Runestone

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The large Jellingstein is a relief rune stone depicting Christ, around 960/985

Rune stones ( Danish Runesten ; Swedish Runsten ; Norwegian Rune ) are upright stones with inscriptions are provided. These stones were erected from the Nordic Iron Age and during the Vendel and Viking ages between the 5th and 12th centuries. They were mostly set in memory of the deceased or fallen, but also as memorials of one's own achievements.

Many rune stones are decorated with ornaments or ribbons. Around 200 rune stones are also provided with figurative representations, of which around 100 are depictions of animals. There are also incisions that were made on boulders and in Sweden " rune block " ( Ramsundritzung , rune block by Ed , rune block by Sjusta ) or on outcrops , "rune plate" ( Swedish Runhäll - Runmarsvreten ) are called.

Labelling

Swedish and Danish rune stones were numbered consecutively. The Swedish are arranged according to provinces (cf. Samnordisk runtextdatabas , e.g. Sö 111 = Södermanland 111), while the Danish have the letter combination DK and a number. The German rune stones from Haithabu and the stones from some Swedish provinces (e.g. Halland and Schonen) also have DR numbers. But there are also other letter-number combinations, especially for new finds. In Sweden a distinction is made between the worked stone (Runsten) , the more massive block (Runblock) and the incision (Runhäll) .

research

The rune stone Vg 90 was first mentioned in writing in a letter from the Swedish king Magnus Ladulås , who mentioned it in 1287 as the boundary stone of Gudhem Monastery. The first scientific treatise on some stones was written in 1554 by the Magnus brothers. Johannes Bureus wrote his rune stone book Runakänslones lärespån in 1599 and Ole Worm wrote his treatise Runar sea Danica Literatura antiquissima, vulgo Gothica dicta, on Danish rune stones in 1651.

Distribution and timing

  • Germany’s four rune stones so far found in the vicinity of Haithabu are in the Viking Museum Haithabu in Haddeby near Schleswig . A fifth stone, the so-called rune stone from Rogäsen in Brandenburg, has not yet been deciphered or dated.
  • In Scandinavia around 3200 rune stones were found, of which about 2,800 in Sweden (nearly 400 on Gotland ), 267 in Denmark (including Schleswig and Scania), in Norway almost 133. A typical example of rune stones in Norway is the Skeisteinen , in Telemark . The inscription is dated to the early 11th century. This stone originally included three other stones. Harvest festivals were held at this cult site until the 18th century. The name of the stone is derived from “skeid”, which means a gathering of the rural population for horse and other competitions.
  • Over 220 runic inscriptions on the British Isles , but hardly any stones
  • in Iceland and the Faroe Islands
  • in Greenland

Runestones have been erected in Norway and Sweden since the 4th century, in England since the 7th century, in Denmark (37 stones considered important in literature), Germany and on the Faroe Islands (3) only in the 9th century. The Berezan rune stone is in Ukraine . Isolated stones can be found in the Baltic States , on Greenland ( rune stone from Kingittorsuaq ) and on the British Isles outside of England.

There is some evidence that rune stones first appeared in Bohuslän or in Østfold in Norway , from where they spread to central Sweden. However, the distribution map does not support this view. But the area has an ancient tradition of images . One of the few Iron Age building stones adorned with a picture is on the Greby burial ground . A stone was found in Tune , Norway, which is one of the oldest that has been discovered. In Sweden rune stones as well as smaller stones can be found in graves from the centuries before the Viking Age, such as a coffin stone in a grave near Kylver on Gotland, which contained objects from around 400. The Krogstastenen (U 1125) from the 6th century in Uppland with an early painting.

The rune stone from Kensington , Minnesota found in the USA and the supposed rune stone from Rathjensdorf , Schleswig-Holstein found in 1971 are forgeries.

