Narsaq stick (nonfiction)

The Narsaq stick is a pine twig inscribed with runic symbols dating to ca. 1000.

The stick was discovered in Narsaq in Greenland in 1953 and was quickly seen as a significant find, as it was the first Viking Age runic inscription discovered in Greenland. The stick has two sentences of ambiguous and obscure runic text. One suggested interpretation of the first sentence is "He who sat on a tub saw a tub" while another is "On the sea, the sea, the sea is the ambush of the Æsir". The other sentence refers to a maiden named "Bibrau" who may be sitting on the sky. The runic alphabet is carved on one side of the stick in a short-twig form. Yet another side has a series of carefully carved symbols of unclear meaning, possibly cipher runes or some sort of tally.

Scholars have suggested various possibilities for the purpose of the stick. Relatively mundane ideas include that the text is a play on words, a pedagogical exercise in runic ambiguity or a riddle. Magical and religious purposes have also been suggested, with the stick being a pagan plea for protection against the dangers of the sea or possibly a case of love magic. Various parallels have been suggested, particularly with runic inscriptions from Bergen in Norway.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

External links

• Narsaq stick @ Wikipedia