'Kiss me!': Experts finally crack 900-year-old Norse code to reveal ancient love message



Carving thought to have been made in the 12th century in Sigtuna, Sweden

Find came after Oslo University student unravelled related Jötunvillur code

Cryptologists previously thought code was used to communicate secrets



Mr Nordby thinks the pattern might have been vital in education instead



A 900-year-old Norse code has finally been cracked, and experts believe it’s the Viking equivalent of a Valentine’s day card.

The message, which is thought to say in part ‘kiss me’, means scientists may have stumbled upon a nearly millennium-old love letter.

It came after PhD student Jonas Norbury unravelled the mysterious Jötunvillur code, which dates back to as early as the 9th century.

The 'Kiss me' carving, thought to have been made in the 12th or 13th century, was written in cipher runes, the most common code known from medieval Scandinavia

The ‘Kiss me’ carving, thought to have been made in the 12th or 13th century in Sigtuna, Sweden, was written in cipher runes, the most common code known from medieval Scandinavia.

‘The problem with this code system is that it is impossible to read because the code gives many possible solutions,’ Mr Nordbury told MailOnline.

Mr Nordby, from the University of Oslo, is the first person to study all the findings of runic codes in Northern Europe, totalling around 80 inscriptions.

‘In the cases I have been able to read, the text they contain personal names.’

Mr Nordby, from the University of Oslo, is the first person to study all the findings of runic codes in Northern Europe, totalling around 80 inscriptions. One such inscription is pictured here. The carvings are thought to say that it was written by 'the most knowledgeable man west of the sea'

CRACKING THE JOTUNVILLUR CODE

To read the jötunvillur code, you would replace the original runic character with the last sound of the rune name.

For example, the rune for f, pronounced fe, would be turned into an e, while the rune for k, pronounced kaun, became n. While this sounds straightforward jötunvillur code is written in a way that makes the interpretation ambiguous. Mr Norby added that jötunvillur can only be written and not read, which would make it pointless for use in a message.

‘It is, however, possible - with some uncertainty - to interpret the runic inscription on a piece of bone found in Sigtuna as "Kiss me"’.

Mr Norby bases his interpretation on his work on the jötunvillur code, but is keen to highlight that there are differences to the two codes that could mean the message is something different althought.

‘For the jötunvillur code, one would replace the original runic character with the last sound of the rune name,’ he explained in an interview with Forskning.no.

‘For example, the rune for “f”, pronounced “fe,” would be turned into an “e,” while the rune for “k,” pronounced “kaun,” became “n.”’

Cryptologists previously thought the code was used to communicate secret messages, but Mr Nordby thinks the pattern might have been vital in the teaching of rune instead.

The carving was discovered in Sigtuna, Sweden. Cryptologists previously thought the code was used to communicate secret messages, but Mr Nordby thinks the pattern might have been vital in the teaching

One of the reasons for his claim is that the jötunvillur code is written in a way that makes the interpretation ambiguous.

Mr Norby says that jötunvillur can only be written and not read, which would make it pointless for use in a message.

Instead, Mr Nordby thinks the Vikings memorised rune names with the help of the jötunvillur code.

The ‘kiss me’ carving suggests that the code may also have been used as a type of puzzle for others to interpret.