Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1998, Side 29

ÍSLENSKAR RÚNIR í NORRÆNU LJÓSI
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tools and church decoradons. During the 14th century it became fairly conimon to carve
tunic inscriptions on gravestones, mosdy oblong prismatic basalt columns (stuðlaberg);
some 50 such stones are known, although not all of them are wholly preserved. A good
utany persons mentioned on the stones are known from medieval documents. At the end
°f the 17th century the rune stones disappear but the runes hved on as a part of the car-
Ved decorations on common wooden household articles such as wool-boxes, bed-boards
and mangles until the end of the 19th century when the runes disappeard along with the
°ld Icelandic way of life. One of the last to work entirely in the traditional style of
'voodcarving in Iceland was the well known poet Hjálmar Jónsson (1796-1875). He was
skilled in runes and applied them artistically in his decoratons of a cupboard front, now
'n the National Museum.
Hjálmar Jónsson was probably also the last person to be accused of using magical
runes to harm his neighbours, this accusation and his abusing poetry rendered him in
1818 a sentence of five days imprisonment on bread and water.
The Icelandic interest in runes and runic lore is also evident in the large amount of
■Uanuscripts with different types of runic alphabets, cryptic runes and magical symbols of
a'l kinds frorn the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. Thanks to an
kelandic manuscript from about 1500 AD we know the names of the cypher runes on
Ae fanrous Swedish rune stone of Rök in Östergötland erected at the beginning of the
^th century.
Grein þessa tileinka ég minningunni um Sven B.F. Jansson, Rúna-Janna,
rúnafræðinginn og Islandsvininn (1906-1987). Styrkur úr minningarsjóði
hans gerði mér kleift að hefja rannsóknir á íslensku rúnunum.