns into Orkney, which have been compiled by him from the original Norcemic, or old Danish and Icelandic, sagas and- * Alnehoece; ruustrations of the RunnuLiprafure of Scandinavia. By a. 1d. Mitchell, F.R.S.A. Edinburgh : R Grant and So., ; Lyndon : J. R. Smith. manuscripts, and points out their connection with the inscriptions. In the chapter of notes he gives an extract from Sturleson's saga, illustrating the Scandinavian mode of sea-fighting ; and he describes the treasure discovered a few years ago in Orkney (which is supposed to be referred to in the inscriptions), and gives a plate of the principal ornaments. There is also a glossary of the difficult and doubtful words, elucidating the correctness and fidelity of the translations, and containing some interesting illustrations of ancient times. Runes are now a great national property, the objects of the noblest and most enlightened research, and more especially so, when they are connected with the burial- places of our forefathers. In the cause, therefore, of our common nationality, we cannot but feel a deep interest in the book before us, because it is a capital condensation of Scandinavian Runology.

From etymology Mr. Mitchell supposes the place to have been the " judgment mound," from the Gaelic words measa," to judge," and achd," a bank or mound." This may have been the object of the original construction of the mound. The chamber, how- ever, appears to have been occupied afterwards for a different pur- pose, for, from its own inscribed records, Mr. Mitchell shows that it was a place of refuge for the Northern Vikings, from which they made their excursions on the neighbouring shores, and where they concealed their plunder, some of which has been found in the place pointed out in the inscriptions. This care, therefore, has much to awaken our sympathies beyond its mere national distinction ; for it forms an immediate connecting link between ourselves, and our forefathers ; and to historians generally, and to every student of the manners and habits of life of our ancestors, its inscriptions must be specially valuable. They commemorate the names of twenty-seven individuals ; some Teutonic, some ancient Scottish or British, but chiefly Scandinavian. Two of these inscriptions are peculiarly interest. ing, as they record the names of Thorfinn, and his wife or daughter, Ingebiorg (the fair), mourning for the death of her husband or father, which event occurred A.D. 1063, this date being recorded in the inscription.

The first of these inscriptions is No. 7, and is Runic and English :— "INGEBIORG HIN F/EGRA. AHGIA.

"MOERHK KOGA ELEFER FARET LURIN HIR MIHKIL OFLATE." as follows in

"Ingebiorg the fair in distress.

After sailing on the dark raging waves, We are lurking here in great hope."

Annexed to this inscription are six tree Runes, from which Mr. Mitchell deduces the date A.D. 1063. Here we have the two words moerhk and Zarin, which appear more like provincialisms than old Norse words.

The second of these inscriptions is No. 13. This is a retro- verse inscription, and when read backwards, i.e., from right to left, is thus rendered by Mr. Mitchell :— " THAT NAM SAT EREKES AHE AT FAENU TORFON ARINT SIT BROTTHR IM N 0 T 0.

"MS VAR FI BOUL FORT MELTE lENTHAIR."

" A willing record that Erekes tried to discover Torfon, his brother's house. It was thought that N. E. by E. there was hidden treasure of great value at the entrance-door."

Mr. Mitchell supposes this to be a record that an unsuccess- ful attempt bad been made to discover some hidden treasure, and that it was a notice to their companion freebooters who might visit the cave afterwards to endeavour to recover it. In connection with these two inscriptions we have also No. 12, which appears to be a sepulchral record of Finla, probably a relation of Macbeth, and possibly his father. This is a testi- monium to the accuracy of Fordun, who states, Lib. v., cap. 49, that Macbeth was " the son of Fenele, or Finlay." Thor- finn was the Norwegian Earl of Orkney, the friend and ally of Macbeth, of whom we have such a meagre and semi-fabulous account in our Scottish historians, but whose history is so fully related in the Irish and Norwegian annalists.

Mr. Mitchell demonstrates that one of our best, richest, and most valuableoinheritances, as a people, is our descent from the Old Norsk Vikings, at least ten centuries ago. He shows that these bold sea-rovers were not only the most daring and dashing

of adventurers, but that they were the pioneers of civilization laying the foundations of noble kingdoms, and that they were themselves among the most intellectual people of the age, as is evident from their mythological and historical writings, which are to this day the admiration of all who are acquainted with them.

Many of them were wonderful men, anh their hiisory is a perfect romance. When we consider, therefore, that about 1,800 stone monuments have been found in the three kingdoms of ancient Scandinavia, and that from the inscriptions recorded on them deductions may be made as to the habits and institutions of the inhabitants in ancient times, our interest in the Mesehowe writings must be largely augmented, and we may draw the inference that a good interpretation of them is of surpassing importance.

Mr. Mitchell has many of the best qualities of a translator. He is a good Scandinavian scholar—an indispensable requisite. He is well versed in the science of Scandinavian Runes. He has visited, inspected, and studied the monuments on which similar in- scriptions have been found, and he has directed his attention and re- searches most particularly to Northern archeology and philology. He has not only a thorough knowledge of the Northern languages, the " Eddas," the " Sagas," and the other writings of these Scandi- navian warriors, statesmen, and poets, acquired and fostered during his long residence in Scandinavia ; but he has also a thorough knowledge of the many provincialisms of his own country, which have been derived from, and are so closely allied to, the ancient dialects of Scandinavia, several of these provincial words occurring in the Mesehowe Runes. The translations are, conse- quently, not disfigured by anything crotchety, and they are not smothered under a cement of unmeaning verbiage. He has unravelled for the living the secrets of the grave, and for so doing, and fur doing it so well, lie has earned our warmest gratitude. He shows, beyond all doubt, that these Norse Runes are the remains of a people who, although they were certainly wanting in comparative civilization, and were almost in a state of comparative barbarism, were yet alive to progress, and ready on every occasion to avail themselves of European discovery, and were, perhaps, in some respects, even superior to the western and more southern Europeans of that day. On these considerations our interest in Scandinavian Runic literature is enhanced, and more especially so, when we can have the gratifi- cation of such an admirable development as is afforded in the cave of Mesehowe.