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The Joint Nordic database for runic inscriptions (Swedish: Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project started on January 1, 1993 at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runic inscriptions in a machine-readable way for future research. In the current edition, published September 18, 2004, there are over 6000 inscriptions in the database. A new edition has been prepared for 2006.

The project's database is freely available for download via the Internet with a client program, called Rundata, for Microsoft Windows and ASCII text files for other operating systems.

Contents 1 Format of entries 2 Dating of runic inscriptions in Rundata 3 Original reference works 4 See also 5 External links

Each entry includes the original text, its format, location, English and Swedish translations, information about the stone itself, et cetera. The stones are identified with a code which consists of up to three parts.

The first part describes the origin of the inscription. For Swedish inscriptions this contains a code for the province, and, for Extra-Nordic inscriptions, a code for the country (not ISO 3166).

Province code:

• Bo - Bohuslän
• D - Dalarna
• G - Gotland
• Gs - Gästrikland
• Hs - Hälsingland
• J - Jämtland
• Lp - Lappland
• M - Medelpad
• Nä - Närke
• Sm - Småland
• Sö - Södermanland
• U - Uppland
• Vg - Västergötland
• Vr - Värmland
• Vs - Västmanland
• Ög - Östergötland
• Öl - Öland

Country code:

• BR - British Isles
• DR - Denmark
• FR - Faroe Islands
• GR - Greenland
• IR - Ireland
• IS - Iceland
• N - Norway

The second part of the code consists of a serial number or a previous method of cataloging.

The third part of the code is a character which indicates the age (Proto-Norse, Viking Age, or Middle Ages) and whether the inscription is lost or retranslated.

• # - inscription lost, later replaced with †
• $ - newly retranslated
• M - inscription from the Middle Ages
• U - inscription in Proto-Norse, i.e. before ca 800.
• [inscription from the Viking Age, if M or U are not present]

As such, U 88 would mean that the stone is from Uppland and that it is the 88th to be catalogued. This system has its origin in the book Sveriges runinskrifter (English: "Runic Inscriptions of Sweden")

Most of the time, the Period/Datering information in Rundata just gives the date as V, meaning Viking Age, which is very broad. For some Danish inscriptions from Jacobsen & Moltke a more precise sub-period is given. The periods used are:

• Helnæs-Gørlev -- ca. 800 (or 750-ca. 900)
• för-Jelling (pre-Jelling) -- ca. 900
• Jelling (Jelling) -- 10th c. and into the 11th c.
• efter-Jelling (post-Jelling) -- ca. 1000–1050
• kristen efter-Jelling (Christian, post-Jelling) -- 1st half 11th c.

Many of the inscriptions in Rundata also include a field called Stilgruppering. This refers to date bands determined by the style of ornamentation on the stone as proposed by Gräslund:

The date bands are:

• RAK -- ca. 990-1010 AD
• FP -- ca. 1010-1050 AD
• Pr1 -- ca. 1010-1040 AD
• Pr2 -- ca. 1020-1050 AD
• Pr3 -- ca. 1050 - a generation forward (en generation framåt)
• Pr4 -- ca. 1060-1100 AD
• Pr5 -- ca. 1100-1130 AD

The catalog numbers refer to a variety of reference works and scholarly publications. Some of the more notable of these include:

• Sveriges runinskrifter, various volumes.
• Jacobsen, Lis; Erik Moltke (1941-42). Danmarks runeindskrifter. Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaards Forlag. 

• Gräslund, A-S. (1991). "Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering". TOR 23: 113-140. 

• Gräslund, A-S. (1992). "Runstenar – om ornamentik och datering II". TOR 24: 177-201. 

Other bibliography information is available inside the Rundata client program by pressing F4.

• Runic alphabet
• Rune stones

• Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Swedish)