Fenris Invoked in Healing???

Jun 10

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This, to me, might be a game changer. Yesterday Wyrd Dottir sent me this article. A human skull fragment dating from the early 8th century was found during an archaeological excavation in Ribe, Denmark. The fragment was found in 1973 but apparently we’re just hearing about it now. I’m certainly just hearing about it now and it rather blows my mind.

One theory is that the bone was worn as an amulet. Scholarly opinion on the inscription differs.  Either Ulfr, quite possibly Fenrir is invoked (i.e. the Wolf), Odin and Tyr, or a threefold name for Odin.

Here is the inscription, in Danish and then English (taken from the article linked above):

Ulf/ulv og Odin og Høj-Tyr. Hullet/Buri er hjælp mod dette værk (denne smerte). Og dværgen overvundet. Bourr.


Ulfr/ Wolf and Óðinn and HótiwR/High-Týr. The hole/Buri is help against this ache (pain). And the dwarf overcome. Bourr.

Bourr is most likely the name of the person the amulet is intended to help. Buri is most likely the name of Odin’s Father…

Thank you, Wyrd Dottir! I’m drowning in exam preparations and would never have seen this had you not sent it my way.

About ganglerisgrove

Galina Krasskova has been a Heathen priest since 1995. She holds a Masters in Religious Studies (2009), a Masters in Medieval Studies (2019), has done extensive graduate work in Classics including teaching Latin, Roman History, and Greek and Roman Literature for the better part of a decade, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology. She is the managing editor of Walking the Worlds journal and has written over thirty books on Heathenry and Polytheism including "A Modern Guide to Heathenry" and "He is Frenzy: Collected Writings about Odin." In addition to her religious work, she is an accomplished artist who has shown all over the world and she currently runs a prayer card project available at wyrdcuriosities.etsy.com.

Posted on June 10, 2021, in Heathenry, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.

  1. Wyrd Designs | June 10, 2021 at 2:46 PM

    Like you I’m surprised we hadn’t heard of it before, I mean the Odin part of the inscription is quite clear, and that alone tying him to healing is really special.

    I updated my older article on the Healing Gods with a new section just on the Ribe Skull Fragment, calls out articles to certain research on it or some related scholarship that might be useful to think of in connection with it, plus some of my own ruminations too.

    The Healing Gods and Goddesses of the Northern Tradition

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  2. ganglerisgrove | June 10, 2021 at 2:59 PM

    This one had slipped by me.

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