Öpir
Öpir or Öper (
Work
During the 11th century, when most runestones were raised, the small number of professional runemasters and their
Öpir had been an associate or an apprentice of the runemaster Visäte.[1][5] He has signed about 50 runestones, and an additional 50 runestones were probably made by him.[1][5] He was active mostly in southern and eastern Uppland, but there are stones made by him also in Gästrikland and Södermanland.[5]
It is a characteristic of his runestones that there is a single rune serpent in the shape of an 8.[6] Moreover, the style is characterized by elegance and control in the complex intervolutions of the rune serpents.[1]
His name Öpir was probably originally a nickname as it means "shouter," and used as his sobriquet.[1][7] On one runestone, U 485 in Marma,[8] he gives his full name: Ofæigʀ Øpiʀ.[1][8]
Language and runes
The Old Norse of Öpir was special as the h phoneme does not appear to have been part of his language, and not mastering where to use it, he is known to have added , the Younger Futhark rune for the h phoneme, where it usually did not belong. Some instances of this misspelling are huaru (varu), hustr/huastr (austr or vestr), hut (ut) and Huikiar (the personal name Vigæir).[9] The loss of the initial h phoneme before vowels and its use in the beginning of words where it usually does not appear is a dialect trait still typical of Roslagen (eastern Uppland),[10] where Öpir was active.
However, recent research presents him as a consistent and careful speller with very few language errors,[2] and based on this reinterpretation of his language skills, the different ways he spelled his own name have led to a hypothesis that there were two runemasters named Öpir.[9]
Signed inscriptions
With the question regarding whether there was more than one runemaster named Öpir, one scholar accepted the following 46 signed inscriptions as being made by Öpir: Sö 308 in Vid Järnavägen, U 23 in Hilleshögs, U 36 in Svartsjö Djurgård, U 104 in Eds, U 118 in Älvsunda, the now-lost U 122 in Järva Krog, U 142 in Fällbro, the now-lost U 168 in Björkeby, U 179 in Riala, U 181 in Össeby-Garn, U 210 in Åsta, U 229 in Gällsta, the now-lost U 262 in Fresta, U 279 in Skälby, U 287 and U 288 in Vik, U 307 in Ekeby, the now-lost U 315 in Harg, U 462 in Prästgården, U 485 in Marma, U 489 in Morby, U 541 and U 544 in Husby-Lyhundra, the now-lost U 565 in Ekeby Skog, U 566 in Vällingsö, U 687 in Sjusta, U 880 in Skogstibble, U 893 in Högby, U 898 in Norby, U 922 and now-lost U 926 in Uppsala Cathedral, U 961 in Vaksala, U 970 in Bolsta, U 973 in Gränby, the now-lost U 984 in Ekeby, U 993 in Brunnby, U 1034 in Tensta, U 1063 in Källslätt, U 1072 in Bälinge, U 1100 in Sundbro, U 1106 in Äskelunda, U 1159 in Skensta, U 1177 in Hässelby, U Fv1948;168 in Alsike, U Fv1976;107 at Uppsala Cathedral, and the now-lost Gs 4 in Hedesunda.[11] Rundata lists three additional inscriptions: U 896 in Håga and U 940 in Uppsala, both of which have text stating that Öpir "arranged the runes," and U 1022 in Storvreta. It has been suggested that these three inscriptions represent works from the beginning of Öpir's career.[12]
Another inscription that listed by Rundata, Sö 11 in Gryts, is indicated as being signed by a second person named Öpir.
Possible identification with Russian priest
A record of Упирь (Upir′) appears in a document dated 1047 AD. It is a
Gallery
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The cast copy ofGreece Runestones
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Runestone U 142 is one of the Jarlabanke Runestones and is signed by Öpir.
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Runestone U 489 is signed by Öpir.
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Runestone U 933 is attributed to Öpir.
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The Vaksala Runestone (U 961) is signed by Öpir.
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Runestone U 1014 is attributed to Öpir.
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f The article Öpir in Nationalencyklopedin (1996).
- ^ a b Runristaren Öpir begåvad konstnär, an announcement on the new dissertation by Marit Åhlén at Uppsala University., retrieved January 14, 2007.
- ISBN 3-11-015455-2. p. 197.
- ^ Vilka kunde rista runor? at the Swedish National Heritage Board, retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c The article Runristare at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ^ An article at the site of the Foteviken Museum, retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ISSN 1404-9430. Retrieved 2 October 2010. p. 16.
- ^ a b Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk - Rundata.
- ^ ISSN 1404-9430. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
- ^ The article Uppland, subsection dialekter, in Nationalencyklopedin (1996).
- ISBN 87-635-0428-6. p. 31.
- ISSN 1892-0950. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ Sobolevskij, A. I. "Slavjano-russkaja paleografija" (in Russian). Archived from the original on December 11, 2005.
- ^ http://www.stsl.ru/manuscripts/book.php?col=1&manuscript=089 Archived 2012-11-01 at the Wayback Machine The original manuscript, Книги 16 Пророков толковыя
- ^ "Löfstrand, Elisabeth. V nacale bylo slovo — om språkhistorisk forskning vid Institutionen för slaviska och baltiska språk. Föreläsningar hållna vid Institutionens för slaviska och baltiska språk femtioårsjubileum 1994". Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ^ ISSN 1458-1396.
- ^ "Ванькова А.Б., Родионов О.А., Долотова И.А. История России. 6-7 кл : Учебник для основной школы: В 2-х частях. Ч. 1: С древнейших времен до конца XVI века.- М.: ЦГО, 2002.- 256 c. : ил.; 60х90/16 .- ISBN 5-7662-0149-4 (В пер.), 1000 экз. (тир.) УДК 371.671.11:94(47).01/04.. ББК 63.3(2)4я721" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ^ Pop Upir' Lichoj and the Swedish rune-carver Ofeigr Upir. Scando-Slavica, Volume 28, Issue 1 1982, pp. 109-124.