Medieval Latin Abbreviation Techniques
The conventions used for abbreviation in manuscripts in the medieval period were quite different from what a modern writer tends to. In our day we use mostly "suspension" abbreviation, that is, whenever possible, to use only the first letters of words. Internet missives have led to a rebirth of abbreviation as a productive convention. These present examples like "BTW" for "By the way." In the medieval period, abbreviation tended toward contraction, with a heavy usage of superscript letters and marks to shorten words. The two examples provided below are both from the 14th century, the same era from which the Kensington Stone text alleges itself to have come.
The two examples provide different forms of the same type of abbreviation, contraction abbreviation with superscript. the first example, the abbreviation of "aqua," Latin for "water," presents the first two letters of the word with the last letter of the word, "a" in a miniature superscript. The second example, the abbreviation of "aut," Latin for "or," is of the same type, but the superscript mark, rather than being a miniature letter is a simple swirl. This superscript mark can be seen in this type of abbreviation as a dot, a swirl, or a small line. This second example is significant, for it is nearly identical to the abbreviation presented on the Kensington Stone.
AV'M:
Shown above is the AVM abbreviation as it appears on the stone. At the upper right hand side of the "V" is a clearly inscribed gouge. This gouge was noticed by Erik Wahlgren and commented upon in his book "The Kensington Stone: A Mystery Solved" (1958, University of Wisconsin Press). Wahlgren has been one of the fiercest opponents of the Kensington Stone's authenticity. He writes in the following passage a suggestion that this gouge supports the allegation that the Swedish immigrant, Olof Ohman, who discovered the Stone, was its forger.
"If written out and punctuated in the same way as the rest of the words, the two words "Ave:Maria" would then be separated by a colon. There would then be a cryptic restoration of the prevailing system based on 22: 66 words and 66 sets of separating dots. In assuming this, one is not reduced to conjecture alone, for examination of the word AVM in line 8 of the inscription shows a circular chisel puncture in the stone adjoining the upper right-hand portion of the V as if the runecarver had planned to carve two dots between the AV and the M, then abandoned the notion." p 212
In this passage, Wahlgren shows himself subject to the same difficulty that has preoccupied comment on the Stone, both of its supporters and detrators, "How is AVM to be understood as an abbreviation of the well known phrase "Ave Maria," Latin for "Hail Mary?"" The letters "AM" can be seen in many inscriptions and forms of artwork as an abbreviation for "Ave Maria." The form "AVM" for "Ave Maria" is unexpected. Some have suggested that the letters are an abbreviation for the words "Ave Virgo Maria." But it is a very modern mind that suggests this solution, a mind that is accustomed to suspended abbreviations like ASAP, FAQ, and BTW. Nowhere in place or time is the phrase "Ave Virgo Maria" ever found, let alone as a substitute or competitor to the well-known "Ave Maria." Yet this preoccupation would not have been shared with a medieval mind. Below is an inscriptional abbreviation that shows "Ave" in much the form it is seen on the Stone.
Of this inscription, Adriano Cappelli, in his Dizionario Di Abbreviature latine ed Italiane, Milan 1948, says that it has usage "specialmente nell'epoca cristiana" (especially in the Christian Epoc). It shows a pattern of abbreviation different from the modern first letters type. Significantly, it shows Ave abbreviated "AV." Compared then with the 14th century abbreviation of "aut," another three letter Latin word abbreviated by its first two letters with a superscript swirl, the pattern behind the Kensington Stone AVM abbreviation appears. The AV with a superscript is an example of a productive medieval convention for abbreviating, which goes against the expectations of a modern mind. There are many examples of the name Maria abbreviated "M," Therefore, this abbreviation can be considered now fully explained.
Problems with a forgery accusation
It should be pointed out now that not only would an amateur forger have failed to produce the form of AVM presented on the Stone, but an expert forger probably would have similarly failed. Erik Wahlgren is a leading expert on medieval Norse runic writing. Wahlgren must be expected to be acquainted as well with Medieval Latin. Yet Wahlgren, upon reviewing the superscript mark with the "V" failed to notice it as an example of medieval abbreviation convention. The reason for this failure is simple, Wahlgren is not acquainted with Latin paleography. Very few people anywhere are. Few professors of Latin at the University level will claim more than brief exposure to Latin manuscripts. It is an esoteric field that is not necessary to study to deeply study Latin, including Medieval Latin. Few scholars of Latin are given the opportunity to study from these manuscripts and become acquainted with the conventions of abbreviation. This is all said to excuse Wahlgren. He need not be expected to be deeply acquainted with Medieval Latin techniques and still should be considered a serious scholar of runic orthography. But by the same token, one should not therefore suggest that the Kensington Stone is a sloppy forger by an unlearned amateur.
Beyond this, however, the tools necessary to become acquainted with Medieval Latin paleography were not readily available in 1898 when the Kensington Stone was found. Organizations like the British Paleographic Society had been producing facsimile books of manuscripts for only a few years, and even so these remained rare and placed only in elite institutions. Guide books to Medieval Latin abbreviations like Cappelli's were not yet available to the public. Any forger of the Stone would have secured his education some years before the discovery of the Stone anyway. Therefore the likelihood of the Stone being the work of a modern forger becomes all the more remote.
Conclusion
We have demonstrated in the above pages and graphics that the AVM abbreviation, while a source of consternation for modern commentors, is an example of a productive convention of Medieval Latin abbreviation. Even experts in the field of medieval paleography, like Erik Wahlgren, are unfamiliar with this esoteric topic. The tools necessary to secure even a passing understanding of medieval abbreviation were scarce in the time when the Stone was alleged to have been forged. If the Kensington Stone is the work of a modern forger, he would have to have been quite a renaissance man. We believe it is more likely that he was a medieval man. The mark of antiquity presented by just these three letters provides the necessary evidence to declare therefore that THE KENSINGTON STONE IS THE REAL ARTICLE !