Amuletic Significance

The Kvinneby amulet carries a protective inscription written in runes on a small copper plate from Öland, Sweden. The text calls on Thor to sanctify and safeguard the owner, and it names a harmful force that the charm is meant to ward off. It also includes a brief narrative element: a reference to a serpent being struck, which may allude to mythological models of protection.

The inscription is significant because it shows how rune magic and everyday protection continued into the later Viking Age and early medieval period. It blends traditional mythic authority with personal safeguarding, giving a rare glimpse into lived religious practice. The amulet demonstrates how individuals used runic formulas, invocations, and mythic imagery to seek protection far beyond the formal world of runestones and monuments.

Runic Inscription

Transliteration

× hir| |risti| |ik þiʀ birk ¶ bufi miʀ fultihu ¶ þis þe|ʀ| |e|ʀ uis in bra| |al¶ti| |ilu fran bufa þor keti h¶ans miʀ þem hamri sam huʀ
hafi kam fly fran iluit ¶ feʀ eki af bufa kuþ iʀu ¶ untiʀ hanum auk yfiʀ han¶um

Transcription

Her risti ek þæR berg, Bofi, með/… 〈fultihu〉 〈þis〉 þæR eR viss. En bra haldi illu fran Bofa. Þorr gæti hans með þæim hamri sem uR
hafi kom. Fly fran illvætt! Far ekki af Bofa. Guð eRu undiR hanum ok yfiR hanum.

Translation

Here I carve(d) protection for you, Bófi, with/… … … to you is certain. And may the lightning hold all evil away from Bófi. May Thórr protect him with that hammer which came from out of the sea. Flee from evilness! You/it get/gets nothing from Bófi. The gods are under him and over him.