In 1987 a magnificent rune stone was found in Malt (Ribe) in Denmark. Like most of the similar discoveries, this too was done by pure coincidence. This amazing rune stone lay with the inscriptions down. The large stone had stood in the way of the local farmer, who was trying to move the stone. As the stone rolled over, a number of runes appeared. The runes and inscriptions are from the 8th century.
“Those skilled in the art” have attempted to translate the text the runes provide, and have landed on an approximate translation like this;
"Hvem er i karet som gnistrer?
Vifrød, ætling av hans oldefar, malte det.
Kolfinn skjulte gledesruner, og evighetsruner her,
solen i flammekaret, Týr, Týr, Týr,
ut, ut, ut Billingr.
La Týr pålegge fortielse her"
«Who is in the sparkling tub?
Vifrød, decendant from his great grandfather, painted it.
Kolfinn hid the runes of joy, and runes of eternity here,
the sun in the flaming tub, Týr, Týr, Týr,
out, out, out Billingr.
Let Týr impose concealment here”
There is the greatest consensus among scholars that this text is "mysterious" and difficult to interpret. If one is to humbly try to interpret this text, one must view it in the context of our myths and pagan views of life. With what is common to almost all myths and pre-Christian views.
This rune stone is like other “bautas” (memory stones), raised for honorable ancestors, by sons, grandsons and descendants. We know that the family cycle, honor, and ancestral spiritual reincarnation permeates pagan vision and practice. Therefore, this message is probably not deviant in this way either.
It therefore seems obvious that the rune stone's message is linked to precisely ancestral cult. Týr is the sky god, holding the most important gods (natural forces) of our ancestors, namely Sól (sun) and Mání (moon), the two eyes of our nature, one blind (death) and the other (life). Just like Baldr and Höðr (Balder and Hod).
The sparkling tub is related to this. It is related to the sun / fire. Mythological, it can very well be linked to Kvasír, which in myth originated from the tub after the Æsir had spit in it. Kvasír can be translated into "the best extract of all gods". The blood of Kvasír is the poetic mead, and it is a mythological picture of the attainment of the spirit (the intellect). This sparkling tub can similarly be linked to the life of the mother earth, the womb - Jörð (the mother (the comsic mother as well as the human mother)).
Jörð (Earth) has with Óðinn (the spirit) his mythological son Þórr. He is the "earthly son" and the "protector of men". Midgards Veurr. He is the personification and archetype of the Nordic farmer son. The myths about him all revolve around birth, life force, earthly processes and reincarnation, as his attributes do, and especially his hammer / stone Mjöllnir who always returns in orbit to his hand. It is the heart itself, the life force of man.
Billingr is related to the Norse "Bil". It’s a mythological name that can be translated into "awaiting", "hesitant", "a child", "the new moon". In the myths Billingr is an Ettin (Jötunn) / dwarf who is the father of a female figure that Óðinn desires. Billingr is in this case and more specifically, related to the unborn child, just as this is also the case with dwarves and Ettins (Jötnar) the myths. They often represent "lifeless forms", "primitive forms", and dwarves are linked to ancestors and young children (ancestral cult).
The desire of Óðinn in this case, will be linked to the spirit (önd), which will fill the unborn child (Lík). This great-grandfather, for whom this magnificent rune stone was carved and raised, is thus also related to Óðinn. In the same way that our ancestors counted themselves as the sons and daughters of Óðinn (the spirit, the kin, your ancestors accumulated in you).
The connection of Óðinn to Týr, here, is similar to our gods and goddesses otherwise. Týr carries the attributes of Óðinn, just as Friggr carries the attributes of Freyja. They are the same forces, in different contexts and processes.
This bauta and rune stone has been raised by Vífröðr, and filled with runes of joy and eternity. With clear mythological and poetic twists, it clearly seems to have been, not just a tribute to a great-grandfather, but a call for his return - in a new lík and hamr, but with intact accumulated hamingja, honor and luck.
Would one dare to wonder if the family of Vífröðr was expecting a child? You would have to be a scholar if you do not...
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