Study of ancient runes helps clarify the role of the mysterious Viking queen Thyra

More than 1,000 years ago, carvers in what is now Denmark sank their chisels into rock to engrave runestones – monuments to Viking leaders that listed their deeds and achievements. Two groups of rune stones mention a woman named Thyra. And as CNN reports, new analysis of the carvings suggests the runes on both sets of stones were inscribed by the same artist and refer to the same woman: a Viking queen of considerable power.

Researchers from Denmark and Sweden used 3D scanning to analyze the carvings of rune stones, revealing signatures that indicate the personal style of the person who carved them. The carver’s repeated mention of Thyra’s name – a rare occurrence for Viking Age women – suggests Thyra was a powerful ruler who likely played a key role in the birth of the Danish kingdom, scientists reported recently in the journal Antiquity.

“Learning more about the rune carver and those named on the stone is very interesting,” said Dr Catherine Cross, a lecturer at York St John’s University in the UK who researches and teaches early medieval history in northern Europe. “We can only understand early medieval sources once we can think about who created them and why.”

One set of runes was taken from a pair of monuments known as the Jelling Stones, erected in the city of Jelling around 965. According to the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, the larger Jelling stone is often called the “Danish birth certificate” because it is the first monument to give its name to a country when its people converted to Christianity.

Both Jelling runestones also named a royal figure: Queen Thyra, mother of the then reigning king Harald Bluetooth. A smaller stone was erected in her honor by her husband (and Harald’s father) King Gorm, calling her the “strength/salvation of Denmark” (or “the adornment of Denmark,” depending on the translation, the researchers noted in the study). Harald ordered a larger stone to honor both of his royal parents.

In another set of four Viking Age monuments, collectively known as the Bekke-Leborg group, two rune stones mention a woman named Thyra. The stones are associated with a carver named Ravnunge-Tew, but experts disagree on whether Thyra was Harald’s mother, said lead study author Dr. Lisbeth Ymer, a curator and senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark who specializes in the study of runes and ancient inscriptions.

Until the new investigation, it was unknown who carved the Jelling stones. Confirming that their carver was Ravnunge-Tew would strengthen the connection between the Jelling and Bekke-Leborg runestones, Dr. Ymer told CNN.

“Then it is much more reasonable to assume that it was in fact the same Tyra,” she said.

Some details on ancient rune stones that indicate the individual style of the carver are visible to the trained eye of an expert, such as the tongue or the basic shape of the runes. According to Lisbeth Ymer, other details are more difficult to detect.

“What you can’t see with the naked eye is the carving technique,” ​​she said.

To get a closer look at the carvings, the researchers scanned the stones and created digital 3D models, then measured the rune grooves using a software tool that took into account variables such as angle, depth and cutting rhythm. Together, these variables can create a unique profile for the carver.

“Each rune carver develops his own motor skills and holds the tools at a certain angle, strikes with a certain force,” Ymer said. “A motor skill is personal and cannot be copied by other people.”

When the researchers compared the runes from Jelling 2 (the larger of the two Jelling stones) and the Leborg stone from the Bekke-Leborg group, they found striking similarities such as the height of the runes, the straightness of the main shafts, and the length and placement of the runic branches.

“In the inscriptions of Leborg and Jelling you can trace the rhythm of cutting Ravnunge-Tyu in the form of one deep blow with a chisel, followed by two not very deep ones: DAK, DAK-DAK, DAK, DAK-DAK,” says Dr. Ymer. “It’s almost like hearing the heartbeat of someone who lived so long ago.”

In recent years, archaeologists have revised previous interpretations of Viking warrior burials as exclusively male, discovering that Viking women were warriors too. The new findings add to the picture of powerful Viking women who held prominent roles in government as well as on the battlefield.

“This research shows how Viking Age women wielded power through political authority and patronage, not just violence,” says Catherine Cross.

Moreover, the fact that Thyra is mentioned on four rune stones strongly suggests her importance, Lisbeth Ymer added. Fewer than 10 pre-Christian runic monuments in Denmark mention women at all, and four of them are dedicated to Queen Thyra.

“Runestones in Denmark were primarily erected to honor men, but Thyra is immortalized on more runestones than any other person in Viking-era Denmark,” Dr. Ymer notes. “She must have had extreme power and position in society.”