BIRSY/1

Corpus Refs:Forsyth/1996:6.1
Site:BIRSY
Discovery:recognised, 1920 inc
History:Forsyth/1996, 76: `...this stone, dubbed `the Wall Stone' by Padel, appears to have been found in a secondary context, reused in the eleventh-century structure known as `Thorfinn's Palace', though there is some doubt over the precise circumstances of its recovery'.
Geology:Forsyth/1996, 76: `Orkney flag'.
Dimensions:0.62 x 0.3 x 0.11 (converted from Forsyth/1996)
Setting:Lost (present 1971, missing 1996)
Location:Forsyth/1996, 75, noted that BIRSY/1 and BIRSY/2 both disappeared whilst in the care of the Department of the Environment.
Form:name-slab
Forsyth/1996, 76: `A squarish flag-stone'.
Condition:incomplete , some
Forsyth/1996, 76: `According to Padel the stone had been broken and the two pieces cemented together'.
Folklore:none
Crosses:none
Decorations:no other decoration

References


Inscriptions


BIRSY/1/1

Readings

Padel, O. (1972):[B^A]QI[:]A[B^A]
Expansion:
[B^A]QI[:]A[B^A]
Padel/1972 55--61 reading only
Forsyth, K.S. (1996):[M]ONNORRA[N]RR
Expansion:
[M]ONNORRA[N]RR
Forsyth/1996 77--81 substantial discussion

Notes

Orientation:vertical indeterminate
Position:inc ; arris ; inc ; undecorated
Padel/1972, 56, states that the inscription was along the narrow face of the stone.
Incision:inc
Date:500 - 1199 (Forsyth/1996)
Language:name only (oghms)
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:Forsyth/1996, 77--80, provides a detailed description of the lettering, followed by her comment that: `The more developed features being that all the letters slope forward, the vowels are angled, and there is one fordif, the hammer-head A. More simple features are the lack of marked spacing between letters and the lack of bind-strokes, apart from the serifed A. The lack of word division may not be significant if, as appears likely, the text is a single word, a personal name. The letters are squarish in outline, in other words a five letter stroke has a similar vertical and horizontal length.'
Legibility:poor
Forsyth/1996, 76: `Fragmentary, `much chipped' [Padel Notes]''.
Lines:1
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References