Åsbysten

The Åsbysten ( Samnordisk runtextdatabas Nä 15) is a runic block at Åsby gård, near Odensbacken in Stora Mellösa in the municipality of Örebro in Närke in Sweden . It should not be confused with Åsbyblocket in Strängnäs in Södermanland .

The carving on the rune block made of gray granite probably dates from the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. It is first mentioned in a research from 1667. The rune block also has a depression in the surface, and Nils Gabriel Djurklou (1828–1904) has assumed that sacrifices took place here. Richard Dybeck (1811–1877) rejects this and advocates that the pit that destroyed the inscription was created later than the runes.

The inscription, enclosed by the serpentine ribbon, is badly damaged by weathering. In addition, the unknown rune master does not appear to have been particularly skilled in his craft. Both of these factors make it difficult to interpret the text, especially the last part of the text. Following the interpretation of Sven Birger Fredrik Jansson (1906–1987) the inscription reads:

anuatr: let: hika: sten: þana: eftR: bul (i): --þur: --n: han: uaþ: tuþ: i: uinyu: þ-: f -... (u) biu as-uar :

Translated: “Anund (?) Had this stone made for Bolle, his father. He died on Vinön ... "

Vinön, the largest island in Hjälmaren , is about 7.0 kilometers from the rune block.

The researchers have interpreted Anuatr differently. Jansson believes that the scorer made the common mistake of confusing the similar a and n runes and that Anuatr should be interpreted as Anundr rather than Arnhvatr.

The decoration has the shape of a lying snake, which can be seen from a bird's eye view ( Swedish fågelperspektiven ). It is reminiscent of the rune stone from Södra Lunger (Nä 31) on the north side of the Hjälmaren , which has withdrawn from the rune block Nä 15 due to the uplift of the land and the falling water level.

literature

• Sven BF Jansson: Närkes runinskrifter (= Sveriges runinskrifter Volume 14.1) Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1975, ISBN 91-7192-204-0 , pp. 49-56. ( online )

Web links

• Åsbysten - entry in the database "Fornsök" des Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)
• Description and picture (Swedish)

Coordinates: 59 ° 12 ′ 15.7 "  N , 15 ° 34 ′ 36.3"  E