Runestone from Valleberga

Two sides of the Valleberga rune stone

The rune stone of Valleberga (DR 337) is one of 30 so-called England rune stones. It is located in Lundagård Park in the center of Lund in Skåne in Sweden .

The rune stone was first mentioned as the Valleberga stone in the 1700s. Valleberga is about five kilometers north of Kåseberga and 18 kilometers east of Ystad . The Danish antiquarian Thorsen found the lower part of the stone in 1845, which was used as a fence post. Nils Gustaf Bruzelius (1826–1895) found the upper part in 1869 and connected the two parts. The stone was brought to Lund.

The text on the face and on the side of the stone of the 10th century stone, inscribed in the RAK style , in which the tapes are worked with smooth ends (e.g. rune stone from Kalleby ) and which mostly does not have any image, reads: Sven and Torguten built this stone for Manne and Svenne. God help their souls; they are buried in London .

It has been speculated whether the two men mentioned on the stone belonged to the Tingalides that the Danish King Canute the Great set up after the conquest of England. The Tingalidet ( Danish Þingalið - pronounced [θiŋalið], literally "assembly entourage") were a standing army of initially 3,000 men with a fleet of 40 ships, which was in the service of the kings of England during the period 1013 to 1051, financed by the Danegeld . It consisted mostly of men of Danish-Scandinavian descent, was later reduced and dissolved in 1051 by Eduard the Confessor . Several of its members are mentioned on runestones. An example is the Västragårdstenen (Sm 77), which was erected in memory of Gunni who served in England, which his brother Vrái mentions on the stone. The Gåsingesten (Sö 14) was raised in memory of a warrior who served Knut the Great .

literature

Lars-Magnar Enoksen: Skånska runstenar Lund 1999 p. 95 ff.
Dick Harrison: Sveriges historia: 600-1350 2009 p. 115

Individual evidence

↑ On the Kålstasten U 668 in Uppland it is said about Geire that he "sat in the Tingalid to the west". On Landerydssten (Ög 111) it says about the brothers Tjälve and Väring: “Väring lifted the stone after Tjälve's brother, who was with Canute. He was killed during the fighting with the Anglo-Saxons and on his return his brother Väring had the stone set. ”On Sö 160 in Täckhammar, Skärder is mentioned, who died in England and was a member of the Tingalidet.

55.70577 13.19498Coordinates: 55 ° 42 ′ 20.8 " N , 13 ° 11 ′ 41.9" E

[1] On the Kålstasten U 668 in Uppland it is said about Geire that he "sat in the Tingalid to the west". On Landerydssten (Ög 111) it says about the brothers Tjälve and Väring: “Väring lifted the stone after Tjälve's brother, who was with Canute. He was killed during the fighting with the Anglo-Saxons and on his return his brother Väring had the stone set. ”On Sö 160 in Täckhammar, Skärder is mentioned, who died in England and was a member of the Tingalidet.