Abstract
This article presents a modified reading and interpretation of the Rakkestad runestone in response to the thorough technical investigation of Frode Iversen et al. (2019). The guiding principle of the following interpretation is the repetitive structure of runic inscriptions in a framework of fixed runic formulae and set phrases. The author assumes that in line A a verb of runic production such as writu ʻI writeʼ or wrait ʻI wroteʼ is elided, and he suggests the reading ek ʻIʼ of the first two (rather damaged) runes in line A (rather than lu, allegedly imperative ʻhew, chisel, carve!ʼ). This is supported by Nordby’s observation that fixed forms of formulas (or parts of formulas) may be ʻboundʼ even to the extent of disguised runes (Nordby 2013). Hence there is a strong possibility that Rakkestad contains the frequent ek irilar-formula which has several well-known parallels in the older runic inscriptions. Also, the author elaborates on the word-history of the term raskar, which probably functions as a name and which has many field-neighbours in the admittedly sparsely attested lexicon of the older runic inscriptions.