Shape and appearance

Basic types

Runestones appear in two basic types:

  • the "writing stone" is the older type and covered with vertical, but occasionally also horizontal rune lines. Famous examples of this type are the stones from Busdorf, Glavendrup , Karlevi and Rök . The type is prevalent in Norway, western Sweden, and Denmark.
  • the " Serpentine Stone ", (Swedish drakslingor ; Eng . dragon sling ), whose runic script extends from the head of a dragon or a snake over the twisted and intertwined body to the end of the tail, is younger. It is centered in eastern and central Sweden, where the guy broadcasts from but rarely occurs outside of Sweden. It developed with the Ringerike and Urnes styles (approx. 980–1100 AD). The stones show representations of the "big beast" (Swedish det stora djuret ). Magnificent specimens were / are in Tullstorp , Frösön , Nasta , Hansta and Simris. For stones that have been provided with a Christian cross, the features of the snake (head and tail) have mostly been left out.

Representations and decorations

The re-colored rune stone from Resmo - Oil Fv1911; 274B
Depiction of
animals ( Großer Jellingstein ), around 965/980
A kind of paw and ring cross

Most of the rune stones only have inscriptions ( Ådala rune stone ). Some others are primarily decorated with reliefs ( Swedish Reliefhuggna ). Mostly, however, decorated with ornaments (ribbon of snakes), symbols ( paw cross , ring cross , Irish belt ) or figurative representations (depictions of animals , depictions of people) (picture stones). The pictures were highlighted by means of color (red, black, white), which today has faded or was repainted. The most elaborate of the ornate Norwegian stones is the Dynna rune stone . It is made of red sandstone full of motifs in the Ringerike style and bears an inscription.

As a mask stones called Stones are known only from Denmark (Aarhus, Sjellebro) The images are carved into boulders that do not always carry a runic inscription.

Picture stones on Gotland

The probably colored (black-white-red) Gotland picture stones are a specialty of the Viking Age ; they are primarily found on the Swedish island of Gotland and occasionally on the neighboring coasts and on Öland . They show human figures (gods), several animal species, magical symbols, vortex wheels , row boats , sailing ships , spirals , mythological scenes and rune ribbons and are a reflection of the history of religion. At the end, stones with the Greek (Christian) cross appear.

There are also richly decorated box stones . The stones of Ardre in Stockholm issued Statens Historiska Museum.

Pict stones in Scotland

In Europe there is a second group of picture stones, the part of which shows symbols, but also stands out from the area of ​​symbolic representations, such as those shown by Irish cross or pillar stones, these are the Pict stones in Scotland .

size

The largest rune stones are rune blocks, boulders that were labeled according to the type of rune stones ( rune block from Ed , rune block from Sjusta and rune block U 412 from Sigtuna). The runestone of Vang (Thy) northwest of Sjørring in Thy is the smallest runestone in Denmark.

The rune stone with the longest known inscription is in Denmark . It is the bow stone of the ship setting from Glavendrup on Funen . In Sweden, the Rök runestone bears the longest inscription.

Fonts

Runestones with older runes

There are more inscriptions with older runes in Sweden from the Germanic Iron Age and the earlier Vendel Period than from later times. Most of the inscriptions appear on gold bracteates , but many also on rune stones, the number of which cannot, however, be compared with the enormous number of rune stones written in the Viking Age in the younger Futhark . From the Iron Age and the Vendel Age, around 20 stones with the older runes are known in Sweden, including the stone from the grave box from Kylver on Gotland . Norway has around 30 rune carvings on individual stones, stones from burial boxes and rocks, while Denmark has no stones with older runes.

The inscriptions are sometimes of a reporting nature. A long Norse runic inscription can be found on a stone that was discovered in 1919 near Rö, Otterö / Tanum in Bohuslän . A similar text is carved into a rune stone by Möjbro in Uppland.

content

Runestones offer - similar to the Roman grave stelae - an insight into the self-image, the values and achievements of individual people who, due to their status, had the opportunity to play an at least local role in traditional history . The oldest rune stone that still stands in its original place is the Einangstein in Norway.

