The object was found by Mrs Denise Moncaster while metal detecting around Saltfleetby, who reported the find, having it recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Around the wall of the item, a small cross has also been carved which is partially covered by an r. Based on the broadly long-branch rune forms, John Hines interprets the writing as being Danish in character.

[7] Judith Jesch, however, favours arguments for a continuum of rune forms rather than a strict split between long and short branches, and stresses the inscriptions linguistic similarities with Norwegian finds.

Whilst some runestones use similar spellings to write the name Þjálfi, the grammatical form given my Þalfa would not make sense in its context on the spindle-whorl.

He further notes that the end of the inscription is likely meaningful as whilst the last runes seem less carefully cut, they are large, suggesting the potential abbreviations and lack of clarity do not result from the writer running out of space on the object.

[14] Jesch questions certain aspects of the translation, noting that the two definitive cases in which oþen is attested as a spelling of “Óðinn” are both from Bergen in Norway and date to the 12th and 14th centuries.

[18] The spelling of hjalpa as ielba is inconclusive in terms of dating the writing, given that the ‘’j’’-mutation it shows is attested in East Norse contexts in the Viking Age but from the 1200s in Norwegian manuscripts.

[23] 12th century contacts between Lincolnshire and Norway are recorded, including in a writ from King Henry II that enforce the right to toll Norwegian merchants in Grimsby.

Hines notes that it is surprising for an inscription dating from after the establishment of Christianity in England, Denmark and Norway to appeal to heathen gods.

[22] While the use of hjalpa (“to help”) in runic writing is almost exclusively found in Christian contexts, it does feature on the 8th century Ribe skull fragment, in which there is a close connection between the word (in this case spelt ʜiᴀlb) and the three names that come before it, including Óðinn.

Beyond this close parallel, the spindle-whorl forms part of a wider Late Viking Age runic amulet tradition which is attested in finds from the Orkneys to Russia.