The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling runemasters such as Öpir and Visäte.
A categorization of the styles was developed by Anne-Sophie Gräslund in the 1990s. [1] Her systematization is considered to have been a break-through and is today a standard. The styles are RAK, Fp, Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5, and they cover the period 980-1130, which was the period during which most runestones were made.
The styles Pr1 and Pr2 correspond to the Ringerike style, whereas Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5 belong to what is more widely known as the Urnes style. [2]
Below follows a brief presentation of the various styles by showing sample runestones according to Rundata's annotation.
RAK is the oldest style and covers the period 980-1015 AD, but the Rundata project also includes the older runestones in this group, as well as younger ones. This style has no dragon heads and the ends of the runic bands are straight.
This style is from the period c. 1010/1015 to c. 1040/1050, when Pr3 appeared. It is characterized by runic bands that end with animal heads seen from above.
In the styles called Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5, the runic bands end with animal heads seen in profile.
This style is contemporary with FP dated to c. 1010- c. 1050 when it was succeeded by Pr3.
This style is only somewhat younger than the previous style and it is dated to c. 1020- c. 1050, and it was also succeeded by Pr3.
This style succeeded FP, Pr1 and Pr2 and is dated to c. 1050- c. 1080.
This style appeared somewhat later c. 1060/1070 and lasted until c. 1100.
This style was the last one before runestones stopped being raised. It appeared c. 1080/1100 and lasted until c. 1130.
This style is used by the Rundata project, although it does not attribute it to Gräslund's model. The style is common in western Södermanland and it is characterized by bordered crosses.
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.
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future research. The database is freely available via the Internet with a client program, called Rundata, for Microsoft Windows. For other operating systems, text files are provided or a web browser can be used to interact with the web application Runor.
This Viking Age runestone, listed under Rundata as runic inscription U 489, was originally located in Morby, Uppland, Sweden, and is a memorial to a woman.
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 Northern Europe 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 near the Caspian Sea. 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.
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 have 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 Gällsta Runestones from the 11th century commemorate four generations of the same family in Viking Age Sweden. There are three runestones and a raised stone which is only inscribed with a cross. The runestones are located at the northern outskirts of Stockholm, just northwest of the lake Vallentunasjön, around which is found the world's greatest concentration of runestones. All the Gällsta Runestones are attributed to Öpir, the most productive of all the old runemasters.
Runic inscription U Fv1986;84 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial that is located at Bo gård on the island of Lidingö in Uppland, Sweden.
The Torsätra runestone, cataloged by Rundata as runic inscription U 614, is a Viking Age memorial runestone originally located in Torsätra, which is around 8 kilometers northeast of Bro, Stockholm County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Uppland.
This runic inscription, designated as U 839 in the Rundata catalog, is on a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Ryda kungsgård, which is about 6 kilometers north of Enköping, Uppsala County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Uppland.
The Holmfast Inscriptions are two Viking Age memorial runic inscriptions and one image that are designated as Sö 311, Sö 312, and Sö 313 in the Rundata catalog. They are located in Södertälje, Stockholm County and the province of Södermanland, Sweden by the eponymous road Holmfastvägen.
The Lilla Vilunda runestones are three Viking Age memorial runestones that were erected by members of the same family and which are located at Lilla Vilunda in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Uppland.
The Björklinge runestones are five Viking Age memorial runestones designated in the Rundata catalog as U 1045, U 1046, U 1047, U 1048, and U 1050 that are located at the church in Björklinge, Uppsala County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Uppland. In addition, there is a small fragment of a runestone with a partial runic text i * lit * rita * meaning "had erected" that has been given the catalog number U 1049.
Sö Fv1948;295 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located in Prästgården, which is just west of Jönåker, Södermanland County, Sweden. It commemorates two men who are described as being thegns.
Uppland Runic Inscription 181 or U 181 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone located at Össeby-Garn, which is about one kilometer east of Karby, Uppsala County, Sweden.
Uppland Runic Inscription 993 or U 993 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Brunnby, which is one kilometer west of Gunsta, Uppsala County, Sweden, which was part of the historical province of Uppland.
Södermanland Runic Inscription 178 or Sö 178 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone which is located at Gripsholm Castle, Södermanland County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Södermanland.
Uppland Runic Inscription Fv1953;263 or U Fv1953;263 is the Rundata catalog listing for a Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered at Helenelund, which is in Sollentuna, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Uppland.
The Bolsta Runestones are two Viking Age memorial runestones and two fragments of a third that are located in Bolsta, which is on the east edge of Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Uppland. One runestone is signed by the runemaster with the normalized name of Åsmund Kåresson and the other by the runemaster named Öpir.