The Ballstorp Runestone, listed as Vg 62 in the

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 ...

catalog, is 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 ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

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 ...

located on the grounds of the ruins of a church in Ballstorp, which is about 8 kilometers northwest of

Floby Floby is a locality situated in Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,499 inhabitants in 2010. History In 1858 the first portion of the railway line connecting Stockholm and Gothenburg was opened, and a railway sta ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

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 ...

, which is in the historic province of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

Description

The inscription on Vg 62, which is about 1.5 meters in height and made of

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

, consists of runic text in the

younger futhark The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The r ...

within a band that forms an arch and a central vertical text band with a single word that hangs from the arch. The inscription is classified as being carved in

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 increas ...

RAK, which is the classification for the oldest style where the text bands have straight ends without any attached beast or serpent heads. The runestone was discovered in a bridge in 1900. Before the historic significance of runestones was understood, they were often reused as materials in the construction of bridges, walls, and buildings. The stone was then raised near the ruins of an old church in 1901. At that time, a new runic text was added on the other side of the stone by a local

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

, stating or "this stone is found and raised in 1901 by Johan from Stommen." The runic text states that the stone was originally raised by Útlagi in memory of Øyvind. The relationship between these men is not described. The text describes the deceased man Øyvind as being "a very good

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...

" or "þegn," with the runes þikn for "thegn" emphasized by their central placement. p. 470. The term thegn was used in the late Viking Age in Sweden and Denmark to describe a class of retainer. About fifty memorial runestones described the deceased as being a thegn. Of these, the runic text on other sixteen runestones use the same

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

phrase ''harða goðan þegn'' or "a very good Þegn," including Vg 59 in Norra Härene, Vg 102 in Håle gamla, Vg 113 in Lärkegape, Vg 115 in Stora Västölet, Vg 151 in Eggvena, Vg NOR1997;27 in Hols, DR 86 in Langå, DR 106 in Ørum, DR 115 in

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).DR 121 in Asferg, DR 123 in Glenstrup, DR 130 in Giver, DR 213 in Skovlænge, DR 278 in Västra Nöbbelöv, DR 294 in Baldringe, and DR 343 in Östra Herrestads. In addition, four inscriptions use a different word order, ''þegn harða goðan'', include Vg 74 in Skolgården, Vg 152 in Håkansgården, Vg 157 in Storegården, and Vg 158 in Fänneslunda.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:'' :''Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for Vg 62.

Transcription into Old Norse

Translation in English

:Útlagi raised this stone in memory of Eyvindr, a very good Þegn.

References

External links

Ballstorp
- Photographs of both sides of the runestone {{coord, 58.2053, N, 13.2316, E, source:wikidata, display=title Runestones in memory of Viking warriors Runestones in Västergötland