Talk:Narsaq stick

Latest comment: 4 years ago by Johnbod in topic Student's practice
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 00:38, 15 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

  • ... that the Narsaq stick was the first Viking Age runic artifact discovered in Greenland? Stoklund 1993:47 has this: "The previous runic finds from Greenland had been mediaeval, but the Narsaq 1 inscription provided evidence of an earlier use of runes in Greenland. ... Eric Moltke's runological, relative dating of the inscription on the first Narsaq stick to the landnáma period, c. 985 - 1025, which has been a main argument for an early dating of the site, has now been confirmed by the radiocarbon datings." Vebæk 1993:73 has this: "The objects found are many, and among them are quite a number which, judging by form and ornamentation, can be dated with certainty to late Viking/early medieval age. Among these objects I can emphasize the long wooden stick with a unique runic inscription"
    • ALT1:... that the runic inscription on the Narsaq stick dates to the days of Erik the Red? Source: The same sources back this up but also note the title of Moltke 1961: "En grønlandsk runeindskrift fra Erik den rødes tid. Narssaq-pinden", i.e. "A Greenlandic runic inscription from the time of Erik the Red: The Narsaq stick."

Created/expanded by Haukurth (talk). Self-nominated at 00:50, 8 September 2019 (UTC).Reply

  • @Haukurth: My bad. Even so, if you have less than 5 nominations, you don't need a QPQ just yet. You can continue reviewing other nominations, but these can apply to future DYK noms instead of this one. epicgenius (talk) 13:48, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply


General: Article is new enough and long enough
Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
  • Cited: Yes - Offline/paywalled citation accepted in good faith
  • Interesting: Yes

QPQ: No - Not needed, this seems to be your first nomination

Overall: epicgenius (talk) 01:05, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

Title edit

As a specific object proper name, it should go to Narsaq Stick, like eg Kingittorsuaq Runestone. Johnbod (talk) 20:10, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

Hmm, interesting idea, let me look into what capitalization the sources use. Haukur (talk) 20:32, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

The sources in English have these forms:

  • Imer 2014, 349: "the famous wooden stick from Narsaq"
  • Imer 2017, 251: "Other name Narsaq stick"
  • Knirk 1994, 196: "The Greenlandic Narsaq rune-stick"
  • MacLeod & Mees 2006, list of illustrations, 68, 69: "Narsaq stick"
  • Steenholt Olesen 2012, 98: "Narssaq stick" (with 'ss', reflecting an obsolete spelling of the place name)
  • Stoklund 1993, 47: "Narsaq stick"

Do we have a style guide advising capitalization in cases like this even when it's not used in the sources? Haukur (talk) 20:45, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

Well, WP:VAMOS for art, but it is just normal English rules, I'd say. "Narsaq stick" should be a type of stick, really, and there are situations (can't think of any at present) where both capitalized and non-capitalized forms have valid but different meanings. Johnbod (talk) 20:54, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply
Hmm, right. But I feel "Narsaq Stick" maybe oversells a little bit how much of a 'name' it is? It's not exactly a household term. But I think it's a more natural place for the article than "GR 76" or "Narsaq Ø17a 1" or "D 5/1992-1". Haukur (talk) 21:15, 11 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

Student's practice edit

Does anyone else think this looks like the result of a student practicing? The presence of the runic alphabet on one side made me think of it right away, but the "sa sa sa" sentence also fits in, because it could be depicting homophone variations similar to the English sentences "Which witch is which?" or "The bare bear can't bear it." Johnson487682 (talk) 15:20, 17 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

I think that could be close to the mark. MacLeod & Mees have this on page 68: "similar to the English nursery rhyme about the sailor 'who went to sea, and what did he see? He saw the sea.'" Haukur (talk) 22:54, 17 September 2019 (UTC)Reply
Oh, you mean the stick! I thought you meant the article, but then half of WP is that. These are called trial pieces, though normally it is images or ornament that is being practiced. Johnbod (talk) 01:05, 18 September 2019 (UTC)Reply