TRONDHEIM, NORWAY—Science Norway reports that a gaming piece inscribed with runes was discovered during the repair of a sewer pipe in the city of Trondheim. The soapstone token was found in a layer between wooden planks that may have been part of a medieval street dated to between A.D. 1000 and 1150 and a layer of coal dated to between A.D. 1030 and 1180. Only two other items bearing runic inscriptions have previously been found in the city, according to Dag-Øyvind Solem of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research. This inscription on the gaming piece reads “siggsifr,” and may refer to a man’s name, or a poetic Norse word referring to something like “battle brother.” The word may have been naming the person who made the piece, the person who used it, or the token may have served as a king chess piece. “The inscription follows the curve of the gaming piece, and so it is a bit odd, but there is no doubt these are runes,” explained runologist Karen Langsholt Holmqvist of NLA University College. Microscopic marks on the stone show that the inscription had been carefully planned, she added. A decorative pattern was inscribed on parts of the stone where there were no runes. To read about the oldest known runestone, go to "The Road to Runes."
