The Hedeby stones are four runestones from the 10th century found at the town of Hedeby in Northern Germany. This area was part of Denmark during the Viking Age.
The Hedeby stones are four runestones from the 10th century found at the town of Hedeby in Northern Germany. This area was part of Denmark during the Viking Age.
The Stone of Eric (cataloged as Hedeby 1 or DR 1 under the Rundata system) was found in 1796 at Danevirke and moved to a park in Schleswig. Like the Skarthi Stone, it is believed to have been raised around 995, the year when Hedeby was attacked by the Swedish king Eric the Victorious who took advantage of the fact that Sweyn Forkbeard was campaigning in England.
The big Sigtrygg Stone (Hedeby 2 or DR 2) was found in 1797 in Hedeby, and the small Sigtrygg Stone (Hedeby 4 or DR 4) was found in 1887. The Sigtrygg Stones was raised around the year 938.
The Skarthi Stone (Danish : Skardesten), also known as Hedeby 3 or DR 3 for its Rundata catalog number, was found in 1857 at Danevirke. It was raised in about 982. This granite runestone is currently displayed at the Hedeby Viking Museum.
The reference in the inscription to King Sveinn is believed to refer to Sweyn Forkbeard (Old Norse Sveinn Tjúguskegg), and "the west" to a campaign in England. [1] The king commissioned the stone in honor of Skarði, who had the title heimþega or heimþegi (pl. heimþegar), meaning "home-receiver" (i.e., one who is given a house by another). [2] A total of six runestones in Denmark refer to a person with this title, the others being DR 1, DR 154, DR 155, DR 296, and DR 297. The use of the term in the inscriptions suggest a strong similarity between heimþegar and the Old Norse term húskarl (literally, "house man"), or housecarl. Like housecarls, heimþegar are in the service of a king or lord, of whom they receive gifts (here, homes) for their service. [2] Some, like Johannes Brøndsted, have interpreted heimþegi as being nothing more than a local Danish variant of húskarl. [3]
:
suin
Sveinn
:
kunukʀ
konungr
:
sati
setti
:
¶
stin
stein
:
uftiʀ
eptir
:
skarþa
Skarða,
¶
sin
sinn
:
himþiga
heimþega,
:
ias
er
:
uas
var
:
¶
:
farin
farinn
:
uestr
vestr,
:
ion
en
:
nu
nú
:
King Sveinn placed the stone in memory of Skarði, his retainer, who travelled to the west, but who then
A housecarl was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe.
The Runestones of Högby are runestones located in the village of Högby in Östergötland, Sweden, but the name Högby runestone usually refers to the notable Ög 81. It is famous for its eloquent epitaph in fornyrðislag for all the five sons of a man. The runestone was found when the church was demolished in 1874. Fragments of some other runestones were found as well. The Rundata project dates them to the late 10th century.
The Hillersjö stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as U 29 and located at Hillersjö, which is about four kilometers north of Stenhamra on Färingsö, is a runic Younger Futhark inscription that tells, in Old Norse, the tragic real life family saga of Gerlög and her daughter Inga. It is the longest runic inscription in Uppland and the second longest one in Sweden after the Rök runestone.
The Stone of Eric, listed as DR 1 in the Rundata catalog, is a memorial runestone that was found in Northern Germany. This area was part of Denmark during the Viking Age.
Danish Runic Inscription 66 or DR 66, also known as the Mask stone, is a granite Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered in Aarhus, Denmark. The inscription features a facial mask and memorializes a man who died in a battle.
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 Hällestad Runestones are three runestones located in the walls of Hällestad Church in Torna-Hällestad, about 20 kilometers east of Lund in Skåne, southern Sweden. Their Rundata identifiers are DR 295, 296, and 297. DR 295 is notable because it is held to be raised in memory of a warrior who fell in the legendary Battle of the Fýrisvellir, near Uppsala, Sweden between the Jomsvikings led by Styrbjörn the Strong and Styrbjörn's uncle Eric the Victorious, the king of Sweden, c. 985. The other stones were raised by the same people, and they probably formed a monument together in memory of comrades lost in the battle. The Karlevi Runestone, the Egtved Runestone and the Sjörup Runestone may be connected to them.
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 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.
There were probably two Gunnar's bridge runestones at Kullerstad, which is about one kilometre northeast of Skärblacka, Östergötland County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Östergötland, where a man named Håkon dedicated a bridge to the memory of his son Gunnar. The second stone was discovered in a church only 500 metres away and is raised in the cemetery. The second stone informs that Håkon raised more than one stone in memory of his son and that the son died vestr or "in the West."
The Mejlbystenen, also known as runic inscription DR 117 from its Rundata catalog listing, is an approximately 1,000-year-old runestone originally located at Mejlby, near Randers in Denmark. According to a new interactive exhibit of the stone at the Randers Kulturhistoriske Museum, which differs slightly from the accepted Rundata translation, the stone reads:
Åne erected this stone for his son Eskil who found death with Thore in Øresund
The Västra Strö 2 Runestone, listed as DR 335 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located at the Västra Strö Monument, which is at a church that is about four kilometers northwest of Eslöv, Skåne County, Sweden.
The Fuglie stone 1 or DR 259 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. It was first mentioned by Skonvig and it is still located in its original location on a Nordic Bronze Age mound next to the church of Fuglie, Skåne, Sweden. There are many local legends and traditions about the stone. The stone is 105 cm tall, 63 cm wide, and 33 cm thick. The stone is dated to the period 970–1020, and the style of the runestone was the runestone style RAK.
The Västergötland Runic Inscription 40 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet inserted into the wall of the church of Råda, in Lidköping Municipality, Västergötland, and the style of the runestone is possibly runestone style RAK. It was made in memory of a man who fought and died in a battle between kings, "when kings fought each other". A similar phrase appears on the Danish mask stone.
The Södermanland Runic Inscription 16 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. It is in sandstone and located in the cemetery of Kattnäs Church in Gnesta Municipality.
The Södermanland Runic Inscription 49 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. The style of the runestone is a categorized as Fp. It is located in Ene in Nyköping Municipality.
The Uppland Runic Inscription 699 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. It is located at Amnö, in Enköping Municipality. The style is Pr3, and it was made by the runemaster Balli.
