Some Notes on Rundata

by Gunnvôr silfrahárr (Christie L. Ward)

2004 Christie L. Ward; all rights reserved

Here is the complete list of sources for Rundata (Samnordisk runtextdatabas, downloadable from http://home6.swipnet.se/~w-61277/rundata/1.htm).

Most of the time, the "Period/Datering" information in Rundata just gives the date as "V", meaning "Viking Age", which is very broad. For some Danish inscriptions from Jacobsen & Moltke a more precise sub-period is given. The periods used are:

V Helnæs-Gørlev		ca. 800 (or 750-ca. 900)
V för-Jelling	(pre-Jelling)	ca. 900
V Jelling	(Jelling)	10th c. and into the 11th c.
V efter-Jelling	(post-Jelling)	ca. 1000 – ca. 1050
V kristen efter-Jelling	(Christian, post-Jelling)	1st half 11th c.

Many of the inscriptions in Rundata also include a field called "Stilgruppering". This refers to date bands determined by the style of ornamentation on the stone as proposed by Gräslund:

Gräslund, A-S. 1991. Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering. TOR 23, pp. 113-140.
Gräslund, A-S. 1992. Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering II. TOR 24, pp. 177-201.

The date bands are:

RAK	990-1010 AD
FP	1010-1050 AD
Pr1	1010-1040 AD
Pr2	1020-1050 AD
Pr3	1050 - a generation forward (en generation framåt)
Pr4	1060-1100 AD
Pr5	1100-1130 AD

I usually find names in Peterson's Nordiskt runnamnslexikon, then look them up in Rundata to get more info.

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