Danish Runic Inscription 107 or DR 107 is 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 ...

listing for 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 was found at

Egå Egå is a both a suburban district and a stream in the Municipality of Aarhus in Denmark. Name Egå means 'Oak-stream' in English. The Egå stream The Egå stream runs north of the city of Aarhus, in the bottom of the flat valley of Egå ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Description

The inscription on DR 107 consists of three runic text bands carved 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 ...

with two bands in arches with the third band in the center. 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 runic text bands that have straight ends with no attached serpent or beast heads. The runestone was first recorded, with its top section missing, as being part of a wall in Egå. Before the historic significance of runestones was understood, they were often re-used as material in the construction of bridges, walls, and buildings. It was noted that prior to this, the stone had been in the bank near a bridge, and may have been associated with some local grave mounds. The top section was located in 1839, and the repaired stone is in height. The runestone was moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and is now in the

Danish National Museum The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

. The runic text states that the stone was raised as a memorial by Alfkell and his sons in memory of his deceased relative Manni. Manni is described as being a ''landhirþiʀ'' or ''landhirði'', an

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 ...

word that means "guard of land" but is often translated as being a land or estate overseer or steward. Another inscription which uses this term is DR 134 in Ravnkilde. The owner of the land is named as Ketill the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

. Here the word ''norrøna'' means

Norseman The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

but was used in Denmark at that time to denote a Norwegian. A small

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

was carved at the top of the stone within the runic band separating the words suniʀ and risþu. The runestone is known locally as Egå-stenen (English: ''The Egå Stone'').

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:alfkil ÷ uk ÷ hns ÷ suniʀ ÷ risþu : stin : þansi : ift : ¶ * mana : sin : frinta : þans × uas * lantirþi ÷ kitils ÷ þis ÷ ¶ nuruna ÷Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for DR 107.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Alfkel ok hans syniʀ resþu sten þænsi æft Manna, sin frænda, þans was landhirþiʀ Kætils þæs norrøna.''

Translation in English

:Alfkell and his sons raised this stone in memory of Manni, their kinsman, who was Ketill the Norwegian's estate-steward.

References

External links

Photograph of DR 107
- Arild Hauge website {{coord, 55.6749, N, 12.5755, E, source:wikidata, display=title Runestones in Denmark Danish Runic Inscriptions