Rune Sticks

My Recreation of The Bryggn Rune Sticks

A fire in 1955 destroyed part of Bryggen, the old quarter of Bergen, Norway. This made possible a large scale excavation of this medieval town. Archeologists brought to light over 550 objects with runic inscriptions, dating to 1150-1350. The most of them are on wooden sticks with flattened sides. At a time when everyone had a knife, such sticks, called in Icelandic rúnakefli, served as a way to record important events, and a way to send  short messages. Bergen inscriptions reveal much about everyday life in a society in time when writing was rare.

I use Pyrography to recreate these messages on Driftwood gathered from the beaches of the Puget Sound in Washington.

Driftwood sticks with runic messages done with pyrography. Air plants rest next to them. Wooden background.

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