Åsmund Kåresson was a

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. Description More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...

who flourished during the first half of the 11th century in

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

and

Gästrikland Gästrikland () is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost of the Norrland provinces. Other form ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The early

Urnes style Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centurie ...

is represented in his art. pp. 197, 208–09.

Work

Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in

runes Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood.
Vilka kunde rista runor?
' on the

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board ( sv, Riksantikvarieämbetet; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Cult ...

website, retrieved January 13, 2007. However, it was difficult to make runestones, and in order to master it one also needed to be a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

. During the 11th century, when most runestones were raised, there were a few professional runemasters. Åsmund was active mainly in Uppland, and about twenty

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

s are signed by him and an additional thirty stones have been attributed to him. The ornamentation is characterized by variation with firmness and security in the composition. Åsmund is the inventor of the classic Uppland

runestone style :''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.'' 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 increa ...

with one or two animals (''rundjur'') showing their heads in profile. One inscription that was found at Bo gård on the island of

Lidingö Lidingö, also known in its definite form ''Lidingön'' and as ''Lidingölandet'', is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2010, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 31,561. It is ...

, listed in

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) 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 f ...

as U Fv1986;84, is signed by Åsmund and dedicated to his grandfather named Steinn. The stone's runic text also states that Steinn's sons were named Sibbi, Geirbjôrn, and Ulfr, but it is not known if one of these was the father of Åsmund. In addition, in two inscriptions, U 956 in Vedyxa and Gs 11 in Järvsta, Åsmund listed his

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

with the text osmuntr kara sun or "Ásmundr Kári's son." It has been suggested that Åsmund was identical with the English clergyman Osmundus who became bishop at the court of king

Emund the Old Emund the Old or Edmund (Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...

, but the reasons for this identification are not deemed sufficient.

Inscriptions

Over twenty inscriptions are listed in the

catalog as being signed by Åsmund including U 301 in Skånela, the now-lost U 346 in Frösunda, U 356 in Ängby, the now-lost U 368 in Helgåby, U 824 in Holm, U 847 in Västeråker, U 859 in Måsta, U 871 in Ölsta, U 884 in Ingla, U 932 at

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran tra ...

, U 956 in Vedyxa, U 969 in Bolsta, the now-lost U 986 in Kungsgården, U 998 in Skällerö, U 1142 in Åbyggeby, U 1144 in Tierp, U 1149 in Fleräng, U Fv1986;84 in Bo gård, U Fv1988;241 in Rosersberg, Gs 11 in Järvsta, Gs 12 in Lund, and Gs 13 in Söderby. On inscriptions U 859, U 986, U 969, U 998, U 1149, and Gs 13, Åsmund shifted the r-rune over one space to spell his name as osmunrt.

Gallery

Image:U 1043, Tensta.JPG, U 1043, a stone with a love scene attributed to Åsmund. Image:Uppland_Rune_Inscription_956.jpg, U 956, a stone at Vedyxa is signed by Åsmund. Image:Upplands Runinskrift 871.jpg, U 871, presently in

Skansen Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts ...

, is signed by Åsmund. Image:Gs 13, Gävle.jpg, Gs 13, presently in Gävle, is signed by Åsmund.

References

Sources

*The article ''Åsmund'' in ''

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 19 ...

'' (1996). {{DEFAULTSORT:Asmund Karesson Runemasters Swedish artists 11th-century Swedish people