Between the Past and the Future

The article deals with the representation of the collective historical memory in runic writing. In the 5th – 7th centuries runic inscriptions on stone monuments start to mention public events, such as the death of a chieftain or public sacrifice, preserving thus the historical memory about it. The texts include only ‘keys’ that actualize the memory, a personal name first of all. The emergence of the memorative function changes attitudes to the monuments. They become public value that is protected by spells against anyone who harms the monument. A memorial formula opens with the ‘key’ to the historical memory – the name of the remembered person. In the 9th to 11th centuries the memorial formula is further transformed: it now opens with the names of those who ordered the monument, then follows the statement about its erection, the name of the deceased and his relationship in kinship with the customer(s). The transfer of the emphasis to the customers points to the importance of preserving information on their relationship, probably to confirm their inheritance rights. The glorification of the deceased and making the genealogical information public, however, do not remain events of public concern. The memorative function of runic monuments thus declines, they represent a family and not collective historical memory. Later runic writing loses its memorative function altogether; it becomes the means of communication between individuals

Ancient history · Art · Literature · Political science · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution