Knife with the oldest runic script discovered in Denmark (photo)

Archaeologists in Denmark have discovered a 2000-year-old knife with runic engraving. The discovery was made on the island of Funen.

It is believed that the knife is the oldest runic writing found in Denmark and helps researchers understand the ancient writing of the Scandinavian countries. This was reported by Azernews.

The knife is engraved with half-centimeter runes that form the word hirila, which means "small sword" in Old Norse.

Also read: An intact medieval glove found in Switzerland (photo)

"We rarely find runes as ancient as the ones on this knife, and this is a unique opportunity to learn more about Denmark's oldest language, and therefore about the language that was actually spoken in the Iron Age. At that time, literacy was not widespread, and so reading and writing were associated with special status and power. At the beginning of the history of runes, scribes constituted a small intellectual elite, and the first traces of these people in Denmark can be found on Funen," said runologist Lisbeth Imer of the Danish National Museum.

The knife was found next to an urn in a grave east of the city of Odense. This is an unusual find that speaks to the development of the oldest Scandinavian language.

It is not yet known who the knife belonged to, but it is assumed that it was someone from a high-ranking member of society.

To recap, a child found an 1800-year-old Roman coin in a sandbox.

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