Last updated The assembly location. To the right of the stone formation, the two runestones can be seen, and in the background there is the lake.The stone formation.
Arkils tingstad ("Assembly location of Arkil") is the remains of the Viking Agething or assembly location of a hundred in Uppland, Sweden. It is situated on the outskirts of Stockholm. The remains consist of a rectangular stone formation and two runestones.
The runestones and the assembly location were created by the Skålhamra clan who also had the two Risbyle Runestones made across the lake near their estate. It consequently appears that they owned land on both sides of the lake.[1] They also made the runestone U 100 at a path in the forest.
Scholars disagree on the function of a Viking Age assembly location. According to one view, all the people in the vicinity assembled there in order to reach agreements and to mete out justice. Another view sees the assemblies as meetings for the chieftains only who merely stated what they had decided to do and where they interrogated and punished their subordinates.[1]
Before the Christianization of Scandinavia, the pagan blóts were performed by chieftains and magnates. When Christianity arrived, the Christian rites and especially baptism were central to the community. It is possible that the Skålhamra clan created the assembly location in order to have settlements around the lake baptized by priests from Sigtuna. The inscriptions suggest that the location had no continuity from Norse paganism.[1]
Based on the styles of the inscriptions, the assembly location was created in the 1010s, and the runestones are some decades older than the Jarlabanke runestone U 212 which tells of the creation of another assembly location.[1]
Runestones
Below follows a presentation of the runestones based on information collected from the Rundata project, organized according to location. The transcriptions from runic inscriptions into standardized Old Norse are in the Swedish and Danish dialect to facilitate comparison with the inscriptions, while the English translation provided by Rundata give the names in standard dialect (the Icelandic and Norwegian dialect).
U 225
U 225.
The two runestones constitute a twin monument such that the text on U 225 is to be read as continuing on U 226.[2][3] Both runestones were carved by a runemaster with the normalized name of Gunnar, with U 225 classified as being in runestone style RAK. This is the classification for inscriptions with a runic text has no dragon or serpent heads and the ends of the runic bands are straight.
Ulfkell(?) and Arnkell and Gýi, they made the Assembly-place here ... No landmark will be more (great), than (the one) the sons of Ulfr made in (his) memory; able lads in memory of their father.[4]
U 226
U 226.
This runestone was also made by Gunnar and is classified as being carved in runestone style Pr1. This is the classification, which is also known as Ringerike style, for those inscriptions that have runic bands that end in serpent or animal heads depicted in profile. In the text there is some question regarding whether the Old Norse words i grati should be translated as meaning "in tears" or "in lament," meaning that Gyríðr composed poetry in mourning her deceased husband.[3] It has been suggested that the inscription Vg 59 in Norra Härene describes another widow who may have composed a lament.[3] U 226 is the only surviving runestone signed by Gunnar, although more than forty other inscriptions have been attributed to him based on stylistic analysis. The runes kunar ik stin for "Gunnarr cut the stone" are carved in a line below the rest of the inscription.
ristu * stina * uk * staf * uan * uk * in * mikla * at * iartiknum uk kuriþi * kas at * uiri * þu mon i krati * kiatit lata kunar ik stin
Ræistu {} stæina {} ok {} staf {} unnu(?) {} ok {} inn {} mikla {} at {} iarteknum. Ok Gyriði {} gats at {} veri. {} Þy man i grati {} getit lata. Gunnarr hiogg stæin.
(They) raised stones and produced the staff(?) and the great signs (of acclaim); Gyríðr also cherished her husband: he will therefore be commemorated in weeping. Gunnarr cut the stone.[5]
The Funbo runestones constitute a group of four runestones originally from Funbo in the province of Uppland, Sweden, which were raised by members of the same family during the eleventh century.
U 871 is a 12th-century runestone in the Rundata catalog, originally from Ölsta, a village in the county of Uppland in Sweden. It is now on display at Skansen, near Stockholm.
