tinbl:bein fra middelalderens Lund

A small piece of a tubular sheepbone (length: 6,5 cm, diameter: 2 cm) was found in 1961 during an archaeological excavation of the medieval town of Lund. The artefact is contextually dated to the second half of the eleventh century. The bone piece is provided with finely carved teeth and carries an inscription in runes. The identification of each rune character is uncomplicated. The inscription says: tinbl:bein. The second sequence bein represents the noun Rune Danish bæin, Old Danish bēn ‘bone’ in all probability with reference to the piece itself and it is plausible that the inscription forms a compound designating the utensil in question, but which utensil? The difficult task is to interpret tinbl? The first suggestion by the late runologist, Erik Moltke, related the runes to the noun Rune Danish tæinn, Old Danish tēn ‘spindle’ and alternatively, to the noun and verb Old Danish twinnæ ‘a twine/to twine’ suggesting the artefact being a utensil for twining threads together, i.e. a twining-bone. Erik Moltkes suggestions seem neither linguistically nor technically convincing. The bone piece was a unique find in 1961, but now a number of similar archaeological artefacts seem to constitute a whole group. In this article, I suggest that the sequence tinbl reflects the noun Old English timple known as a loan word in post-medieval Nordic languages. The present day English form is temple and the present day Danish form is tempel and the word designates an implement used in weaving. Consequently, the runic object must be a temple-bone (Old Danish *timpelbēn) an end-piece of a primitive medieval temple.