The Böksta runestone 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 ...
that is located near the farm of Böksta in Balingsta, which is about four kilometers southwest of
Ramstalund
Ramstalund is a locality situated in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County
Uppsala County ( sv, Uppsala län) is a county or ''län'' on the eastern coast of Sweden, whose capital is the city of Uppsala. It borders the counties of Dalarna, Stoc ...
,
Uppsala County
Uppsala County ( sv, Uppsala län) is a county or ''län'' on the eastern coast of Sweden, whose capital is the city of Uppsala. It borders the counties of Dalarna, Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea.
Provi ...
,
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 ...
, in the historic province of
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 ...
. It is situated not far from
Balingsta Church.
Description
The Böksta Runestone, which is made of granite and is 2.6 meters in height, is notable for its images of a man on horseback holding a spear who is hunting an animal that may be an elk (
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
) with two dogs and two birds. One of the birds is attacking the eyes of the hunted animal, which is consistent with past practices when
hunting with birds.
Finds from graves indicate that
falconry
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...
has been practiced in Sweden since the 6th century.
Observing the hunter is another man on skis, holding a bow and arrow. Surrounding the hunting scene is the runic text inscribed within a serpent. The inscription is believed to date from approximately 1050 CE
and is tentatively 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 ...
Pr2, which is also known as
Ringerike 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 centuries ...
. The runestone, which was originally located at Prästgården, was broken into several sections with a central section missing since the 1600s. This section was found near the gate to the church at Prästgården, and the runestone disassembled and rebuilt using the newly found section in 2004.
The man carrying a bow and on skis is typically identified as
Ullr
In Norse mythology, Ullr (Old Norse: ) is a god associated with archery. Although literary attestations of Ullr are sparse, evidence including relatively ancient place-name evidence from Scandinavia suggests that he was a major god in earlier G ...
, who in Chapter 21 of ''
Skáldskaparmál
''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''.
The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, in ...
'' of the ''
Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...
'' is described as a
Norse pagan
Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic people ...
ski-god, archery-god, and hunting-god. It has also been suggested that the man on horseback, who has a beard and helmet and is riding a stallion, is the god
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
with his spear
Gungnir
In Norse mythology, Gungnir (, "the rocking") is the spear of the god Odin.
Attestations ''Poetic Edda''
In the Poetic Edda poem ''Völuspá'', the Æsir-Vanir War is described as officially starting when Odin throws a spear over the heads of ...
on his horse
Sleipnir
In Norse mythology, Sleipnir (Old Norse: ; "slippy"Orchard (1997:151). or "the slipper"Kermode (1904:6).) is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...
.
In this case, Sleipnir would be depicted with only four legs instead of the more common eight legs, however, a four-legged depiction of this horse was also used on the
Tängelgårda stone
The image stone at Tängelgårda, Lärbro parish, Gotland, Sweden is decorated with a scene of warriors holding rings, one (possibly Odin) horsed, with Valknut symbols drawn beneath.
See also
*Stora Hammars stones
External linksPhotograph of T ...
. The two dogs or wolves would then be
Geri and Freki
In Norse mythology, Geri and Freki are two Eurasian wolf, wolves which are said to accompany the god Odin. They are attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', a collection of epic poetry compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in th ...
and the birds the ravens
Huginn and Muninn
In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought"Orchard (1997:92).) and Muninn (Old Norse "memory"Orchard (1997:115). or "mind"Lindow (2001:186).) are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. H ...
.
Several other Scandinavian runestones include depictions of horses, including
DR 96 in Ã…lum, N 61 in Alstad,
Sö 101 in Ramsundsberget,
Sö 226 in Norra Stutby,
Sö 239 in Häringe,
Sö 327 in Göksten,
U 375 in Vidbo,
U 488 in Harg, U 599 in Hanunda, U 691 in Söderby, U 901 in Håmö, U 935 at the
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 ...
, and U 1003 in Frötuna.
References
External links
Photograph of U 855 in 2002showing missing central section -
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 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boksta Runestone
Runestones in Uppland