The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by

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 ...

, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest

runic inscription A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of El ...

and ends in a curse.

Description

The runestone forms the end of a stone ship. There are other megaliths in the vicinity, including memorial stones with Latin characters from the early 20th century. In the stone ship, nine graves have been found, but they were all empty. The runestone was discovered when sand was quarried in the area in 1794, and it was saved in 1808 by the archaeologist Vedel Simonssen when stonemasons wanted to buy it. The last restoration was made in 1958, and the mound it is standing on is modern. Ragnhild who ordered the stone also ordered the Tryggevælde Runestone (DR 230) from the

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 ...

Soti. The runic inscription is classified as being in runestone style RAK. This is the classification for inscriptions with text bands with straight ends that do not have attached serpent or beast heads. It refers to a gothi, who was a pagan priest of a vé, a holy sanctuary, and a thegn, who was the head of the

Norse clan The Scandinavian clan or ''ætt/ätt'' (pronounced in Old Norse) was a social group based on common descent, equivalent to a clan. History In the absence of a police force, the clan was the primary force of security in Norse society, as the cl ...

and a warchief. The rune carver appeals to the Norse god Thor to hallow the inscription. There are two other runestones that have similar invocations to Thor located in Denmark, DR 110 from Virring and DR 220 from Sønder Kirkeby, and three other stones in Sweden, Ög 136 in Rök, Vg 150 from Velanda and possibly Sö 140 at Korpbron. It has been noted that Thor is the only Norse god who is invoked on any Viking Age runestones. The inscription ends with a curse, similar to the ones found on the Tryggevælde Runestone and the Sønder Vinge runestone 2 in Denmark and the Glemminge stone and the Saleby Runestone in

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 ...

. There is some disagreement regarding the translation of one of the words in these curses, ''rita''/''rata'', which has been translated as "wretch," "outcast," or "warlock." Warlock is the translation accepted by Rundata. However, the use of warlock is not that the destroyer would gain any magical powers, but be considered to be unnatural and a social outcast. The concept that being a warlock or sorcerer was an evil perversion predated the Christian conversion of Scandinavia.

Inscription

Transliteration from runes to Latin characters

* §AP raknhiltr ' sa¶ti ' stain þonsi ' auft ¶ ala ' saulua kuþa ¶ uia l(i)þs haiþuiarþan þia¶kn * §AQ raknhiltr ' sa¶ti ' stain þonsi ' auft ¶ ala ' saulua kuþa ¶ uial(i)þs haiþuiarþan þia¶kn * §B ala ' suniʀ ' karþu ¶ kubl ' þausi ' aft ' faþur ¶ sin ' auk ' hons ' kuna ' auft ¶ uar ' sin ' in ' suti ' raist ' run¶aʀ ' þasi ' aft ' trutin ' sin ¶ þur ' uiki ' þasi ' runaʀ * §C at ' rita ' sa ' uarþi ' is ' stain þansi ¶ ailti ' iþa aft ' onon ' trakiProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk

Translation from Old Norse

Gallery

File:Glavendrup Runestone 2019.jpg, Runestone File:Glavendrup Stone Ship 2019.jpg, Stone Ship

References

External links

A site in Swedish with pictures of the stone.

High-quality 3D model
{{runestones Runestones with curses Runestones in Denmark 10th-century inscriptions