The Skarpåker Stone, designated by Rundata as Sö 154, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that originally was located in Skarpåker, Nyköping, Sörmland, Sweden. It dates to the early eleventh century.
The Eggeby stone, designated as U 69 under the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located at Eggeby, which is 2 kilometers northwest of Central Sundbyberg, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Uppland.
The Ingvar runestones is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled.
The Granby Runestone, designated as U 337 under the Rundata catalog, is one of the longest Viking Age runic inscriptions located in Uppland, Sweden.
The Klepp I Runestone, listed as N 225 in the Rundata catalog, is one of two runestones from Klepp in Rogaland, Norway. It is among the few Viking Age runestones that was raised as a memorial to a woman.
The Orkesta Runestones are a set of 11th-century runestones engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark alphabet that are located at the church of Orkesta, northeast of Stockholm in Sweden.
The Hagby Runestones are four runestones that are raised on the courtyard of the farm Hagby in Uppland, Sweden. They are inscribed in Old Norse using the Younger Futhark and they date to the 11th century. Three of the runestones are raised in memory of Varangians who died somewhere in the East, probably in Kievan Rus'.
The Greece runestones are about 30 runestones containing information related to voyages made by Norsemen to the Byzantine Empire. They were made during the Viking Age until about 1100 and were engraved in the Old Norse language with Scandinavian runes. All the stones have been found in modern-day Sweden, the majority in Uppland and Södermanland. Most were inscribed in memory of members of the Varangian Guard who never returned home, but a few inscriptions mention men who returned with wealth, and a boulder in Ed was engraved on the orders of a former officer of the Guard.
The Risbyle Runestones are two runestones found near the western shore of Lake Vallentunasjön in Uppland, Sweden, dating from the Viking Age.
The England runestones are a group of about 30 runestones in Scandinavia which refer to Viking Age voyages to England. They constitute one of the largest groups of runestones that mention voyages to other countries, and they are comparable in number only to the approximately 30 Greece Runestones and the 26 Ingvar Runestones, of which the latter refer to a Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea region. They were engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark.
The Varangian Runestones are runestones in Scandinavia that mention voyages to the East or the Eastern route, or to more specific eastern locations such as Garðaríki in Eastern Europe.
The Viking runestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer to people who took part in voyages abroad, in western Europe, and stones that mention men who were Viking warriors and/or died while travelling in the West. However, it is likely that all of them do not mention men who took part in pillaging. The inscriptions were all engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark. The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. Sweden has as many as between 1,700 and 2,500 depending on definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391.
The Baltic area runestones are Viking runestones in memory of men who took part in peaceful or warlike expeditions across the Baltic Sea, where Finland and the Baltic states are presently located.
The Uppland Runic Inscription 328 stands on a hill in a paddock at the farm Stora Lundby, which is about four kilometers west of Lindholmen, Stockholm County, Sweden, in the historic province of Uppland. The runestone is one of several runestones that have permitted scholars to trace family relations among some powerful Viking clans in Sweden during the 11th century.
Uppland Runic Inscription 100 is the Rundata designation for a memorial runestone that is located in the forest where a path meets a bog near Skälby, which is about two kilometers northeast of Sollentuna, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was part of the historical province of Uppland.
Spånga Church is a church in the Spånga-Tensta borough in Stockholm, Sweden. It is part of Spånga-Kista Parish in the Diocese of Stockholm. The oldest part of the church originates from 1175–1200. Large reconstructions and enhancements took place during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Östergötland Runic Inscription MÖLM1960;230 or Ög MÖLM1960;230 is the Rundata catalog number for a memorial runestone that is located near a church in Törnevalla, which is 2 kilometers east of Linghem, Östergötland County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Östergötland. The runestone has an inscription which refers to a Viking Age mercantile guild and depicts a ship.
The Uppland Runic Inscription 258 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. It is in granite and located at Fresta Church in Upplands Väsby Municipality.
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