One can differentiate between different purposes of rune stones:

  • The memorial stones that have been set by relatives or admirers,
  • the self-expression stones, praising the achievements of the one who set the stone,
  • similar, but of slightly different character, the eschatological stones, which address the religious achievements of believers who have recently converted to Christianity, on them the Christian cross can be seen next to the runes.

An example of a self-expression stone is the rune stone from Yttergärde (U 344) (one of the 30 England rune stones ) near Stockholm. There a Swedish Viking writes about himself: ”in ulfr hafir onklati * Þru kialtakat Þit uas fursta Þis tursti * Þa --- Þurktil * Þa cold knutr” Translated: Ulf has received tribute money three times in England. The first was with Toste (Skagul Toste a Viking from the province of West Götaland - Stenkil dynasty) , the second with Thorkel (Torkel the High, a Danish Jarl who received English tribute in 1011) and the third with Canute the Great .

Runestones for women

Also noteworthy is the considerable number of stones that were set for and by women. From the inscriptions of around 3,000 rune stones known from Scandinavia, it emerges that almost 12 percent of the rune stones recorded in Scandinavia were erected at the sole initiative of women, another 15 percent were commissioned by women and their men. Women therefore had the financial means to have such a stone erected. The widespread image of “uncompromising male supremacy” among the Vikings should be corrected in view of these facts.

Runestones about trips to other countries

Many rune stones tell of trips by Vikings and Varangians to many parts of Europe: to the Kievan Rus , the Byzantine Empire , England and other areas. They date from the 9th to 11th centuries.

Varangian rune stones

  • East rune stones

14 stones report on journeys to "the east". The Kälvesten of Västra Stenby in Östergötland dates from the first half of the 10th century. He is probably the oldest and reports that Stig erected the memorial for his son Öyvind, who fell in the east.

Some stones report trips to Gardarike ( Kievan Rus ). The Berezan rune stone is in Ukraine.

26 rune stones tell of Ingvar's army, who apparently took part in the battle of Sasireti and perished in 1041 with almost all of his men.

  • Serkland rune stones

Four of them deal with Serkland (Georgia)

30 rune stones tell of Varangians who were in the Byzantine Empire, as warriors or as members of the Varangian guard of the Byzantine emperor. The most important of these is Ed's rune block , donated by a commander of the Guard.

Four rune stones mention warriors who died in Byzantine service in Italy

Some rune stones are dedicated to people in the Baltic States who have been to Finland, Estonia or Latvia

Viking rune stones

Other stones mention stays in

  • Jerusalem ("Jursalir")
  • Romania

Rune stones

See also

literature

  • Erik Nylén , Jan Peder Lamm : Picture stones on Gotland, 2nd edition, Wachholtz, Neumünster 1991, ISBN 3-529-01823-6 .
  • Karsten Kjer Michaelsen : Politikens bog om Danmarks oldtid (= Politikens håndbøger ). Politiken, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 87-567-6458-8 .
  • Mårten Stenberger : Nordic prehistory. Volume 4: Prehistory of Sweden. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1977, ISBN 3-529-01805-8 , p. 366.
  • S. Oehrl: On the interpretation of anthropomorphic and theriomorphic images on the late Viking rune stones of Sweden (=  Viennese studies on Scandinavian studies. Volume 16). Praesens-Verlag, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7069-0346-6 .
  • Sigmund Oehrl: Gotland's picture stones. Problems and new ways of their documentation, reading and interpretation (=  Studia archaeologiae medii aevi. 3). Likias Verlag, Friedberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-9820130-1-5 .

Web links

Commons : Runestone  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Picture stones on Gotland  - Collection of pictures
Wiktionary: Runestone  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Report in the Kieler Nachrichten of October 12, 2008, according to  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.geschichteimnorden.de
  2. A picture of it is u. a. the modern rune stone Frövis sten again ( online at svenskarunstenar.net )
  3. a b c Andreas Winroth: The Vikings. The age of the north. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2016, p. 217.