Birch bark letter no. 292
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Birch bark letter no. 292 is a birch bark letter that is the oldest known document in any Finnic language.[1][2] The document is dated to the beginning of the 13th century and is written in the Cyrillic script.[3] It was found in 1957 by a Soviet expedition led by Artemiy Artsikhovsky in the Nerevsky excavation on the left coast side of Novgorod.[4] It is currently held at the Novgorod City Museum.
The language used in the document is thought to be an archaic form of Livvi-Karelian, the language spoken in Olonets Karelia,[5] although the exact form is difficult to determine, as Finnic dialects were still developing during that period.
Interpretations
By Yuri Yeliseyev
The text, as transliterated to the Latin alphabet by Yuri Yeliseyev in 1959[7] and interpreted in modern Finnish:
jumolanuoli ï nimizi
nouli se han oli omo bou
jumola soud'ni iohovi
Jumalannuoli, kymmenen [on] nimesi
Tämä nuoli on Jumalan oma
Tuomion-Jumala johtaa.
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten [is] your name
This arrow is God's ownThe Doom-God leads.
Yeliseyev believes, that this is an invocation against lightning, as evidenced by "ten your names" construction. According to superstitious notions, knowledge of the name gives a human the magic power over an object or phenomenon.[8]
By Martti Haavio
As the orthography used does not utilize spaces between words, the source text can be transcribed into words in different ways. Martti Haavio gives a different interpretation of the text in his 1964 article, suggesting, that this is a sort of an oath:
jumolan nuoli inimizi
nouli sekä n[u]oli omo bou
jumola soud'nii okovy
In modern Finnish, this means roughly the following:
Jumalan nuoli, ihmisen
nuoli sekä nuoli oma.
Tuomion jumalan kahlittavaksi.
In modern Estonian, this means roughly the following:
Jumala nool, inimese
nool ja nool omaenda.
Kohtujumala aheldatuks.
In English, this means roughly the following:
God's arrow, man's
arrow, and (his) own arrow. [To be chained by the Doom-God.]
By Yevgeny Khelimsky
Professor Yevgeny Khelimsky in his 1986 work[9] criticizes Haavio's interpretation and gives the third known scientific interpretation, believing the letter to be an invocation, like Yeliseyev:[8]
Jumalan nuoli 10 nimezi
Nuoli säihä nuoli ambu
Jumala suduni ohjavi (johavi?)
A translation into Finnish of this interpretation would look something like this:
Jumalan nuoli 10 nimesi
Nuoli säihkyvä nuoli ampuu
Suuto-Jumala (Syyttö-Jumala)† ohjaa (johtaa?)
In English, it means roughly the following:
God's arrow, ten your name(s)
Arrow sparkling, arrow shootsThe Doom-God guides/directs (leads/rules?)
†Syyttö-Jumala could also mean "Blaming God" or "God that blames"; modern Finnish syyttää = to blame or prosecute.