Image:Birch-bark letter 292.gif
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No higher resolution available.
Birch-bark_letter_292.gif (613 × 181 pixels, file size: 5 KB, MIME type: image/gif)
Contents |
[edit] Summary
The Birch bark letter given the document number 292 is the oldest known document in any Finnic language. The document is dated to the beginning of the 13th century. It was found in 1957 by a Soviet expedition, led by Artemiy Artsikhovskiy in the Nerev excavation on the left coast side of Novgorod.[1]
The language used in the document is thought to be an archaic form of the language spoken in Olonets Karelia, a dialect of the Karelian language. [1]
[edit] Transcription
The text is written in Cyrillic alphabet in the Karelian dialect of the archaic Finnish or Finnic language. A transcription of the Cyrillic text is as follows:
юмолануолиїнимижи ноулисѣханолиомобоу юмоласоудьнииохови
The text, as transliterated to the Latin alphabet by Yuri Yeliseyev in 1959[2] and interpreted in modern Finnish:
jumolanuoli ï nimizi nouli se han oli omo bou jumola soud'ni iohovi
Jumalannuoli, kymmenen [on] nimesi Tämä nuoli on Jumalan oma Tuomion-Jumala johtaa.
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten your names This arrow is God's own The Doom-God leads.
Yeliseyev believes, that this is an invocation against lightning, as evidenced by "ten your names" construction. According to superstitious notions, knowledge of the name gives a human the magic power over an object or phenomenon.[3]
[edit] Other interpretations
As the orthography used does not utilize spaces between words, the source text can be rendered into words in different ways. Martti Haavio gives a different interpretation of the text in his 1964 article, suggesting, that this is a sort of an oath:
jumolan nuoli inimizi nouli sekä n[u]oli omo bou jumola soud'nii okovy
Jumalan nuoli, ihmisen nuoli sekä nuoli oma. [ Tuomion jumalan kahlittavaksi.]
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, man's arrow, and (his) own arrow. [ To be chained by the Doom-God.]
Professor Yevgeny Khelimsky in his 1986 work[4] criticizes Haavio's interpretation and gives the third known scientific interpretation, believing this to be an invocation, like Yeliseyev:[3]
Jumalan nuoli 10 nimezi Nuoli säihä nuoli ambu Jumala suduni ohjavi (johavi?)
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten [is] thy name Arrow sparkle, arrow have a shot The Doom-God so produces (rules?).
Source: [2]
[edit] References
- ^ А.В. Арциховский, В.И. Борковский. Новгородские грамоты на бересте (из раскопок 1956 - 1957 гг.). М.: Из-во Акад. Наук СССР, 1963.
- ^ Елисеев Ю. С. Древнейший письменный памятник одного из прибалтийско-финских языков.— Изв. АН СССР. Отд-ние лит. и языка, 1959, т. 18, Вып. 1, с. 65—72.
- ^ a b Written information on Karelians by S. I. Kochkurkina, A. M. Spiridonov, T. N. Jackson, 1996
- ^ Хелимский Е. А. О прибалтийско-финском языковом материале в новгородских берестяных грамотах. In the book Янин В. Л., Зализняк А. А. Новгородские грамоты на бересте (из раскопок 1977—1983 гг.): Комментарии и словоуказатель к берестяным грамотам (из раскопок 1951—1983 гг.) / АН СССР. Отд-ние истории. — М.: Наука, 1986. — С. 254—255.)
- Jelisejev, J. S. Vanhin itämerensuomalainen kielenmuistomerkki, Virittäjä-lehti 1961: 134
- Jelisejev, J. S. Itämerensuomalaisia kielenmuistomerkkejä (Zusammenfassung: Ostseefinnische Sprachdenkmäler), Virittäjä-lehti 1966: 296 [3]
- Martti Haavio The Letter on Birch-Bark No. 292, Journal of the Folklore Institute, 1964
- Haavio, Martti, Tuohikirje n:o 292. Vanha suomalaisen muinaisuskonnon lähde, Virittäjä-lehti 1964: 1 [4]
[edit] Licensing
 |
This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of no more than the life of the author plus 100 years. |
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
| Date/Time | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 03:39, 1 October 2005 | 613×181 (5 KB) | Petri Krohn (Talk | contribs) | (Birch-bark letter found in 1957 in excavations in Novgorod Dated to the beginning of the 13th century. The text is written in the Cyrilic alphabet. Transliterated to latin alphabet by J. S. Jelisejev and interpreted in modern [[Finnis) |
- Search for duplicate files
- Edit this file using an external application
See the setup instructions for more information.
