The Klepp I Runestone, listed as N 225 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 one of two

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 from

Klepp Klepp is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kleppe. Other villages in Klepp include Klepp stasjon, Orre, Orstad, ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is among the few

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 ...

runestones that was raised as a memorial to a woman.

Description

The Klepp I Runestone has three lines of runic text on two sides of the stone. The runic inscription ends with a

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 ...

, indicating that it dates from after the local conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, or the late 10th or early 11th century. The inscription provides an early example of the use of the name ''Kleppr'', which means "rocky hill," for the town of Klepp. It has been suggested that the detailed description of the family relationships in the inscription may have been to document the

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

of the estate of the deceased woman Ásgerðr. The details of the family ties indicate the different ways that Ásgerðr could inherit property and how it then could be divided among the living. Although the runestone is classified as a Christian monument, Ásgerðr combines two name elements from

Norse paganism 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 peop ...

: Ás, which refers to one of the

Æsir The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, res ...

, the main group of Norse gods, and the name of the goddess

Gerðr In Norse mythology, Gerðr (Old Norse: ; "fenced-in"Orchard (1997:54).) is a jötunn, goddess, and the wife of the god Freyr. Gerðr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ''Prose Ed ...

, who was the wife of the god

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:A: þurir : harþar:sunr : raisti : stain : þina : ¶ aft : oskarþi : kuon : sina : (t)u(t)ur : kunars (:) :B: bruþur : halka : o : klabi +Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for N 225.

Transcription into Old Norse

:A: ''Þórir Harðarsonr reisti stein þenna ept Ásgerði, kván sína, dóttur Gunnars,'' :B: ''bróður Helga á Kleppi.''

Translation in English

:A: Þórir Harðr's son raised this stone in memory of his wife Ásgerðr, daughter of Gunnarr :B: (the) brother of Helgi of Kleppr.

References

External links

Norske runeinnskrifter med de yngre runer
shows Norwegian inscriptions with images {{in lang, no Runestones raised in memory of women Runestones in Norway 10th-century inscriptions 11th-century inscriptions