Runföljden tatr (U 1070): Barnspråk eller skaldespråk?

Abstract

The inscription on the runestone from Kroksta in Uppland (U 1070) begins with an uninterpreted runic sequence, tatr, which clearly denotes a male per­sonal name. Sven B. F. Jansson (SRI, 9: 361, 448), along with other scholars, com­pares this to the runic sequences tati (nom.; Sö 41) and tata (acc.; U 1111), which he interprets as the name Tati/Tatti, a word originally derived from the lan­guage of children. The formation and form of the name underlying tatr is not, how­ever, disclosed. An alternative interpretation is therefore presented here: the Runic Swedish name Tandr, derived from Old West Norse tandr m. ‘fireʼ, a word known from skaldic poetry. This interpretation is strengthened by ono­mastic and orthographic parallels, as well as by accounts of various names in runic inscriptions derived from words from skaldic poetry. Since there are a number of correspondences between U 1070 and U 1111 (geographical proximity, same carver and same age) it is argued that tata in U 1111 could represent a name *Tandi, related to Tandr, which could also apply to tati in Sö 41 (for the latter, how­ever, an interpretation Tati/Tatti is also considered entirely plausible).