Ett runchiffer i Vallstena kyrka?

Abstract

This article deals with a runic inscription scratched into the plaster on one of the inner walls of the tower of Vallstena church on Gotland. The inscription was discovered in 1924 and is published as G 235b in the preliminary manuscript of the third volume of Gotlands runinskrifter, but with a very cautious reading and no interpretation. The present author argues that it can be read as so͡ltiọrurfir[ar]ṇoyiþr, which seems to render a runic cipher based on the rune names and spelling out the word stufan i.e. stuvan ‘the cottage’. This word appears also two times carved with runes on the same wall surface (stufan G 235c and stuf-‑ G 235e). It is not fully clear why this word was hidden in cryptic runes, but it might be some kind of pun referring to church towers used as hospices for pilgrims or temporary dwellings during trouble times.