Rök Runestone Riddles Revisited

The points of departure for this article are the two methodological principles that are stated by Holmberg, Gräslund, Sundqvist and Williams (2020) for their interpretation of the Rök runestone inscription: At each point the alternative should be preferred that (1) can be said to contribute to a forever ongoing interaction about something that is relevant to the site of the erected stone, and (2) can be supported by other Old Norse texts. The study aims to conduct a critical evaluation of how these principles have been applied in the analysis of the first pair of riddles of the inscription, and to offer a more consistent re-analysis. The conclusion is that the context of the monument seems to be the critical turn of the year at the autumn equinox, and as a hypothesis for further research it is suggested that the subsequent riddles are also concerned with this specific point of time, and worries about the transition from the old year to the new.