Runestone from Malsta

61.813569 17.208452Coordinates: 61 ° 48 ′ 48.8 ″ N , 17 ° 12 ′ 30.4 ″ E

Malstastenen - Hs 14

The rune stone from Malsta ( Swedish Malstastenen No. Hs 14) from the 11th century bears one of the longest inscriptions in Sweden . The genealogical text written on the Malsta rune stone with the so-called “Stablose or Hälsinge runes” is reminiscent of similar texts in the Old Testament . The serpentine ribbon stone carries a cross. A copy of the rune stone stands about eight kilometers north of Hudiksvall in Hälsingland at the end of the village of Malsta, in the direction of Via, east of the road. The original is in the museum in Hudiksvall.

The inscription relates mainly to Rike-Gylve and reads on the broadside:

Frömund built this stone for Rike-Gylve, Bräses son. But Bräse was Line's son and Line was Ön's son; Ön was Ovag's (= Ofeg's) son, and Ovag was Ture's son.

Groa was Rike-Gylve's mother; but she gave birth to Lavvi (= Ladvi) and (she) Gudrun.

Frömund, Rike-Gylve's son, carved these runes. We (Frömund and his brothers) were looking for this stone (in the area) on Balsten.

On the narrow side of the stone it says:

Gylve owned three farmsteads in this place and continued north to Via, further to Lönnänqer and finally to Färaajö.

Rike-Gylve was therefore a wealthy man and came from a priestly family, which is evident from the fact that his son Frömund declares that he had scratched the runes, an art that was passed on from father to son within these circles.

literature

Sven BF Jansson: Tva runstenar i Hälsingland: Malsta och Sunnå . Filologiskt Arkiv 33 Stockholm 1985 ISBN 91-7402-163-X
Karl Cajmatz: Malsta-stenen (Hälsingerunor - en hembygdsbok), 1964/65 p. 65f

Remarks

↑ In the 11th century a runic shorthand was created in central Sweden. The greatly simplified runes usually lack the main staff (hence the staffless runes). In order to be able to better distinguish the wedge-shaped characters, stickless runes were written between boundary lines, which was not always the case with the inscriptions in the older and younger Futhark . This type of rune was first described in the Hälsingland region in the 16th century. Hence they were given the name Hälsinge runes. Later inscriptions with batonless runes were found in Södermanland and Medelpad, as well as in Bergen, Norway. The rune stone Hs 12 in Hög bears rodless runes - detailed description of the rodless runes in the English Wikipedia.

Web links

Images Swedish rune stones - No. 84 is Malsta Rune Stone
Runestone from Malsta - entry in the database "Fornsök" des Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)

[1] In the 11th century a runic shorthand was created in central Sweden. The greatly simplified runes usually lack the main staff (hence the staffless runes). In order to be able to better distinguish the wedge-shaped characters, stickless runes were written between boundary lines, which was not always the case with the inscriptions in the older and younger Futhark . This type of rune was first described in the Hälsingland region in the 16th century. Hence they were given the name Hälsinge runes. Later inscriptions with batonless runes were found in Södermanland and Medelpad, as well as in Bergen, Norway. The rune stone Hs 12 in Hög bears rodless runes - detailed description of the rodless runes in the English Wikipedia.