Golden Horn of Gallehus
The
Golden Horn of Gallehus is a golden drinking horn, discovered in
North Slesvig, or
Schleswig, in
Denmark. Around its rim it bears a
runic inscription:
ek hlewagastiR holtijaR horna tawido
which is one of the earliest inscriptions in that
alphabet, and a line of
alliterative verse to boot. It means, "I, Hlewagastir the Holting, made the horn." The horn is believed to date to the
fourth century. The horn itself was discovered in the village of Gallehus, near Møgeltønder in
1639, and the Danish antiquarian
Olaus Wormius wrote a treatise on the Golden Horn in
1641.