Kristel Zilmer: The Use of Runes in Medieval Norwegian Towns - Inscriptions and Artifacts
Thanks to urban excavations from the second half of the 20th century until today, the collection of runic inscriptions from the Middle Ages has increased with hundreds of new finds, especially on smaller objects made of wood and bone. The discoveries have, among other things, provided new insight into the diverse writing culture of the Middle Ages. In this talk, Kristel Zilmer will discuss what we know about the use of runes in Norwegian medieval towns based on both older and more recent finds, as well as looking a bit closer at the runic objects as expressions of the interaction between written and material forms of communication.
Kristel Zilmer is professor of runology and iconography at the Museum of Cultural History. Zilmer is scientifically responsible for the nationwide runic archive and leads the museum's research group "Inscriptions and Objects." Her research touches on runic inscriptions, script-bearing objects, and script culture in the Iron Age, Viking Age, and the Middle Ages.
Kristine Ødeby Haugan: How does one find new runic inscriptions? Field work, research, and collaboration between archeologists and runologists
Through archeological field word (and a little luck), runic inscriptions on objects which have lain buried in the earth continue to be discovered. How do archeologists work to detect inscriptions in the field, and what happens afterwards? Based on her own experiences, Kristine Ødeby Haugan will discuss how archeologists can work with runologists, and the role that artifact knowledge and archeological contextualization can play in runology.
Kristine Ødeby Haugan holds a PhD in archeology from the University of Oslo (2025). Her interests include medieval and urban archeology, the development of theory and method, church archeology, and runology. Her doctoral research focused on societal adaptations to Nordic seasonal shifts in medieval urban spaces. She is currently on permission from her research position at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), where she has led large archeological excavations at Oslo's Follobane project, medieval ruins in Avaldsnes on Karmøy, and in the Stavanger Cathedral, among others. She has also published on runic inscriptions from Oslo.