Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.2009, Side 189

188 ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
Summary
Archaeological excavations, which were carried out at the former bishop’s residence
at Skálholt between 2002 and 2007, concentrated on the well-preserved remains of
the core of the building complex, dated to the 17th and 18th centuries. Through this
com plex, there runs a long corridor that connects a number of different rooms or
buildings.
In 2005, an inscription came to light on a wall near the southern end of this corri-
dor. The inscription, which likely dates to approximately 1700 or somewhat older,
includes a man’s name, HALLVARÐUR. The writing is mostly in Latin script, how-
ever the two Rs are represented by rune-like characters. Also, above the name, two
runes are incised, one an H and the other a V or U. To the left of the name there
are three short lines, one on top of the other, possibly divisions between words. This
might be taken to indicate that another word or words, at some point in time, pre-
ceded the name. Thus, it is likely that the stone has been re-used, and the inscription
was made when the stone was in another setting. Of course, it is not possible to know
the full content of the inscription, however, it may have been as simple as “Hallvarður
was here.”
Although Hallvarður is a relatively uncommon name, it seems that the inscription
is not connected with an historically known person. St Hallvard of Norway might be a
possibility, so might a couple of others, but it remains an open question.