Jelling and the Danish Runestones
About 260 Danish runestones from the Viking Age are known, which were raised from about 800–900, until around 1025. It is thought that the tradition of raising runestones for deceased relatives possibly originated in Blekinge (which was a Danish territory at the time), where at least 4 runestones were raised by a local warrior clan during the 6th and 7th centuries.
Individuals Commemorated Selves in ‘Selfie’ Stones
... at sik sjalfa[n kvi]kvan ... ... in memory of himself while alive ... So reads part of the surviving inscription on the runestone U 962, which was discovered built into the wall of Vaksala church, not far from Uppsala. The stone dates to between 1100 and 1130,...
Verse on Runestones
Viking Age runestones most often contain a memorial formula for deceased relatives, but did you know that some are formulated as poetry? Probably the most famous runestone with a poetic inscription is the Karlevi runestone (Öl 1), on the Swedish island of Öland. The...
Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer
Near Ramsund in the area around Eskiltuna in Södermanland, one can find a rather famous Swedish runic carving. This is the site of the Ramsund carving (Sö 101), which also happens to be one of the largest runic monuments. The carving is not a free-standing...